Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine September Issue 2018 | Page 34

SUSTAINABLE BD
Four leading RMG companies join UNICEF
initiative for children
Four leading garment
manufacturers of Bangladesh
– Hams Garments, Mohammadi
Group, Pioneer Knitwears and
Texeurop – have signed an MoU
with the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) to join its Better
Business for Children initiative.
As per UNICEF Bangladesh, the
programme is designed to empower
businesses to fully explore and
understand how it can touch the
lives of children.
The Better Business for Children
programme supports the
businesses through in-depth
assessments. This in turn helps
them build this knowledge and use
the findings to develop strategies
that respect and support the rights
of children.
“We are delighted to welcome you
to our Better Business for Children
programme. Now, you have become
part of a group of business pioneers
in Bangladesh and around the
world who see their role in society
in a broader way. This is a strategic
decision and certainly a wise
move as investing more in the
workers, the communities and the
environment yield positive returns
for your businesses as well,” said
Edouard Beigbeder, Representative,
UNICEF Bangladesh.
The five manufacturers joining the
programme will initially undertake
assessments to understand how
their operations directly and
indirectly impact the children. Then
they will choose areas in which they
commit to make investments that
benefit mothers and children.
Labour unions oppose CPD's proposed wage
structure for RMG sector
Close on the heels of the Centre
for Policy Dialogue (CPD),
proposing grade-wise wages
for the Bangladesh readymade
garment sector, some Labour and
Rights group in the country have
reportedly opposed the
CPD proposal.
Structure of Minimum Wages and
Beyond’ at a dialogue programme
on ‘Minimum Wages and
Livelihood Conditions of RMG
Workers’ in capital city Dhaka
recently, CPD Research Director
Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem
reportedly proposed that the
minimum wage for newly-
introduced grade VI be fixed at
BDT 11,004 and BDT 9,228 for
the workers without children,
keeping in mind the falling profit
margins as well as possible
future business risks.
General Secretary of the
Bangladesh Garment Worker
Trade Union Centre Jolly Talukder
reportedly underlined that the
CPD’s wage proposal was not
consistent with the market prices
and hence unacceptable.
Talukder further alleged that after
every wage board, factory owners
put huge pressure on workers
and force them to meet higher
production targets.
Meanwhile, Executive Director
of the Bangladesh Institute of
Labour Studies, Syed Sultan Uddin
Ahmed, has reportedly stated
that the CPD wage proposal was
contradictory to the findings.
“The CPD finds total family cost to
be BDT 22,435 but proposes wage
at BDT 10,028. CPD shows 2.1
earning members of family but
it is the opposite in reality,”
maintained Syed.
It may be mentioned here that
underlining that the cost of living
of the workers has increased by
17 per cent yearly during the
2013-2018 period, the Centre
for Policy Dialogue (CPD) – an
inst