The Malaysian government will raise the minimum wage from RM 1,500 to RM 1,700, effective February 1, 2025, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Presenting Budget 2025 in the Dewan Rakyat on Friday, Anwar announced that small employers with fewer than five employees will be given a grace period, delaying the implementation of the new wage until August 1, 2025, reports Malaysian daily The Star. Malaysia to accept 18,000 Bangladeshi workers who missed deadline: Asif Nazrul Anwar, who also holds the position of Finance Minister, added that the Human Resources Ministry will release new guidelines on starting salaries for key professions. These include RM 2,290 for industrial and production technicians, RM3,380 for mechanical engineers, and RM2,985 for professional creative content designers. In addition, the Prime Minister said the Progressive Wage Policy, introduced in June as a pilot programme, will be fully implemented next year, backed by a RM200 million allocation aimed at benefiting 50,000 workers. Anwar also announced that RM250 million will be allocated to the People's Income Initiative (IPR) to combat extreme poverty. "Next year, RM250 million will be dedicated to increasing the participation of individuals from the extreme poor group in the IPR programme to improve their income," he said.  

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Mastercard, have launched co-branded credit cards for the BGMEA members, and prepaid cards for more than 4.5 million readymade garments (RMG) workers. Mutual Trust Bank will issue the MasterCard World credit cards and the prepaid cards by Southeast Bank Limited (SEBL). The prepaid cards will help disbursement of garment workers' wages, the BGMEA said Saturday. The RMG workers of the BGMEA enlisted factories will get the SEBL MasterCard prepaid card, which is designed to provide more convenient, safer, and smarter options for payments rather than cash, it added. Mastercard World credit cards are designed for the BGMEA members and senior executives of its member factories, allowing cardholders to conduct local and cross-border transactions with ease and convenience. Read more: Mastercard, Visa suspend operations in Russia after invasion Cardholders can carry out dual-interface global transactions, which also support ATM, POS, QR, and e-commerce payments along with usage of travel lounge services locally and internationally. BGMEA President Faruque Hassan, Mastercard Country Manager Syed Mohammad Kamal, Mutual Trust Managing Director and CEO Syed Mahbubur Rahman, and SEBL Managing Director M Kamal Hossain signed the agreement. BGMEA directors Barrister Shehrin Salam Oishee, Tanvir Ahmed, Mijanur Rahman, Neela Hosna Ara; Chair of BGMEA Standing Committee on Press, Publication and Publicity Shovon Islam, and Chairman of BGMEA Standing Committee on UD-Woven and Knit Md Nurul Islam were also present. Read more: Nagad launches service for paying Mastercard Credit Card Bill  

If one group was found missing in the recent movement by the tea garden workers for higher wages, they were economists.  They were needed the most. Ultimately the wages were fixed at 170 by the PM personally. In a follow up to the wage fixing, which seemed meager to most, the PM’s Principal Secretary pointed out that the wages reflect only the monetary part and if one took into account benefits like medical, food subsidy and the rest, it would come to Taka 450-500 approximately. The problem is that no one is sure what those are and what should be fair. The PS is not expected to say otherwise as it’s his job to defend the GOB’s position. However, he has a point that only wages should not count. This applies to all sectors   where benefits are given on top of wages. However, tea garden workers are not the same as rmg workers of Dhaka or any other industrial sector workers.  They do constitute a part of the historical legacy of the plantation economy under colonialism. The poorest in colonial Bengal, many from Orissa and adjacent regions of Bengal, were brought to the Sylhet zone to work. The conditions they live in are very significant to bonded laborers elsewhere.   Industrial wage workers' arrangements don’t fit them. They are not free to work elsewhere. Hence comparisons with other sectors can be misleading. Read: Who are the tea workers? A brief profile  Some realities * Tea garden workers live like serfs who are tied to their gardens. They can’t leave even if they want to. They are born and they die in the same place. This is because of both the location of gardens and its geo-economy. It’s impossible to have tea gardens elsewhere  so whoever works in the garden is never free. * They can’t survive if they are not provided with food subsidies and some –very inadequate- medical facilities. They would be dead very quickly and that means no workers. So the subsidies and facilities are not bonus wages to the workers but in the interest of the garden owners as well. No workers no gardens   * No one knows and no one has calculated what the range of the facilities is and what they cost. This has to be calculated in terms of the loss a unit worker suffers from working in isolation with no access to other work opportunities.   * The garden workers walk miles to their work which is symptomatic of their special condition of work and life.  They are stuck to their conditions because the benefits offered to them don’t include skills training or post-primary education. They can’t switch jobs. In free Bangladesh, they are the least free population group helped by the fact that they are low caste Hindu non-Bengalis in an overwhelmingly Bengali-Muslim space. What needs immediate attention? A proper scientific assessment based on the ground realities of denial and access and the special conditions of the tea garden workers needs to be done by experts. What is fair wages and benefits needs identification specifically for them. They are not the same as other industrial workers and till we accept this reality of colonial planation slavery like conditions they live in, we shall continue to tolerate it like proto-colonials . 

Tea garden workers in Moulvibazar resumed strike Tuesday noon disobeying the decision of the leaders of Bangladesh Tea Workers Union. Most of the workers in different upazilas joined work Monday morning upon assurance from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to settle the issue. Later, a group of workers brought out a procession abstaining from work at noon for raising their wage to Tk 300 from Tk 120. Workers said that they didn’t see or hear PM’s directive regarding wage hike on television.  “The leaders are asking us to join work in the name of the Prime Minister,” said Aban Tanti of Sreemangal Kalighat tea garden. Tea workers blocked railway track in School Choumhani area in Kulaura upazila and Moulvibazar-Kulaura regional road around 4 pm today. The agitated workers stopped the Sylhet-bound ‘Paharika Express’ train, snapping the country’s rail communication with Sylhet for an hour.   Later, they withdrew their blockade after an hour on request of Kulaura Upazila Administration, Municipality Mayor, Kulaura Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC). Besides, the workers in Lachna area of Sreemangal demonstrated on Dhaka-Moulvibazar road in front of Sreemangal Labor House and in various tea gardens including Maulvi tea garden in Samsher Nagar and Kamalganj upazilas. Santan Raghav Goala, a worker of Sreemangal Khaichra tea garden, said, “Why did we go on a strike for so long if we have to return to work with the previous wage?” Dilip Bhuiya of the same garden said they will not return to work until PM’s announcement on fixing daily wage at Tk 300.  Meanwhile, workers in Kulaura, Baralekha, Juri, Rajnagar Kamalganch upazila joined their work at various tea gardens and were seen working in the gardens spontaneously, said Javed Ali, assistant manager of Kulaura Gazipur tea garden. Bijay Hazra, organising secretary of tea workers union said, “We are joining work. I hope the Prime Minister will consider our demands soon.” Read:Tea workers: Chasm opens up over 3am deal signed without workers' knowledge

Tea garden workers on Monday returned to work with the previous wage of Tk 120 withdrawing their strike for raising wage to Tk 300 upon assurance from the Prime Minister that their wage will be re-fixed after a virtual meeting with her. This decision was taken at a meeting of the tea workers’ leaders with the Moulvibazar Deputy Commissioner Mir Nahid Ahsan at his office on Sunday night. Paresh Kalindi, financial affairs secretary of Tea Workers Union, said, "In honour of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we will join the work with the previous wage. The Prime Minister will talk to us through a video conference very soon to finalise the new wage.” All financial benefits including wages of 10 days ( during the strike period) will be provided by the owners, he added. During Sunday’s meeting, PM Hasina also talked to the tea workers through a video conference. The Tea Workers leaders will apply to the DC for a meeting with the Prime Minister through video conferencing before the upcoming Durga Puja. Read: Tea workers return to strike for Tk 300 wage; block Dhaka-Sylhet highway

Garments Sramik Front on Friday staged demonstration in the city, demanding Tk 20,000 as national minimum wage and Tk 24,000 as lowest monthly wage for the garment workers following high cost of living due to price hike of essentials. The labour rights body, in the programme arranged in front of the National Press Club, also demanded introduction of dearness allowance for the interim period and ration at subsidized prices for the workers. Addressing the demonstration rally, the labour leaders said Garments Sramik Front and Garment Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad (G-SKOP) earlier in 2018 demanded Tk 18,000 as the minimum wage to keep consistency with the Pay Commission. But Tk 8,000 was announced as the minimum wage ignoring the demand at that time, they said. The leaders said the prices of daily essentials have skyrocketed due to the recent fuel price-hike. Now the value of the wages of garment workers has fallen below half. The workers are struggling to survive due to malnutrition, they added. Read: Tea garden owners propose wage hike by Tk 20 Workers now want PM's intervention They also demanded stopping misuses of section 13 (1) of the labour law to end the oppression of workers as well as opening the ABC Knit Dyeing and Finishing Mills at Shyampur immediately to reinstate its workers in the job. According to the section 13 (1) of Labour Act 2006, the owner can close any branch or section of a factory or other establishment partially or entirely due to illegal strike and the participant workers of the illegal strike would not get any wage in case of such shutdown of the branch or section.   President of Garments Sramik Front Ahsan Habib Bulbul presided over the rally, while its general secretary Selim Mahmud conducted it, said a press release.

Bangladesh Tea Workers’ Union has decided to launch a strike from Saturday, demanding an increase in their daily wages to Tk 300 from the existing Tk 120 per day. Tea workers from 167 tea gardens of the country will take part in the strike. Earlier on Friday, tea workers from various tea gardens in Moulvibazar abstained from work for two hours for the fourth consecutive day. They also carried out demonstrations and protest rallies to press home their demand. Bangladesh is producing record amount of tea every year through the toil of the tea workers. In 2021, a record 96 million kilograms of tea was produced in the country thanks to the hard labor of the underpaid tea workers. Although two agreements on increasing the wages have been implemented, the fate of more than 1.5 lakh tea workers of the country hasn’t changed a bit. Read: Tea workers strike for wage hike in Sylhet Bijoy Hajra, President of Bangladesh Tea Workers’ Union Balishira Valley and Organizing Secretary of the Union’s Central Committee, said that rampant price hikes of daily essentials are making it impossible for the tea workers to run their families on a meager income of Tk 120 per day. “We’ve discussed the matter with the tea garden owners time and again but they are constantly breaking the agreements reached between the Union and the owners. Increasing the wages of the tea workers is a longstanding demand. Though the existing agreements say that wages will be increased every year, the owners haven’t done so for the last three years. That’s why we’ve been forced to call for a tough movement,” said Bijoy. Nripen Pal, Secretary (Acting) of the Union, said that the tea workers will carry on their strike till their demand is met. “All the tea workers across the country will observe the strike from dawn to dusk from Saturday for an indefinite period. Despite the strike, the workers will also bring out protest rallies in their respective areas,” said Nripen.