Rejecting both the owners and workers' proposal, Industriall Bangladesh Council (IBC) on Saturday demanded Tk 16,000 as minimum monthly wage for entry level garment workers.
The IBC also announced their next course of action including forming human chain, submission of memorandum and sit-in-demonstration to realise their demands.
Terming both the proposals 'illogical', its secretary general Salauddin Shapon said "We are surprised and enraged with the proposals."
"We have strongly rejected both the proposals and demanded fixation of Tk 16,000 as minimum monthly wage for garment sector," he said while addressing a press conference held at the National Press Club in the city.
Owners and worker representatives have proposed Tk 6,360 and Tk 12,020 respectively as the minimum monthly wage for entry-level apparel workers.
The IBC leader also alleged that real representation of the sector was not made as the worker representative appointed at the board was favoured by the government and garment factory owners.
RMG workers expected that the government would fix a logical wage structure for the garment sector within six months of the formation of the wage board, Mr Shapon said.
"The wage board was so reluctant that it held only two meetings by this time and no decision was taken so far," he said.
On July 02, the government announced new minimum wages for workers of state-owned mills making a hike of more than double.
"But with utter surprise, the garment workers noticed that the owners made mockery in the name of wage hike," the IBC leader said.
The proposal made by the owners' representative was a strategy mainly to reduce the wage in the name of hike.
It was also tantamount to 'cheating' to the workers, he alleged.
The Tk 16,000 monthly wage is just the demand of time for a country that will be upgraded to a middle income one, he said.
Amirul Haque Amin, another IBC leader alleged the current wage stood at Tk 6400 if five per cent annual increment is taken into account.
But the owners proposed Tk 40 less than the amount, he explained.
The conference also announced that workers would form human chain on August 4 at 11.0 am in front of the National Press Club in the city.
They would submit memorandum and arrange sit-in-demonstration phase by phase.
They would also declare different activities at Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Chattogram if their demands are not met.
Labour leaders Nazma Akter, Md Kutub Uddin, Md Ruhul Amin, Rashedul Islam Raju, China Rahman, Tahmina Rahman and Kamrul Hasan, among others, were present at the briefing.
