Wage structures for informal sectors

Minimum wage for a certain amount of work or services is the legitimate right of a worker. This is an important tenet of industrial relationship, without which production in industries cannot continue. This right of the workers has been established in almost all countries of the world and incorporated in all international conventions including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ILO Convention. Wage structures with provisions for minimum wages have also been established in the formal sector industries in Bangladesh. But this much overdue issue is still to be addressed in many informal sectors of the country.

In absence of such agreed wage structures, minimum wages and other benefits for the workers at the entry level are arbitrarily decided by the employers, very often without taking cost of living in a given market situation into account. No universally acceptable principle is followed while fixing minimum wages, annual increment, festival bonuses, medical allowances and other benefits including compensation for accidents. Instances abound where even termination benefits are not given to the workers.

Such a lack of fixed wage structures agreed upon by both workers and employers is the root cause of labour unrest in the industrial and service sectors. It is because of arbitrary fixing of workers' wages by the employers ignoring minimum wage structure, late payment or non-payment of arrears, overtime and festival bonuses that workers in the country quite often take to the street to press home their demands. Needless to say, such unrest in industry and service sectors leads to production disruption, loss by industry owners and sufferings of the workers. It is the national economy that suffers ultimately. Reasonable payment for the workers based on minimum wage structures can help avoid development of such an undesirable situation in the industrial arena.

Against this backdrop, the government has taken a welcome move to introduce minimum wage structures in 15 informal sectors with the objective of bringing thousands of wage earners under formal framework. Separate wage boards entrusted with the task of fixing minimum wages for the workers have already been formed in four of the sectors. Quoting a labour ministry official, an FE report informs that workers draw varied wages even within the same sector as no lawful structure is followed there. These workers have been forgotten even by the government monitoring system. Lack of fixed wage structure and arbitrary decisions by the industry owners amount to violation of workers' right to reasonable wages. Introduction of the minimum wage structures will fulfil the long-standing demand for bringing informal sector workers under the definite system. Hopefully, the coming wage structures will bring an end to the hitherto existing anomalies in the payment of the workers, provided that the wage structures are based on the present situation, cost of living in the inflationary market situation and also the capacity of the industries. Moreover, the wage structures should have the provision of reviewing the market situation from time to time and adjustment of wages accordingly.

However, the government's task does not end just in formulating the wage structures; they must also oversee the implementation of the minimum wage formula. Authorities should keep a watchful eye on payment practices in the said sectors to ensure that the provisions of wage structures are not violated by any means. It must not be forgotten that the stake here is nothing less than ensuring workers' rights and a peaceful atmosphere in the industrial sector.