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Workers' leaders demanded Tk 25,000 as the minimum wage for tannery workers, considering the current high inflation that makes maintaining the life of common people difficult.
They also called for ensuring the workers' job security, as majority of them are engaged in this sector as temporary workers with poor wages.
The Tannery Workers' Union (TWU) leaders made the demands in a consultation meeting, jointly organised by the TWU and the Bangladesh Labour Rights Journalist Forum (BLRJF) on Wednesday.
Abul Kalam Azad, president of the TWU, said they have been demanding the wage hike of the tannery workers for a long time. But still the workers are being paid a low monthly wage like Tk 8,000 to Tk 9,000 each.
Even most of the employers did not implement the wage commission that fixed about Tk 13,000 as minimum wage for a tannery worker in 2018.
He also said there was a commitment that the workers would get accommodation and medical facilities, if the tannery units are shifted from the capital to Hemayetpur, Savar. But no such facility has been given to the tannery workers, so far.
TWU general secretary Abdul Malek said they want development of the tannery industry as well as protection of its workers.
He said the tannery sector has expanded manifold since the independence, but the living standard of its workers has not changed yet.
More than 20,000 workers are engaged in tannery units across the country, of whom some 12,000 are working in the Savar Tannery Estate. About 8,000 are registered with the union.
BLRJF president Kazi Abdul Hannan and general secretary Ataur Rahman, among others, spoke at the meeting.
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