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Bangladesh workers to see wages increase

By FashionUnited

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The collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh in April this

year has highlighted the unthinkable conditions many workers continue to face while they sew some of the world's best-known fast fashion brands.

Since the incident, many improvements, or at least plans to execute them, have become prominent, beginning with paying a fair wage. This week garment factory owners in Bangladesh are expecting an increase in the minimum wage of 50-80 percent and will look to retailers to pay more in order to help cover the extra labour costs.

Bangladesh is aiming to announce the new minimum wage next month but the issue is a controversial one. Workers want the current minimum of BDT3,000 to increase to BDT8,000 but a number of factory bosses told Reuters that they expect it to rise to BDT4,500-BDT5,500. They are planning to ask for 5-15 percent more from retailers as a result.

Industry chiefs say that although they would like to pay workers more it runs the risk of harming Bangladesh’s competitiveness, with the industry having been built on its low costs.

"It's a very simple equation - wherever they get a cheap price, they [retailers] will go there," BGMEA president Mohammad Atiqul Islam said, adding that on average retailers have cut rates by 3 percent this year.

Bangladesh