Give us a chance to survive

Sabina Yasmin was forced to take up a job as a garment worker after her father, the only breadwinner of her family, was paralysed.

The 24-year-old, a resident of Jirani Bazar, started working at a factory in Gazipur with a salary of Tk 8,000.

"I have parents and two siblings. With this meagre income, it's a constant struggle to put food on the table, let alone fulfil the other requirements of my 5-member family," said Sabina while sharing her life's struggles at a programme of garment workers in front of Bangladesh National Museum at the capital's Shahbagh intersection today.

The speakers at the programme, organised by the Bangladesh Garments Sromik Songhoti, demanded a minimum payment of Tk 25,000 per month for the country's RMG workers to give them a chance to cope with the rising inflation.

Photo: Collected

The garment workers and leaders said the government raised the minimum monthly pay for garment workers to Tk 8,000 in 2018, which has not been changed since, even though inflation has increased the price of every essential.

Junaid Saki, chief coordinator of Ganosamhati Andolon, said, the government has adjusted its employees' payments adjusting with the inflation.

However, our garment workers, who are a pillar of the country's economy, are left to suffer the brunt of the inflation, he added.

He said the whole working class, in general, is suffering.

Photo: Collected

Taslima Akhter of Bangladesh Garments Sromik Songhoti said the current price hike is making things difficult for garment workers to purchase even essentials like rice, eggs, dal, and so on.

During the last five years, workers' hardship has soared while their income remained the same, she added

Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua and other activists were also present at the event which ended with a procession towards the National Press Club.