Gov’t Wants Only $8 Wage Increase

The government revealed its favored figure for the new garment and footwear industry minimum wage in 2017 during a Technical Working Group meeting on Friday, telling attendees that they believed it should be raised by about $8 per month – representing only a five percent increase. Employers and factory owners have called for only a $4 raise in the minimum wage, while unions have asked for $40 to be added to the figure per month for next year.
 

The Technical Working Group started the tripartite negotiations between unions and factory owners last Friday, according to a Labor Ministry release. They said 16 representatives of employers, as well as 16 worker representatives and 16 government officials, were in attendance on Friday, but no agreements were cemented during the meeting. The group will meet again on September 26.
 

Fa Saly, president of the National Trade Union Confederation, said yesterday that the three sides were still in the initial phases of the process, with each giving presentations on their figure for the new minimum wage and their justifications behind it. “In the meeting, besides representatives of workers and employers discussing each figure, the representatives of the government side cited its figure to both sides to consider. They raised it five percent, or more than $8,” he said.

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