RMG wage reset set for January 2027 amid Bangladesh unrest

Bangladesh’s newly reconstituted Minimum Wage Board said on Wednesday that the ready-made garment sector’s new wage structure will come into effect in December, with workers receiving increased wages from January 2027.

The announcement set a payroll checkpoint for RMG factories and the brands that source from them. Neither the board’s announcement nor Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed’s account supplied revised wage rates, order volumes, factory headcount or production-loss data.

What changes for garment sourcing?

The board assigned December to the structure’s launch and January 2027 to payment increases. Salahuddin described January 1, 2027 as the effective date and said inflation, the economic situation and the cost of living would shape the new structure.

For factories and buyers, the relevant cost work is payroll budgeting and supplier discussions around the January increase. The timing is firm, but the amount of the increase remains unspecified.

Workers’ principal demand was creation of a Wage Board to review the minimum wage every three years. Salahuddin said the government began the process well in advance, with a slight delay while workers submitted their representatives’ names.

The government formed the board immediately after receiving those names, and the reconstituted body has already held its first meeting. UNB reported the comments after an inter-ministerial meeting at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to review the draft Cyber Security (Amendment) Act, 2026.

Salahuddin said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had instructed the government to prioritise workers’ welfare and living standards. The stated wider goals were to increase exports, strengthen the economy and create more jobs. The wage-review timetable is now set, but sourcing teams still lack the rates needed for precise costing.

Why did Salahuddin call the unrest a conspiracy?

Salahuddin described the garment unrest as a politically motivated conspiracy intended to destabilise the country. “At present, there are no unresolved demands from garment workers, but certain quarters are conspiring to create instability in the industrial sector,” he said.

He claimed that genuine workers did not take part in the violence and that outsiders used the labour protest as cover for attacks, arson and vandalism. Salahuddin alleged that some garment factory owners, former lawmakers, former ministers and state ministers of the previous Awami League government joined the unrest for political reasons.

He also alleged that criminal groups and reactionary forces sought to destabilise the country through a conspiracy orchestrated from a neighbouring country. The government separately instructed law-enforcement agencies to deal firmly with acts of violence.

The minister said the government had recently held a lengthy meeting with garment factory owners and had also discussed the situation with labour leaders. He said both sides agreed that destructive activity was not part of a genuine movement by ordinary workers.

He said workers were being used to advance the political interests of certain groups. The account does not independently establish who committed the alleged violence.

How are police and factories expected to respond?

The government said it was handling the situation with patience and had instructed police and other agencies not to use excessive force under any circumstances. Several law-enforcement personnel sustained serious injuries and required hospital treatment, according to Salahuddin, who said they showed restraint and avoided force against workers.

At the same time, the minister warned that criminal groups and people involved in organised violence would not be spared. He urged workers to ignore rumours and provocations and return to their workplaces immediately.

“Resuming work will help maintain industrial production and protect workers’ livelihoods as well as the national economy,” he said. Authorities want production restored without excessive force, while keeping a tougher response for organised violence.

What did Salahuddin say about Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury?

Salahuddin addressed the detention of journalist Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury by saying that, if he had been detained, it resulted from specific allegations against him. Necessary legal steps were under way, and the minister said the matter would be dealt with according to law.

The minister linked the detention to allegations and due process without providing details of the claims. That issue remains separate from the RMG wage review and factory response.

What should buyers and factories do next?

The sourcing decision is to hold country and supplier allocation plans steady, because the report provides no evidence of a sourcing-country shift or supplier exit. Brands should ask affected factories for board-compliant payroll schedules, evidence of implementation and confirmation that work has resumed.

Factories need to apply the board’s December structure before increased wages reach workers in January. The report gives no final rates, named plants, order interruptions or production-loss figures, so buyers cannot quantify cost or continuity risk precisely. The practical task is to price January wage risk without treating unverified violence allegations as evidence that production has moved elsewhere.