Minimum wage eludes shipbreaking workers

At the end of 2019, Belal Uddin (18), came to Sitakunda from Kurigram in search of work. With a three-member family to feed back home, he was desperate to make ends meet. Soon, he started life as a novice shipbreaking worker at a yard at a daily wage of Tk 220 for an eight-hour day.

In 2020, his salary increased a little bit, now standing at Tk 300. This took his monthly earning ceiling to Tk 9,000. However, this is still a whopping Tk 7,000 less than the government declared minimum wage of Tk 16,000, a gazette the government issued in 2018.

This isn't just limited to Belal. The same story of hardship and underpayment applies for thousands of workers like him.

"I don't know about the minimum wage. All I know is that I'm struggling to meet basic needs of my family, and I don't have the chance to switch to other jobs as I don't have any other skill," he told The Daily Star.

Some 15,000 workers are currently engaged in this profession, where death and danger can come at you anytime unless you are cautious and have safety gears.

Sitakunda is home to many of them. In 1990, a stretch of Sitakunda coastal area had been declared a dedicated shipbreaking zone. More than a hundred yards carry out their ship dismantling operations here.

The 2018 government gazette made it mandatory for shipbreaking yards to pay their workers the minimum wage of Tk 16,000, which includes a four grade payment system.

Apprentice workers, categorised in grade four, are entitled to the minimum wage, while grade three workers Tk 21,250, grade two Tk 24,250, and grade one Tk 31,750.

However, the implementation of this wage scale is nowhere to be seen in the shipbreaking industry. Tapan Dutta, president of Shipbreaking Trade Union Forum, told The Daily Star that not a single yard executed the wage structures, outright ignoring labour laws.

He blamed this on the parsimony of yard owners, absence of strong workers unions, and negligence of factory inspection from concerned authorities. All of this comes together to deprive the workers -- who regularly risk their lives on this dangerous craft -- from fair wages, he said.

Contacted, Abu Taher, president of Bangladesh Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association, claimed these allegations as baseless and said they actually pay more than the minimum wage.

However, when asked about a recent government ultimatum to implement the wage board within a month, he said it was applicable for overall affairs of shipbreaking yards and not just wage board. He abruptly cut off the phone call after saying this.

The one-month ultimatum was issued recently. Abdullah Al Sakib Mubarrat, deputy inspector general of Chattogram Directorate of Factory Inspection, told The Daily Star they met with yard owners on Monday about execution of the wage board.

"Yard owners sought one month to implement the wage scale. They also promised to issue appointment letters for workers. If they fail to execute these, we will move to the labour court on this issue," the official confirmed.