Wage Board chairman says they would take a decision if the owners failed to submit their proposal within the deadline.
The readymade garment workers' representatives on the Minimum Wage Board have proposed setting the minimum monthly wage at Tk32,000, with the highest wage set at Tk48,000.
The proposal was submitted at the board's second meeting at its office in Dhaka's Segunbagicha today (9 November).
"Considering market prices, medical expenses and other factors, the amount should be even higher," workers' representative Babul Akter told journalists after the meeting.
"Our wages started from a low level in 2006, and we are still bearing the consequences of that," he added.
Meanwhile, factory owners' representative ABM Shamsuddin, a director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), failed to submit the owners' proposal at the meeting.
Explaining the delay, he said the owners had been focused on addressing labour unrest and could not prepare their proposal in time.
He said the owners would submit their proposal within the next four working days.
Shamsuddin also said the new wage structure would take effect in December, regardless of when the proposal was submitted.
Wage Board Chairman Syed Azad Subhani said the board would take a decision if the owners failed to submit their proposal within the four-working-day deadline.
Garment workers have been staging protests demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk30,000. Their representatives have proposed a minimum wage that is Tk2,000 higher than their demand.
The government formed the Minimum Wage Board on 1 November to review and revise garment workers' wages.
The board includes Dhaka University Professor Mosleh Uddin Ahmed as an independent member; Shamsuddin, representing factory owners; and Babul, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), representing workers.
Its permanent members are Anwar Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, representing workers, and Asif Ayub, joint secretary-general of the Bangladesh Employers Federation, representing employers.