Economy
Low Wages Challenge Garment Industry Workers
Capital Ethiopia · 4 hours ago · Read the Full Story on Capital Ethiopia
AI SUMMARY
A new study reveals that low and inconsistent wages, coupled with rising living costs, remain a major challenge for workers in Ethiopia’s textile and garment industry.
- Ethiopia currently lacks a national or sector-specific minimum-wage policy, leaving employers to determine pay.
- A 2021 workers survey recorded average monthly basic salaries of 1,349 birr at Hawassa Industrial Park and 2,110 birr at Bole Lemi Industrial Park.
- A separate survey found textile workers at Eastern Industrial Park received a monthly salary of 3,400 birr, attributed to different product types and longer operating history.
- Surveyed workers reported significant monthly expenses for food, rent, and transport that strained their earnings.
- Labour Proclamation No. 1156/2019 provides for a Wage Board, but it was not established at the time of the report.
- Over 70 percent of surveyed workers in Hawassa and Addis Ababa rated the quality of workplace food as bad or very bad.
- Low wages and high living costs contribute to high labor turnover and absenteeism in the sector.
- The report recommends strengthening dialogue among government, employers, workers, and trade unions to address wage and labour issues.
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