Secretariat employees threaten ‘tough demos’ to secure better pay

Bangladesh Secretariat employees and officers on Wednesday threatened they would wage strong movement from 10 January if the government would not issue a gazette notification over their “desired pay structure” by 1 January.

The employees came up with the warning in a memorandum sent on Wednesday to Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed by the protest organising committee’s Secretary General Nizam Uddin Ahmed.

In the memorandum, they said they represent all the public workers across the country, and have been holding programmes for a long time at different government offices, demanding improved salaries in the wake of the worsening cost-of-living crisis.

According to the memorandum, public workers had “high expectations” regarding the National Pay Commission-2025 formed by the current interim government.

However, “some sort of uncertainties” have emerged at the final recommendation stage, which the protesters said is “inconsistent with their long-standing aspirations.”

The protesters’ organisation demanded restructuring of the existing 20-grade pay scale into 10 grades at a 1:4 ration, claiming that such a system would eliminate longstanding disparities in salaries.

The memorandum further stated that soaring commodity prices and the rising cost of living have pushed lower-grade employees into hardship. Delays in implementing the pay commission report are intensifying frustration and resentment among government staff.

Urging direct intervention from the adviser to the Finance Ministry, the organisation said swift decisions are necessary to calm discontent and meet just expectations.

The three key demands of the organisations include-- introduction of Secretariat allowance, implementation of the 9th pay scale and introduction of Secretariat ration allowance.