Govt employees announce work boycott, threaten siege at Jamuna demanding pay hike

A large group of government employees has announced new demonstrations to press home their demand for an improved pay structure.

They have also “categorically rejected” the government’s push to shift the responsibility of approving the 9th Pay Scale to the upcoming elected government.

Leaders of the Bangladesh Government Employees’ Demand Realisation Unity Council have declared that public workers would take positions in front of their respective offices from 9am-11am during Sunday-Tuesday. During the two-hour periods on the three days, the public employees will not perform any official duty, the leaders have said.

The movement is aimed at pressuring the government into giving its final approval to the 9th Pay Scale, where the minimum monthly salary for any worker, irrespective of rank, would be Tk35,000.

Despite continued peaceful protests, and sustained efforts, the government continues to pay no “heed” to their concerns, the protest leaders have alleged.

If the government fails to meet the demand by Wednesday, the public workers will launch a “hunger march” to the Chief Adviser’s Residence, state guesthouse Jamuna, on 6 February, and effectively besiege it, they have threatened.

The “hunger march” would begin around 10am from the Central Shaheed Minar at Dhaka University, they have said.