Journalists march streets to protest wage board award

Members of Sangbadik-Sramik-Karmachari Oikya Parishad stages a demonstration in front of the Press Club in the city yesterday demanding amendments to the recently announced sixth wage board award for them. Photo: STAR

Journalists, press workers and employees of newspapers and news agencies in the capital yesterday took to the streets demanding amendments to the recently announced sixth wage board award for them.
The agitating journalists and others ignored the Emergency Power Rules (EPR) and held a rally on the road in front of the Jatiya Press Club blocking traffic for over two hours from 11:30am, and issued an ultimatum to meet their demands by December 16.
Amid presence of law enforcers, they brought out a brief procession and chanted slogans against Law and Information Adviser Mainul Hosein.
A four-hour abstention from work was observed at newspaper offices across the country to press home their demands.
The journalists and other staff under the banner of 'Sangbadik-Sramik-Karmachari Oikya Parishad (SSKOP)' announced that if their demands are not met by December 16, they will form a human chain and go for a four-hour abstention from work on December 17 as part of their agitation programme.
Addressing the rally, SSKOP leaders blasted Mainul Hosein for creating the present resentment among journalists and other newspaper employees.
The government recently published the gazette notification on sixth wage board award, which in many cases reduced benefits compared to those in the previous wage board award in 1996.
Hundreds of journalists and other employees attended the rally and took part in the procession demanding removal of Information Adviser Mainul Hosein for his 'interference' in the wage board award and for 'conspiring' against them.
SSKOP leaders demanded a fresh gazette notification on the sixth wage board award, an end to termination of staff of the daily Ittefaq and reinstating those terminated , and resolving the crisis of the Bangladesh Observer without further delay.
Urging the chief adviser and army chief to take stern action against Mainul Hosein, they said he [Mainul] is trying to create a conflict between the government and newspaper staff to serve his own interests as a newspaper owner.
Journalists and other staff of the newspaper industry will not stop short of realising their genuine demands ... So, the government high-ups should take initiative to review and properly amend the published gazette on the sixth wage board award, the leaders said. Salary and other benefits of newspaper staff will decrease if the 'unacceptable' wage board award is implemented, they pointed out.
They warned against any attempts to foil their agitation through repression since it is aimed at survival of newspaper staff.
Criticising the information adviser for the present situation in the Ittefaq, of which he is an owner, the parishad leaders said he sacked a number of journalists and other employee of the daily by misusing his power as an adviser.
Chaired by SSKOP Co-convener Mozammel Haque, the rally was addressed by, among others, parishad leaders Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Fazle Imam, Ruhul Amin Gazi, Abdul Jalil Bhuiyan, Md Motiur Rahman Talukder, Abul Hashem, Md Khairul Islam, Altaf Mahmud, Omar Farukh, Shahjahan Mian, Akhtar Ahmad Khan, Manjurul Alam and Azizul Haque Banna, and Elias Khan, general secretary of Dhaka Reporters Unity, and Sham Md Motasim Billah, president of Sub-editors council.
Journalists unions observed similar programmes yesterday in different areas of the country, including Dinajpur, Chittagong, Khulna, Barisal and Jessore.