Public university teachers to go on indefinite strike from Jan 11

Teachers of public universities will stop working from Jan 11 to press for a review of the new pay scale.

The decision came from a meeting of the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Associations on Saturday, which was attended by representatives of 37 universities.

The Federation’s General Secretary SM Maksud Kamal told reporters that the teachers had also decided to wear black bands on Jan 3 and observe a three-hour strike on Jan 7.

Kamal said they would not wear black badges on Jan 10, to pay respect to the memory of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his Homecoming Day in 1972. 

He said the strike would continue until the demands were met and even if the government called for any discussion with the teachers.

“It will continue until a new gazette is published,” he said.

The government gazetted the Eighth National Pay Scale on Dec 15 with the highest basic pay of Tk 78,000 and a minimum of Tk 8,250.

Public universities’ selection grade professors enjoyed the top grade along with secretaries and major generals in the Seventh National Pay Scale.

Senior professors had been placed in Grade-2 and professors in Grade-3.

The new pay scale retained the grades of professors and senior professors but did not separately mention the selection-grade professors, which has become one of the issues triggering the protest.

University teachers have long been protesting against the new pay scale, saying it has downgraded their status.

They have also demanded a separate pay scale for university teachers and a review of the new pay scale.

After the three-hour meeting of teachers from 37 public universities on Saturday, the teachers associations’ federation President Farid Ahmed said, “We had gone for soft programmes so that there was no hindrance to studies. But the students are also agitated now.

“Now our backs are against the wall. We don’t have any time to look back,” he said.