Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) on Saturday rejected the statement of Newspapers Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) over the ninth wage board, saying it has hurt the journalist community and made them concerned.
In a statement , BFJU President Molla Jalal and Secretary General Shaban Mahmud, and DUJ President Abu Jafar Surjo and General Secretary Sohel Haider Chowdhury called the statement ‘unacceptable, unrealistic, devoid of morality and an evil attempt to conceal the fact’.
They said journalists, employees and workers of newspapers always work considering owners’ organisations as their own.
The role of owners to make their resort for earnings and dignity questionable at the final stage of the announcement of the wage board award will create a crisis for the newspaper industry, the journalist leaders said.
‘The unions unanimously disagree with the statement made by the newspapers’ owners’
BFUJ and DUJ leaders said the statement made by NOAB on June 12 is “morally unacceptable” and “unrealistic”.
The journalist community was shocked and expressed concern over the NOAB statement, said the statement.
“The unions unanimously disagree with the statement made by the newspapers’ owners,” reads it.
The leaders in the statement said the journalists and employees of all the newspapers always consider the organizations they work for as their own.
Raising question on the livelihood and the dignity of the media workers will create a new crisis for the newspaper industry, feared the journalists leaders.
It will also create distance and strain relationships between the owners and the media people which will affect the entire industry, they opined.
BFUJ and DUJ leaders in their statement said that on 9 September 2013, the Government announced the gazette notification of the 8th Wage Board, but the newspaper owners are creating many obstacles to make it effective.
Similarly, in 2018, 45% dearness allowance was awarded for the newspaper employees, but the owners have been depriving the workers by ignoring the order for almost a year, which is illegal, the journalist leaders alleged.
