Staff Reporter :
Newspaper Owners Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) has expressed concern over formation of the 9th wage board award for the country’s newsmen.
NOAB voiced the concern at its annual general meeting on 10 December, said a NOAB press release on Wednesday.
The owners said that a new wage board is usually declared at an interval of five years. “But this time, it has come just three years after the 8th wage board award came into force in September, 2013.”
The NOAB press release said declaration of a new wage board in less than five years time is not acceptable as newsmen and employees are given increments every year in order to adjust the inflation.
The association of the newspaper owners also said it needs to be monitored first whether all the newspapers have implemented the 8th wage board award.
It said there are still some outstanding issues including the structure of the newspaper houses and which should be addressed before the declaration of the next wage board.
Besides, it observed, the newspaper industry is in a great crisis. “Apart from problems like government taxes and VAT, the newspapers owners are to make a good amount of investment on the online publicity medium.”
The press release said the association is in favour of a wage board to be formed through discussion and not before five years.
“At this moment, a new wage board for the newsmen can in no way be logical and thus be acceptable,” read the NOAB release.
NOAB president Matiur Rahman, vice president AK Azad, executive members Tasmima Hossain, Riaz Uddin Ahmed, Mahfuz Anam, ASM Shahidullah Khan Badal, Tariq Sujat, AMM Bahauddin, Altamas Kabir, Naim Nizam, Kazi Anis Ahmed, Dewan Hanif Mahmud, Shamsur Rahman, AHM Moazzem Hossain and Mozammel Haque were present at the meeting.
