In response to the discriminatory pension circular issued by the Ministry of Finance and demanding the exclusion of universities from the universal pension scheme, university officers and staff are set to commence a work stoppage following the lead of their teaching colleagues.
The officers have announced that they will begin their work stoppage on June 30 if their demands are not met. The staff will also join the work stoppage on the same date.
The university community is united in their call for the withdrawal of the circular and the exclusion of universities from the new pension scheme, underscoring the growing unrest over these policies.
On Friday, June 28, Md Abdul Kader (Kazi Monir), Secretary General of the Inter-University Officers Association, confirmed the planned action and issued a press release regarding the matter.
Kazi Monir stated, "Our demand is to exclude universities from the universal pension scheme. If our demand is not met, we will observe a work stoppage from 10:00am to 1:00pm on June 30. Officers from all public universities in the country will participate in this work stoppage simultaneously."
He further elaborated, "If our demands are not met by June 30, we will escalate to a complete work stoppage on July 1, 2, and 3. We will not perform any work during this period, with the exception of one or two individuals who will work out of respect for the Vice-Chancellor and the Treasurer."
Starting from July 1, university staff will observe a half-day work stoppage to demand the cancellation of the pension scheme. This was conveyed in a press release signed by BM Ashiqur Rahman, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Inter-University Staff Federation. The half-day work stoppage will continue from July 1 to 3.
