University teachers postpone strike until Feb 3

Eight days after enforcing it to press for their four-point demand, public university teachers on Tuesday postponed their indefinite strike until February 3. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Association (FBUTA) held at Prof Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury Auditorium at Dhaka University. Briefing reporters after the meeting, FBUTA secretary general Prof ASM Maksud Kamal said they decided to put on hold the strike until February 3 following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s assurance of looking into their demands. “We’ve postponed our strike showing respect to the Prime Minister. But it has not been withdrawn,” he said, adding that they will return to classes on Wednesday. The FBUTA secretary general also said they will hold a review meeting on February 3 to decide the next course of action if their demands are not met by the time. Earlier on Monday, the public university teachers who had been on a movement to press for their four-point demand had a meeting with the Prime Minister at Ganobhaban. During the meeting, the Prime Minister assured them of looking into their demands. On January 11, teachers of the country’s 37 public universities went on the indefinite strike protesting what they said discriminations against them in the 8th national pay scale. The public university teachers had been on protests since the 8th National Pay Scale was announced on May 14 last year, advocating for a four-point demand that includes formation of a commission to introduce an independent pay scale for them. The other demands of the teachers are to remove the gap in salaries and allowances between senior professors and senior secretaries, and between professors and secretaries; upgrading the status of teachers in the warrant of precedence; and the provision of cars and other allowances for teachers similar to provisions given to bureaucrats. — Dhaka, Jan 19 (UNB)