Railway staff calls strike from Jan 31

The Bangladesh Railway Running Staff and Sramik Karmachari Samity has announced a train strike from midday on January 31 demanding the resumption of mileage-based payments.

The association of loco masters, train ticket checkers, and guards involved in train operations demands the payments be resumed by amending the circular issued by the finance ministry on November 3 last year.

Its General Secretary Mujibur Rahman said the circular was not amended despite requests from various quarters of the government.

In a letter to the railway director general on Thursday, he also said trains across the country would be suspended if the circular was not amended by January 30.

Apart from their duty, the running staff – loco masters, train ticket checkers, and guards – used to get a special allowance equal to a day’s basic salary for every eight hours of work. But the allowance reduced when the railway authorities began using special software in 2020 to pay salaries and allowances.

Mujibur said mileage used to be considered part of the pay, but became an allowance after last year’s circular.

This has reduced our leisure benefits, which is discriminatory, he noted.

Bangladesh Railway has about 2,500 running staff members in both eastern and western divisions. If they stop work, no train will run in either division, he added.