Bangladesh Railway's running staff on Sunday suspended their strike they announced to begin from Monday following assurance from the government to meet their demands.
Confirming the matter, Bangladesh Railway Running Staff and Sramik Karmachari Samity General Secretary Md Mazibur Rahman told The Business Post that they had a meeting with the high officials of Railways Ministry.
“Officials assured us to restore all the facilities which have been cut recently as per a government circular,” he said.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Railway Running Staff and Sramik Karmachari Samity announced the strike from midday on January 31 demanding the resumption of mileage-based payments and other facilities.
The association demanded the payments and facilities be resumed by amending the circular issued by the finance ministry on November 3 last year.
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 if they performed overtime duty after eight hours of work. But the allowance was reduced when the railway authorities began using special software in 2020 to pay salaries and allowances.
Mazibur 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 told earlier.
Bangladesh Railway has about 2,500 running staff members in both eastern and western divisions, he added.
