Terming the latest 9th Wage Board Award "unrealistic" and "unacceptable", Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) has demanded its review for the sake of survival of the newspaper industry.
It said most of the proposals put forward by NOAB to the Ministry of Information, Wage Board and Cabinet Committee have not been taken into account.
NOAB has noticed with great sadness the publication of a gazette notification on the recommendations of the 9th Newspaper Wage Board which did not take into consideration the opinion of newspaper owners, it added.
"This is more agonising that a writ is pending with the Supreme Court challenging the legality of the Wage Board formation," according to a statement issued by NOAB on September 17.
It said all scales have been increased by 80 to 85 per cent in the gazetted notification, which is way above other corresponding scales in the industrial sector of the country.
In a meeting held on 16 September 2019, NOAB termed the 9th Wage Board unrealistic and said no newspaper is capable of implementing the 9th wage board.
The meeting was attended by Tasmima Hossain, Editor of Ittefaq, A. K. Azad, Publisher of Dainik Samakal, Mahfuz Anam, Editor & Publisher of The Daily Star, Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, Editor-in-Chief of Dainik Manabzamin, Tarik Sujat, Printer of Bhorer Kagoj, Dewan Hanif Mahbub, Editor & Publisher of The Daily Bonik Barta, Shah Husain Imam, Editor of The Financial Express, Altamash Kabir, Editor & Publisher of Dainik Sangbad, ASM Shahidullah Khan, Chairman of Editorial Board, New Age, and Matiur Rahman, Editor & Publisher of Daily Prothom Alo.
NOAB in its statement also said although the pay scale for journalists is determined by the government-formed Wage Board, the newspaper industry has to earn by itself to meet the cost of its implementation.
"Pertinent to mention that the government doesn't provide any special assistance or grant to meet the increased cost of its implementation," the statement added.
It also said newspaper owners have always tried to ensure the financial security of the journalists and pay the increased salary and allowances in the past.
"Even then, some newspapers have tried their level best to implement the government-announced Wage Board Royedad," according to the statement.
However, the newspaper industry is passing the hardest time in the history of the country.
Both circulation and income from advertisement have been sliding down continually. On the other hand, the government advertisement rate has always been very low, the statement noted.
Besides, a large amount of advertisement revenue always remains pending with the government departments. The industry has to pay tax and VAT in every step as well.
NOAB noted that they have been struggling to survive now; many are running on subsidy from the owners or even failing to pay regularly.
"In such situation, implementation of the 9th wage board shall only create a multifaceted crisis that the industry is incapable to embrace," the statement noted.
Over these years, NOAB has communicated this crisis verbally and in writing to the Ministry of Information, Wage Board and Cabinet Committee, it said.
NOAB is not against the Wage Board for journalists. "Despite a plethora of problems, we have participated in the Wage Board activities," it said.
"We have requested the government to make it realistic both for journalists and the owners."
The statement said among the government-recognised 42 industries, pay scales of 38 industries are not even nearer to the 8th wage board.
The 9th wage board has increased the pay scale significantly. It is even higher than the government employee pay scale, it said.
Under the 9th Wage Board, the lowest grade is BDT 35,670 while the comparable government scale is BDT 15,360 with a difference of over BDT 20,320. This is very unrealistic in the context of Bangladesh, it mentioned.
A journalist having a bachelor's or master's degree will draw a gross salary of over BDT 67,112 in grade 3. A government officer enters into service in grade 9 with a salary of BDT 35,600 while a university lecturer gets BDT 37,305.
Having the same academic degree, a journalist will get BDT 30,000-31,000 more compared to a first-class gazetted officer, it mentioned.
Journalists are likely to get 1.5-2.0 times higher salary compared to a gazetted officer almost in every scale. Even multinational companies fall behind in some cases. No newspaper can pay the increased salary and allowances.
The 9th Wage Board, besides increasing pay, has also raised various fringe benefits, it said.
General transport allowance has been raised by 100 per cent, professional conveyance for journalists and business professionals have been raised by 71 per cent and 100 per cent respectively.
Besides, some of the sundry allowances that NOAB had requested to be expunged have not only been retained but increased in some cases, it said.
It said, "We must mention the Cabinet Committee's good gesture in bringing asymmetry between the Bangladesh Labour Law of 2006, Income Tax Ordinance of 1984 and other industries in matters of income tax and gratuity."
The legal weakness that was there has been amended.
Besides, the suggestions put forward by NOAB have not been taken into consideration are given as follows.
* There are only six grades under Newspaper Wage Board compared to 20 for government services. In banks and insurance companies, there are 18 to 22 grades. In line with these, NOAB had proposed 18 grades for the journalists.
* A recreation leave of 30 days in every three years has been provided with a net pay of one-month gross salary which is unknown anywhere in the government or semi-government sphere.
* Under the 9th Wage Bard, house rent has been fixed at 65 per cent of basic pay. According to Article 33(A) of the Income Tax Ordinance, house rent up to 50 per cent is tax exempted. The remaining 15 per cent is taxable.
NOAB had, therefore, proposed the house rent to be fixed at 50 per cent of the basic pay.
Taking all these facts into consideration, no newspapers shall be able to implement the 9th Wage Board.
NOAB feels that to keep the newspaper industry alive, the government must reconsider the 9th Wage Board Royedad and seriously consider the recommendations made by NOAB.
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