Published: 12:30 AM, 04 September 2026
Journalists demand immediate formation of 10th wage board
Journalist leaders on Thursday demanded immediate formation of the 10th Wage Board and declaration of an interim dearness allowance for media workers and newspaper employees.
They made the demand at a rally organised by the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) and Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) in front of the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka, BSS reports. BFUJ Secretary General Muhammed Kader Gani Chowdhury addressed the rally as chief guest, while DUJ President Md Shahidul Islam presided. DUJ Joint General Secretary Didarul Alam Didar conducted the programme.
The speakers said journalists are facing an acute financial crisis amid rising prices of essential commodities and increasing living costs. They said many media outlets are yet to implement the Ninth Wage Board Award, announced in 2019, citing legal and administrative complications. They also criticized the delay in forming an implementation committee for a new Wage Board despite repeated demands.
BFUJ Secretary General said the government has recently increased salaries of government employees by 100 to 142 percent, and journalists should also get a similar adjustment through the immediate announcement and implementation of the 10th Wage Board.
He said journalists are struggling to meet rising expenses as prices of electricity, fuel, rice, lentils, flour, vegetables, clothing and other essentials have increased significantly.
"Senior journalists are dying, but they cannot even pay their hospital bills," he said, adding that some long-serving journalists cannot afford ambulance fares to take the bodies of deceased colleagues to their village homes.
He said government employees enjoy various facilities, including two weekly holidays, while journalists generally get only one day off.
Considering such differences, journalists' pay scales had historically been kept higher than those of government employees, he added.
The BFUJ leader urged the Prime Minister and the Ministries of Information and Finance to announce the 10th Wage Board without delay.
He also called upon media owners to ensure payment of salaries according to the Wage Board.
Referring to the 39-point demand placed by BFUJ and DUJ, he said, "No Wage Board, No Media" was their foremost demand.
He warned that journalists would take to the streets to secure their rights if media owners continued to violate Wage Board provisions.
DUJ General Secretary Khurshid Alam, Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) President Abu Saleh Akon, former DRU President Mursalin Nomani and other journalist leaders addressed the rally.
