Following the earlier announced ultimatum, the regular employees of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) have declared a complete work stoppage and suspension of all passenger services from 7 AM on Friday (December 12) due to the failure to finalize and publish the comprehensive service rules by December 9, as promised.
A press release on Wednesday informed the matter to the media. Along with this, the employees have stated that they will hold peaceful sit-in protests in front of the DMTCL headquarters every day.
The DMTCL employees have expressed concerns that even after 12 years since the establishment of DMTCL in 2013, no separate service rules have been finalized for the company’s more than 900 employees. Since the commencement of commercial operations of the metro rail on December 28, 2022, these employees, who joined through open recruitment, have been working day and night, but they claim to be deprived of essential benefits such as leave, CPF, gratuity, shift allowances/ overtime, and group insurance.
The employees also mentioned that according to the directive of the Advisory Committee, the service rules were supposed to be finalized within 60 working days by September 12, 2024, but this has not been implemented. Later, on February 13, 2025, when the employees were set to launch a movement, the authorities assured that the service rules would be finalized by March 20, 2025. However, since this promise has also not been fulfilled, there is significant frustration among the employees, as the delay has lasted for 9 months.
The employees further stated that in a meeting with the Managing Director on December 10, it was communicated that the board of directors agreed on all aspects of the service rules, but Chapter Eleven, which pertains to special provisions, has been an obstacle.
This special provision concerns the integration of the metro rail project staff into DMTCL, which, according to the employees, contradicts the laws of Bangladesh and rulings of the Supreme Court. DMTCL employees claim that while the board of directors is willing to remove this controversial provision, the delay in publishing the service rules is due to pressure from the DMTCL authorities.
The employees have declared that if the service rules are not finalized by December 11, they will begin a full strike and suspend all passenger services starting from 7 AM on Friday, December 12.
While this will cause significant inconvenience to the daily millions of metro rail passengers, the employees state, "The full responsibility for this program will lie with the DMTCL authorities. We are being forced to go on strike." Their demand is clear: "Without service rules, career security, salary and benefits, and fair rights cannot be ensured, so no more assurances—only the publication of the service rules will be accepted as a solution."
