Secretariat employees observe 1 hour work abstention

Employees from various ministries and departments at the Secretariat began a one-hour work abstention at 10:00 am today (Thursday), demanding the repeal of the Public Service (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025.

On Wednesday, leaders of the Bangladesh Secretariat Officers and Employees Unity Forum announced that staff at the Secretariat would abstain from work for one hour every day until their demand is met. 

The Unity Forum also called on all field-level offices, including the offices of divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners, to observe the same work abstention during the same hour.

They further warned that if the demand is not fulfilled, new protest programmes will be announced after 31 May.

At around 10:15 am today, Unity Forum co-chairman Badiul Kabir told Prothom Alo that the abstention was being observed across various ministries and departments.

He added that they would soon gather in the library of the Ministry of Public Administration.

Upon visiting the ministry’s library, this correspondent found a significant number of employees assembled there. However, in some offices, a few employees were still seen at their desks.

The protests began after the Advisory Council of the interim government, in a meeting on 22 May, approved a draft of the Public Service (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, amending the Government Service Act, 2018.

Since then, employees from different ministries and departments have voiced strong opposition to the ordinance.

Despite the protests, the government formally promulgated the ordinance on 25 May evening. Secretariat employees have been demonstrating against it since 24 May, calling for its immediate repeal.