OUR CORRESPONDENT, Chattogram

Daily wage workers of Chattogram Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) staged a demonstration yesterday, wearing shrouds as they protested a new recruitment circular they claim undermines their long-standing demand for regularisation of their jobs.

Over 100 workers gathered in front of the Wasa main gate around noon, accusing the authorities of attempting to sideline temporary employees despite a pending High Court case involving their employment status.

The demonstrators alleged that Wasa issued a fresh recruitment circular without addressing the fate of more than 150 daily wage workers who have been serving the utility for years.

They termed the move “planned and discriminatory,” saying it directly contradicts earlier assurances that existing temporary workers would be regularised before any new appointments.

“We have long been demanding regular posts. We were told that contractual staffers would be adjusted against vacant positions and only then would new posts be advertised,” said Mamunur Rashid, one of the protesting workers. “But issuing a new circular while the case is still ongoing is nothing short of defying the High Court.”

The protest continued from 2:00pm to 5:00pm, causing significant disruption at the entrance of the Wasa building.

When contacted, Chattogram Wasa Deputy Secretary Nazim Uddin said workers’ salaries had already been increased under the new circular and that they had initially accepted the revised structure. “Now they are demanding direct recruitment,” he said.

“But under the law, there is no provision to directly appoint those hired on a daily-wage basis,” he added.