Chaldal workers protest unpaid salaries, dishonoured cheques

Employees of online grocery platform Chaldal demonstrated in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka yesterday, demanding payment of outstanding salaries and other dues.

The protesters alleged that around 2,800 workers have salary arrears. They also claimed that the company had issued cheques to hundreds of employees against unpaid dues, but the cheques were dishonoured owing to insufficient funds.

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The demonstration came within a week of dozens of employees, mostly from Jashore, travelling to Dhaka and staging a protest at the company’s Banani headquarters, demanding payment of arrear salaries of up to six months for some employees.

At yesterday’s rally, Saiful Hasan Tushar, a former assistant director of operations at Chaldal, said his salary payments became irregular from December last year and that he was later terminated without prior notice.

“To settle my dues and unpaid salary, they gave me a cheque for Tk 514,000. When I went to clear it, the cheque bounced,” he said.

Tushar said Chaldal management called affected employees to its office on September 19 and proposed paying only 10 to 14 percent of their overdue basic salaries, excluding gratuity and other benefits.

“We asked for 60 percent, with the remainder cleared in a month, but they declined,” he said.

“They have repeatedly called us and given new dates, four to five times now, without clearing our money. With our backs to the wall, we have been forced to come here to seek intervention from the government.”

The latest demonstration follows months of recurring protests over unpaid wages. Employees at Chaldal’s Jashore operation also protested over unpaid wages in March.

Addressing the protests, Chaldal CEO Waseem Alim said the company was going through an “unprecedented liquidity crisis” and acknowledged the hardship caused by outstanding salaries.

He said the company was working with employees, authorities and other stakeholders to resolve the issue, adding that legitimate claims for dues were not in question.

“We have cleared a lot of them and are also clearing salaries as we speak. Currently, a lot of employees have accepted a settlement.”