Staff Reporter :
Employees of State-run mobile phone operator Teletalk have begun indefinite work stoppage demanding increase in salary and allowances.
The protest is going on under the banner of Teletalk Employees’ Association at Teletalk Head Office in city’s Gulshan area from Monday.
Abu Raihan Mohammad Al Kawser, President of Teletalk Employees’ Association, said, “We have been demanding our pay hike by 100 per cent like other government organisations for over a year. But the authorities were dilly-dallying since the beginning. This is why we have to hold indefinite work stoppage.”
On condition of anonymity, a protester told The New Nation, “We do not want to stage work stoppage. But we were compelled to go for the movement. If the work stoppage goes on for another one or two days, Teletalk operation would be stalled.”
Teletalk’s Managing Director Giasuddin Ahmed was not in his office during the protest. Several times he was tried to contact over phone, but he did not receive the call.
Earlier on August 21, Teletalk employees had also observed a work stoppage programme demanding increase in salary and allowance.
State Minister for Posts and Telecommunication Tarana Halim had asked the authorities to take necessary measure to raise the pay by 100 per cent.
However, the Teletalk employees said no measures have been taken yet. On a spot visit to Teletalk office, this reporter found that around 300 employees are participating in the work stoppage programme.
There were no employees seen at Teletalk’s customer care center at Gulshan. Currently, there are a total of 550 permanent employees in the company.
