Ex-employees file 18 cases against Grameen Telecom for dues

Staff Reporter :

A total of 18 fresh cases have been filed with the 3rd Labour Court in Dhaka against Grameen Telecom, an organisation owned by Nobel laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus, over a claim of getting 5 per cent of net profit of the company under the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006.
Former 18 workers of the company filed the cases on August 27 demanding proportionate benefits from the workers’ profit participation fund, said their lawyers Mashiur Malek and Md Helal Uddin.
Judge of the Third Labour Court in Dhaka, Sheikh Merina Sultana, already issued two notices upon the authorities of the Grameen Telecom to explain their position over
the claims of the former employees, said the lawyers.
The Grameen Telecom authorities have been asked to comply with one notice issued for nine cases within October 16, and another notice issued for more nine cases within 18 October, according the lawyers.
Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun, a counsel of Prof Yunus, said he heard from the media and doesn’t know the update of the cases. Md Helal Uddin said, he earlier sent a legal notice to the authorities of the Grameen Telecom demanding to pay proportionate benefits to 18 former employees from the workers’ profit participation fund as per the Labour Law within three days. However, the authorities didn’t pay the dues of the employees.
According to the case statements, the 18 ex-employees demanded Tk 214.11 million as their dues from the Grameen Telecom for the year since 2006 to 2020.
Earlier 176 Grameen Telecom’s former officials withdrew all 110 cases filed against the organisation and its founder Prof Yunus in May 2022. The cases were withdrawn after a settlement over the claim of the employees for the payment of the dividends.
The organisation paid Tk 4.37 billion to its 176 former employees as their dues through an out of court settlement.
The same Labour Court on August 22 this year started testimony in the case filed against nobel laureate Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus, also Chairman of Grameen Telecom, and three others for allegedly violating the labour law.
On June 6 this year, the same court framed charge against the accused in the case filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) for allegedly violating the labour law.
The other accused in the case are- Grameen Telecom Managing Director Ashraful Hassan, Directors Nurjahan Begum and Md Shahjahan.
Inspector of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, Arifuzzaman, filed the case with Dhaka 3rd Labour Court on 9 September in 2021 against four people including Prof Yunus.