Although 110 cases have been withdrawn recently through an out of court settlement, Grameen Telecom is going to face some cases again. Some former employees who had been deprived of their dues will file the cases with the labour court this week, said their lawyer HM Shanjid Siddique.
Grameen Telecom officials had withdrawn all 110 cases filed against Grameen Telecom and its founder Professor Yunus in May 2022. The cases were withdrawn from the courts after a settlement over the claim of the employees for the payment of the dividends.
The Grameen Telecom authorities paid Tk 4.37 billion to its 176 former employees as their dues through the settlement. The employees received the money as they were entitled to get 5.0 per cent of the net profit of the company as per the Labour Law.
However, many more former employees of this organisation are deprived of the same type of dues. A total of 44 employees, who worked in the Grameen Telecom since 2006 to 2009, had submitted a written representation to the Chairman of the organisation claiming their dues as per rule, but unheeded.
Later they sent a legal notice to the Grameen Telecom authorities over their claim. Now they have already taken preparation to filed cases with the labour court in Dhaka. Lawyer HM Shanjid Siddique said he may file the cases within Thursday next.
Shahanara Begum, a former employee of the organization and also one of the plaintiffs of the cases, said, “Grameen Telecom has settled the dues of the employees who were working from 2010 to 2022. However, the employees who worked in the organization since 2002 to 2009 didn’t get any payment of the dividends.”
Although the Labour Law is applicable since 2006, about 90 employees working in the period 2006 to 2009 have not been paid their dues from the net profit of the company, read the written representation submitted to the Grameen Telecom authorities on behalf of new claimers.
Although there was a settlement over the dues of 176 workers, questions have been raised about the dealings of Grameen Telecom. The High Court on August 4 observed that it finds proper to direct the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to do needful for finding out the authenticity of the allegation of sending money to the accounts of the Trade Union and its lawyers’ in violation of relevant provisions of the Labour Act.
The High Court bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the observation after disposing of a company matter filed by ‘Grameen Telecom Sramik Karmachari Union’ against Grameen Telecom over their dues.
During the hearing on August 4, Additional Attorney General Mehedi Hasan Chowdhury representing the state said, “Since the substantive application was filed on two allegations, namely, the company has not paid the statutory payment of the workers and secondly, Board of Directors have diverted the huge amount of money from Grameen Telecom to its other sister concerns in violation of the laws, therefore, there must be an investigation is required to be done by the concerned law enforcing agency or by the ACC.”
Grameen Telecom has transferred a total of Tk 30.09 billion to its other sister concerns, said the state law officer referring a source.
