Staff Correspondent: Grameenphone workers, the deprived workers, on Tuesday staged a gherao (encirclement) program at the GP House, the head office located in Bashundhara Baridhara, demanding the collection of a 5% share of the company's profits and delay penalties as part of the ongoing programs of the "Unity Council of Laid-Off and Deprived.
It is noteworthy that since December 2, 2024, the laid-off workers have been continuously organizing programs to achieve their three-point demands.
Protest meetings and demonstrations were held with the participation of over 200 laid-off and former workers from various divisions and districts of the country.
From gathering, labor leaders stated that in 2010, ignoring a government notification, Grameenphone filed a writ petition (3466/211) in the High Court against distributing 5% of its profits to the workers.
Despite a court ruling in 2014 and the workers' movement, the company was forced to distribute the principal amount of the profits in 2015.
However, the issue of delay penalties remains unresolved, as the company has prolonged the legal process using legal tactics, depriving the workers. Following this, when the workers approached the court, Grameenphone withdrew the pending writ in 2023.
It is worth mentioning that currently, nearly 2,000 cases are pending against Grameenphone in various courts on different charges. The authorities have been prolonging these cases for years using legal maneuvers and influence.
The speakers further stated that from 2010 to the present, 3,300 permanent workers have been forced to leave their jobs due to the unethical and inhumane processes employed by a few officials and union leaders, who are accomplices of the autocratic Awami League government.
During Tuesday's program, labor leaders alleged that Grameenphone's CEO, Yasser Azman, a close associate of the Awami League, has been using ministers, MPs, and the administration to indiscriminately lay off workers in the country's most profitable company, flouting the law with impunity.
They accused the company of operating on a path of corruption, depriving workers, and evading hundreds of crores of taka in government taxes.
At the end of the gathering, the speakers called on Grameenphone to sit for discussions to resolve the issue urgently. They expressed their firm resolve to escalate their movement with continuous programs and a larger agitation if their demands were not met promptly.