Grameen Telecom is run as a charity and not a company. Also, before the amendment in 2013, the telecom sector was not included in the Labor Act. Due to this, the entire profit at that time was spent on public welfare. Therefore no worker working here till 2006-12 is entitled to 5 percent dividend of net profit as per Section 234 of Labor Act.
Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the Grameen Telecom Limited Chairman informed so in his testimony in the Third Labor Court of Dhaka on Monday.
Although the first side of the case wanted a one-sided hearing, he answered as a two-sided party. It is said that the workers of Grameen Telecom Limited who have filed the case will not get this facility as per the labor law. The owners do not spend this money either. The entire amount of dividend was spent on the welfare of the workers. But those who joined after 2013 will be given this benefit.
Lawyer Barrister Abdullah Alam Mamun filed this reply on his behalf in the court. Barrister AHM Sanjid Siddiqui was on behalf of the workers.
The court fixed April 30 for hearing and order for the next hearing in this regard.
However, after this, Dr. Muhammad Yunus will be heard in two more cases on May 9.
Earlier, on November 9, the Chairman of Grameen Telecom Limited demanded the company’s dividend according to the labor law. A case was filed against Muhammad Yunus and Managing Director Ashraful Hasan in the Labor Court.
According to the labor law, 8 former officers of ‘Grameen Telecom’ filed this case as plaintiffs, claiming the company’s dividend. The cases were filed in the Third Labor Court of Dhaka on November 9. On that day, barrister HM Sanjid Siddiqui, the plaintiff’s lawyer in the case, said that seven officers and one employee were working in Grameen Telecom from 2006 to 2009. They were deprived of the company’s dividend in the financial year 2006-2009.
Meanwhile, 110 cases were filed against internationally renowned economist and Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus. In 2017, 176 employees filed these cases as plaintiffs. However, the cases were withdrawn following payment of the amount demanded by them. But the anti-corruption commission (ACC) has started an inquiry into the case, claiming that Yusuf Ali Akand, the mediator in this case, took an unusual amount of fees. In that search by ACC, some people including the Managing Director of Muhammad Yunus’ company Grameen Telecom were interrogated. If necessary Dr. Muhammad Yunus may also be interrogated, hinted the agency.