The High Court has directed Grameen Telecom, a company established by Nobel laureate economist Dr. Muhammad Yunus for the submission of a list of how much compensation has been paid to the laid off workers of the company. The company has also been asked to submit the relevant documents to the court.
The order was passed by a single High Court bench headed by Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar on Thursday, June 30, 2022.
Advocate Yusuf Ali appeared for the workers in the court while Barrister Mostafizur Rahman Khan appeared for Grameen Telecom.
During the hearing, the workers’ lawyer Yusuf Ali told the court, “On the condition of withdrawing the case, the owner of the company, Dr. Muhammad Yunus agreed with the workers to pay 437 crore taka as dues to be paid to the 176 laid off workers. But the workers have so far received Tk. 380 crore from Grameen Telecom. The rest of the money has not been paid yet.”
The High Court later directed the submission of a list of the dismissed workers who received compensation.
Earlier on February 7, an application was filed in the High Court seeking termination of Grameen Telecom owned by Dr. Muhammad Yunus. The application was filed on behalf of the Grameen Telecom workers’ union. Advocate Yusuf Ali applied on behalf of the petitioners’ organization.
It may be noted that, for a long time, workers’ dissatisfaction in Grameen Telecom has been centered on layoffs. Grameen Telecom authorities laid off 99 workers in a notice without consulting the Workers and Employees Union (B-2194) CBA. The cuts were made through a notice signed by the company’s managing director Mohammad Ashraful Hasan.
Later, 28 laid off workers filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the validity of the notice. Dr. Yunus was then summoned by the High Court. Later, a total of 176 workers joined the writ petition.