A tripartite arbitration meeting was held at the Directorate of Labor on Wednesday regarding the ‘settlement of industrial dispute’ in the case of illegal retrenchment of workers against Grameenphone. Director (Trade Union and Arbitration) SM Enamul Haque presided over the meeting held at the ‘Samjhota’ meeting room of the Directorate in the morning. Under the direction of Assistant Director (Trade Union Branch) Mosharraf Hossain, Deputy Director (Trade Union) Masuda Sultana and five representatives of Grameenphone Employees Union (GPEU) and two defendants attended the meeting.
However, Grameenphone CEO Yasir Azman was absent from the meeting. Although no one appeared on behalf of the accused company, the Shalish Board heard the statement of the plaintiff. Grameenphone Employees Union Acting President Fazlul Haque, Vice President Rasulul Amin Murad, General Secretary Matuz Ali Qadri, Vice General Secretary Imrul Kayesh were present.
While the meeting was going on inside, several Grameenphone layoffs were present outside. Victim Shahriar Murtaza and Milan Mondal participated in the hearing. Many of the defendants present termed the non-appearance of a representative from Grameenphone as a moral defeat and disrespect for the law.
On the other hand, after the hearing, the Director (Trade Union and Arbitration) of the Directorate of Labor, SM Enamul Haque, said that the Directorate of Labor called this arbitration in view of the judgment of the Appellate Division of the Hon’ble Supreme Court as the collective bargaining representative of Grameenphone. This is the first arbitration meeting convened to resolve the industrial dispute arising out of the illegal lay-off of 180 Grameenphone Limited workers. Here the representatives of the owners are absent among the three parties. As a result, we will call them to the arbitration meeting again. A second meeting letter will be sent within a week. We expect all parties to attend the next arbitration meeting in compliance with the law.