Grameen Telecom employees withdraw all cases against Muhammad Yunus

All the cases filed by ‘Grameen Telecom union of workers and employees’ against Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and his organisation Grameen Telecom have been withdrawn from different courts after the parties reached an out of court settlement over the claim of the employees.

On the same ground, the company bench of the High Court division of the Supreme Court on Monday passed an order dismissing a petition filed by the employees seeking liquidation of Grameen Telecom.

Barrister Mustafizur Rahman Khan who appeared in the High Court hearing on behalf of the Grameen Telecom said, “We have reached an out of court settlement over the claim of the employees of the Grameen Telecom. On basis of that, all the cases filed in different courts against this company and Professor Yunus have been withdrawn.”

More than 176 cases were filed against Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and his organization Grameen Telecom by the members of the ‘Grameen Telecom union of workers and employees’ over their claim, said the lawyer.

Lawyer Yousuf Ali who appeared in the court on behalf of the employees said, “We have reached an agreement that about Tk 4.00 billion will be paid to the 176 employees as their dues. After that, we filed a petition with the courts including the High Court to dismiss the cases filed against Professor Yunus and Grameen Telecom.”

Yousuf earlier said, “The workers and the employees of the company are entitled to get 5 per cent of the net profit of the Grameen Telecom as per the rule. They will get it in 2006. But the company was not giving the dues to the employees. In this circumstance, they moved the Labour Court and the High Court.”

Lawyer Mustafizur Rahman earlier said, “Grameen Telecom is a non-profit organization. The law under which the employees are demanding their dues does not apply to this organization. And if they get money, then the amount of the money is not so much that they claim.”

Mahmud Hasan Feroz, Secretary of the ‘Grameen Telecom union of workers and employees’ filed a petition in February this year on behalf of the 99 members of the union seeking liquidation of Grameen Telecom.

The High Court bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar later accepted it in April for further hearing but finally dismissed it.

Without any discussion with the union, the Grameen Telecom authorities laid off 99 employees through a notice. Since then dissatisfaction has started among the employees. Later a writ petition was filed with the High Court challenging the notification.

Upon hearing the petitions the High Court also summoned Professor Yunus. Finally, the court on April 4 in 2021 directed the authorities to reinstate the employees.

Apart from this, other cases were filed at different times against Professor Yunus and other officials of the Grameen Telecom. The dismissal employees are basically filing those cases demanding their dues. The Financial Express