A section of Grameenphone鈥檚 former employees gathered in front of the telecom operator鈥檚 head office on Tuesday, demanding collection of a 5-per cent share of the company鈥檚 profits and delay penalties.
The protesters also said that many workers of the company were laid off forcefully and demanded their reappointment.
As part of ongoing demonstrations by Unity Council of Laid-Off and Deprived Grameenphone Workers, the former employees from different divisions and districts participated in the gathering in front of GP House in the capital Dhaka on the day.
Grameenphone had filed a writ petition in 2010 to avoid distributing 5 per cent of its profits to its workers, despite a government directive, according to a press release issued by the protesters.
鈥楢lthough the principal amount was distributed in 2015 after court intervention, the issue of delay penalties, which a worker gets when profit share is disbursed late, remains unresolved,鈥� the protesters said.
They alleged that Grameenphone had prolonged the legal process to deprive its workers of their entitlements.
Protesters demanded immediate discussions to resolve the issue and warned of continuous programmes and larger agitation if their demands were not met promptly.
Upon contact, Grameenphone said, 鈥楽ome former employees of GP have been gathering in front of the GP House over the last few days, raising various demands relating to employment and benefits. To our knowledge, most of them聽separated from Grameenphone a long time ago and have received their lawful entitlements. Also, the demands that are being raised by these individuals are currently subject matters of various cases before the courts.鈥�