Amid the high cost pr blitz from Yunus, a number of his former employees took to the street, formed a human chain in the capital pleading Yunus to pay their arrears that consists of a huge chunk of money accrued from 5% of net profit and one year unpaid leave.
Aggrieved workers, deprived of their payments, from Grameen Telecom Trust said their repeated pleas coupled with submission of written requests in the past for payment of their dues, for as many as 12 months, before the authority on several occasions went unheeded.
In reference to the labor act, the workers said “this law enforces owners to allocate at least 5% dividend among workers while in our case this law has been gravely breached and Yunus as the chairman of the trust should not be allowed to enjoy the impunity.
“Mr. Yunus please pay our dues” reads banners held by protesters that include employees employed by Yunus’s Grameen Telecome Trust for more than 7 years.
In last November, as many as 47 employees filed cases with the third Labour Court in Dhaka against Grameen Telecom, over a claim of getting five per cent of net profit of the company under the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006.
Recently, Yunus came under criticisms after a high cost advertisement worth BDT 7.8 million published in Washington Post that contains signature from a total of 40 foreign people including Virgin Group founder Richard Branson claiming Yunus “a man of impeccable integrity”.
“While the dues have hit our families badly…hardship has plagued our lives, such hefty spending on overseas outlet clearly stands as a mockery with our plights”, added one employee.
Interestingly, Branson himself has been accused of depriving workers of their payments, during Covid time, from his organization, reads a DW report.
