Unrest over job cuts at Banglalink

BTRC to ensure job securities for telecom employees

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will play active role to ensure job securities for the employees in telecom sector, BTRC chairman Shahjahan Mahmood told The Independent yesterday.
Informing that he is well aware of the unrest over job cuts at Banglalink, he said: “We want to find a solution to the problem through discussion. We also work for protecting the rights of the employees.”
Banglalink has announced a scheme for  self retirement of employees. It is also terminating employees from their jobs. Banglalink authorities were compelled to keep offices shut in the face of dissatisfaction of the employees.
On Sunday, leaders of the Banglalink Employees' Union (BLEU)   placed a six-point charter of demands at Banglalink CEO Erik Aas’s office, with an ultimatum of 24 hours to meet their demands.
However, BLEU president Ujjal Paul told The Independent yesterday: “We have trust in BTRC. Hoping a fair settlement of Banglalink’s unfair and unjust treatment of its employees from the BTRC we are not going for further programmes.”
The six demands were: the authorities must make all arrangements to ensure better treatment for Mostaque Ahmed, who was assaulted; he must be sent abroad for treatment, if necessary; the employees who assaulted Ahmed should be dismissed; senior engineer Shariful Islam, a leader of BLEU, should be reinstated to his post; and punishment should be meted out to those involved in the process of job cuts at Banglalink. The employees also demanded that self-retirement should not be effective until June.
In response to the BLEU’s demands, the CEO said on Tuesday the authorities would show zero tolerance to those employees who create unrest.
Later, Banglalink authorities went to BTRC chairman on the same day, who assured them that he was well aware of the situation and would take proper action after consulting both groups, disclosed BLEU president Ujjal Paul.
Trouble first erupted at Banglalink on Thursday, when the company suddenly dismissed senior engineer Shariful Islam, a leader of BLEU. Later, irate employees confined the chief technical officer, Perihane Elhamy, in her office for nine hours. She managed to leave the office only after the police and the management assured the agitators that the matter would be looked into.
The employees tried to gather in front of the company’s head office at Gulshan to hold protests. At one point, officials of the human resource department called the union’s organising secretary, Mostaque Ahmed, for a meeting, and then allegedly harassed him. They interrogated Ahmed and, at one point, he collapsed on the ground. He was admitted to a private hospital.

Unrest over job cuts at Banglalink

BTRC to ensure job securities for telecom employees

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will play active role to ensure job securities for the employees in telecom sector, BTRC chairman Shahjahan Mahmood told The Independent yesterday. Informing that he is well aware of the unrest over job cuts at Banglalink, he said: We want to find a solution to the problem through discussion. We also work for protecting the rights of the employees. Banglalink has announced a scheme for self retirement of employees. It is also terminating employees from their jobs. Banglalink authorities were compelled to keep offices shut in the face of dissatisfaction of the employees. On Sunday, leaders of the Banglalink Employees Union (BLEU) placed a six-point charter of demands at Banglalink CEO Erik Aass office, with an ultimatum of 24 hours to meet their demands. However, BLEU president Ujjal Paul told The Independent yesterday: We have trust in BTRC. Hoping a fair settlement of Banglalinks unfair and unjust treatment of its employees from the BTRC we are not going for further programmes. The six demands were: the authorities must make all arrangements to ensure better treatment for Mostaque Ahmed, who was assaulted; he must be sent abroad for treatment, if necessary; the employees who assaulted Ahmed should be dismissed; senior engineer Shariful Islam, a leader of BLEU, should be reinstated to his post; and punishment should be meted out to those involved in the process of job cuts at Banglalink. The employees also demanded that self-retirement should not be effective until June. In response to the BLEUs demands, the CEO said on Tuesday the authorities would show zero tolerance to those employees who create unrest. Later, Banglalink authorities went to BTRC chairman on the same day, who assured them that he was well aware of the situation and would take proper action after consulting both groups, disclosed BLEU president Ujjal Paul. Trouble first erupted at Banglalink on Thursday, when the company suddenly dismissed senior engineer Shariful Islam, a leader of BLEU. Later, irate employees confined the chief technical officer, Perihane Elhamy, in her office for nine hours. She managed to leave the office only after the police and the management assured the agitators that the matter would be looked into. The employees tried to gather in front of the companys head office at Gulshan to hold protests. At one point, officials of the human resource department called the unions organising secretary, Mostaque Ahmed, for a meeting, and then allegedly harassed him. They interrogated Ahmed and, at one point, he collapsed on the ground. He was admitted to a private hospital.