Grameenphone union election stayed indefinitely

Authorities have postponed the election of the Grameenphone Employees Union for an indefinite period, sparking allegations of an apparent conspiracy behind it. 

The decision came from a meeting held at the office of Roksana Chowdhury, Deputy Director (Medical and Labour Welfare) of the Department of Labour, on Thursday.

Later in the day, the Election Commission, formed to hold the election, issued a notification to this effect.

They allege that with the postponement of the election, it seems there is a clear conspiracy' by the employer and the Labour Authority behind it. 

The election was scheduled to be held on December 9 this year, according to the schedule announced on November 7.

The notification, issued by the Election Commission, read: “A meeting was held on December 5 at the Department of Labour to resolve the discrepancies in the final voter list and the objections filed by the management authority and union members with the Department of Labour.

“In the meeting, the caretaker informed that obtaining certified copies of the latest court decisions of the cases related to the Grameenphone Employees Union is necessary to prepare a final voter list correctly.

“In order to prepare the final voter list correctly, the election scheduled for December 9, as per the schedule announced on November 7, has been postponed.”

The Grameenphone union was formed in 2012, but it secured registration from the government in 2019. Since its inception, the organisation has not been able to hold any election by voting through secret ballots. 

“The election was halted due to an objection filed by the management, even though they have no right to interfere in the election of the employees union,” Imrul Quais, Assistant General Secretary of GPEU told the FE.

According to Section 195 of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, “No employer or the trade union of employers or any person acting on their behalf shall impose any condition in a contract of employment restraining the right of the worker concerned to join a trade union or continue his membership of a trade union.”

Mr Quais said that a draft voter list was prepared before publishing the final one, and a reasonable periof of time was given to raise objections or request corrections to it, but the management didn’t object at that time.

Adeeba Zerin Chowdhury, Communication Secretary of the Grameenphone union, said, “It is very suspicious how they have suspened the election just four days before the vote without any court order after the labour authority finalised and approved the voter list.

Terming the sudden postponement of the election as “unfair and unlawful”, she said, “It is an example of serious violation of freedom of CBA and democracy.”

The role of the labour authority is to supervise the election as per the law, while that of the employer is to facilitate the election only without undue influence and intervention, Ms Chowdhury emphasised.

Both the authories should be neutral in their roles, but they have not been so in his case, she added.

The Grameenphone union leader claimed that there appears to be a clear conspiracy by the employer and the labour authority, breaching the laws of the land, and that they should be held accountable and punished for this.

Chief Election Commissioner Muhammad Noor-E-Alam, of the commission tasked with holding the Gramenphone union election, told the FE that the Department of Labour instructed the election to be postponed due to an objection filed by the Grameenphone authority regarding the voter list.

“We just carried out the instruction,” he added.

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