Services of telecom operator Robi’s customer care helpline has been suspended since Friday morning following an agitation movement by its employees.
The employees have stopped attending calls and were reportedly staging a demonstration on the road behind Mascot Plaza in Uttara.
Sajid Khan, a leader of the employees’ association, told the Dhaka Tribune that Robi had contracted an independent third party firm named Genex in July this year to maintain its operations.
He alleged that Genex had curtailed the facilities of the Robi employees, triggering a growing sense of uncertainty and dissatisfaction among them.
The protesting employees alleged that the third party firm did not allow sick leave, counted delays as absences, forced followers of other religions to attend office during festivals and had not evaluated the employees’ performances this year.
Sajid also said all of the 300 on-duty employees of the mobile operator’s customer care division had taken to the street, and the movement would continue until their 11-point demands were met.
Their demands include extending the job contract period to one year from the existing three months, transport facilities, and promoting part-time employees to full-time positions.
However, the employees’ association had not yet decided to move legally regarding the situation or their demands, Sajid said.
Pramad Ranjan Karmakar, vice-president of Robi’s market operations division, and Faisal Imtiaz Shams, vice-president of the human resources division, had reportedly tried to negotiate with the agitated employees.
However, the protesters refused to talk to them and said no discussion could take place until their demands were met.