News

July 12, Switzerland - UNI Global Union, the international trade union federation representing 20 million workers in the services sector, has filed an OECD complaint in the Netherlands against Dutch telecommunications company VimpelCom. The complaint relates to union busting and bad labour practices at Bangladesh’s second biggest telecommunications company, Banglalink, which is owned by VimpelCom.  Banglalink has engaged in anti-union behavior including harassment, intimidation and threats, and the ITUC  has already filed a complaint against the government of Bangladesh to the ILO’s Committee on Freedom of Association.  Based in Amsterdam, VimpelCom is partly owned by Norwegian ICTS giant Telenor.

When Banglalink employees submitted an application to register the Banglalink Employees Union (BLEU), the company retaliated. A union leader was immediately fired and two others have been forced to resign due to the pressure of intimidation and persecution. The application for registration was rejected on vague grounds, and both the company and the government oppose the registration of a union with support from 35% of Banglalink employees. The legal requirement for the registration of a trade union in Bangladesh is 30%.

Banglalink’s  anti-union stance violates the basic standards of the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. It demonstrates that VimpelCom has failed to adequately implement systems and safeguards to ensure that workers’ rights are respected at all levels of its global operations.

The National Contact Point of the OECD in the Netherlands should help resolve these complaints through mediation and help provide a framework in which workers’ rights and freedom of association are respected at all levels of VimpelCom’s international operations.

“There is no excuse for VimpelCom’s refusal to allow a union in Bangladesh,” said UNI Global Union Deputy General Secretary Christy Hoffman. “We have tried to persuade the company to step up and take responsibility for the disgraceful actions of its Banglalink management, but it has not engaged. We have therefore asked the Dutch NCP to consider our case concerning VimpelCom’s failure to meet its obligations  under the OECD Guidelines.”

“The situation at Banglalink is deteriorating quickly, and we call upon VimpelCom to urgently intervene and restore some decency and fairness  at this workplace. Their Bangladeshi employees are professionals and they are serious about their work.  They should not be treated so poorly." 

This is not an isolated incident – the government crackdown on trade unions in Bangladesh has led to union leaders all over the country being threatened, harassed and bullied.

At Grameenphone (GP), the largest telecommunications operator in Bangladesh, the government has repeatedly denied the registration of GPEU on spurious technicalities. Grameenphone is owned by the giant Norwegian multinational Telenor. GPEU originally filed for registration in 2012 after gaining the support of the majority of workers at GP.

More than two years later, the Labour Tribunal ruled in favour of the union, and ordered the union to be registered.  Grameenphone appealed the ruling and argued that 90% of the 3,000 workers were ‘managers’ and therefore ineligible for union membership under Bangladeshi labour law. The Labour Tribunal recently ruled once again in the union’s favour and ordered the labour directorate to register the union. UNI Global union urges the company to accept this ruling and make no further efforts to deny these workers their union.

Alan Tate, Head of UNI ICTS, commented, “This is a significant ruling that will not only give Grameenphone workers the right to a union, but will set a precedent for other workers in the sector - including those at Banglalink”.

For further information please contact:

Richard Elliott – Director of Communications

Tel: +41 79 794 97 09

Richard.Elliott@uniglobalunion.org