They faced intimidation, firings, and numerous other obstacles to organizing, but workers at Banglalink, a subsidiary of Amsterdam-based telecoms company VEON, won the registration for their union from the Bangladeshi government on Monday.

The legal registration came one day before the Dutch National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD concluded that VEON and its subsidiary failed to follow the OECD Guidelines in Bangladesh.

The NCP’s statement, released 11 February, was sparked by a complaint made by UNI Global union in 2016. UNI Global Union’s complaint alleged that the company harassed workers to suppress organizing with the Banglalink Employees Union (BLEU).  Despite the difficult conditions, more than 30 per cent of the workers indicated support for the union, the threshold required under Bangladeshi law.  But registration was withheld based upon the company’s unproven claim that there was a “mismatch” in the signatures, holding up registration for 4 years. In its decision, the NCP recommended several significant labour reforms to bring the company in compliance with the guidelines and promote freedom of association.

Christy Hoffman, General Secretary of UNI, said [...] "the Dutch NCP should be commended for dedicating extensive time and research to this case. Its job was made even harder by the fact that VEON became the first Dutch company to refuse mediation, a key part of the OECD process." ...