Norway’s National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct (NCP), an independent body established and funded by the Norwegian government, has opened a six-month dialogue between Telenor ASA and 21 former Grameenphone employees and union leaders over allegations of labour rights violations at the Bangladeshi telecom operator.
The complaint centres on allegations of union-linked dismissals, forced exits and prolonged legal proceedings involving employees who attempted to form a trade union in 2012, according to the NCP’s official initial assessment document.
The NCP said the allegations require further examination under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines, while stressing that it has not made any finding that Telenor committed violations.
The body responsible for overseeing responsible business conduct by Norwegian companies will facilitate discussions between the two sides. If the dialogue fails, it will decide on further steps.
In the formal complaint submitted by the union, the complainants alleged that Grameenphone dismissed more than 200 employees shortly after workers applied to register the Grameenphone Employees Union (GPEU) on 23 July 2012.
They claimed several union leaders, including the president, vice-president and communication secretary, were among those terminated and that the dismissals violated workers’ right to organise under Bangladesh’s labour law.
The former employees alleged that Grameenphone used a restructuring programme to remove union supporters and introduced an assessment process that targeted senior employees and workers involved in union activities.
They also accused the company of pressuring terminated employees to accept voluntary resignation packages, claiming that those who refused faced termination and risked losing benefits and experience certificates.
The complainants further alleged that prolonged legal proceedings prevented them from receiving an effective remedy. The cases, filed with the Labour Court in 2012, remain unresolved despite the Appellate Division declaring them maintainable in 2023.
They filed the complaint against Telenor, which owns 55.8 per cent of Grameenphone, arguing that the Norwegian telecom group failed to fulfil its responsibility as a multinational parent company to conduct due diligence and address alleged labour rights impacts.
The NCP accepted allegations related to union-linked dismissals, prolonged court proceedings and access to remedy for further review.
It said issues concerning freedom of association, the right to organise and alleged denial of remedy were relevant under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct.
However, it rejected the part of the complaint related to Workers’ Profit Participation Fund (WPPF) claims, saying the matter should be resolved through ongoing legal proceedings in Bangladesh.
“The NCP has made no determination as to whether the company in this specific instance has observed the recommendations of the Guidelines,” the body said in its initial assessment published on Thursday.
Telenor rejects allegations
In its formal reply to the complaint, Telenor rejected the allegations and said the complaint should not proceed.
The company said the 2012 employee separations were part of a business transformation initiative driven by changing industry conditions and were unrelated to trade union activities.
Telenor said Grameenphone had not received formal notification of a union registration application before the terminations and that employees were selected through a transparent process involving written assessments and interviews.
The company also denied deliberately delaying court proceedings, saying the dispute was already being handled by Bangladeshi courts and that the NCP process risked duplicating existing legal procedures.
Telenor said it was not involved in individual employment decisions and learnt about the process through Grameenphone’s board discussions.
It also pointed to its engagement with the Grameenphone Employees Union and UNI Global Union, saying it had maintained dialogue on labour issues.
Workers welcome move, GP says no wrongdoing established
Adeeba Zerin Chowdhury, communication secretary of the Grameenphone Employees Union, welcomed the NCP decision, saying workers had exhausted domestic avenues.
“For years, we have witnessed an alleged pattern at Grameenphone where labour laws are violated, workers are pressured or removed, and disputes are pushed into a justice system burdened by prolonged delays,” Chowdhury told TIMES.
She said workers approached the International Labour Organization in 2022 after failing to resolve the dispute locally.
Grameenphone said the NCP decision should not be interpreted as a finding that the company committed wrongdoing.
“This process is about offering dialogue between the parties, not establishing that something wrong has occurred,” the company said.
Grameenphone said the employee separation cases remained subject to ongoing legal proceedings in Bangladesh and noted that the NCP had rejected the WPPF-related claim.
