12 June, 2014Workers at M&T Reklam, a major Turkish producer of advertising and point-of-sale displays, are fighting back against the mass sackings of union members in a series of pickets at two of the company’s plants.
The pickets are in protest at the unlawfully dismissal of 45 union members at M&T Reklam’s plants in the cities of Gebze (22) and Duzce (23).
M&T Reklam began union busting after Birlesik Metal-Is, an IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, conducted a successful organizing campaign at the companzboth plants. This was in total compliance with national legislation which resulted in certificate of competence issued by the Ministry of Labour in Turkey in favor of Birlesik Metal-Is confirming the union represents majority of workers for bargaining a collective agreement.
However, instead of negotiations in good faith, workers exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of association faced extreme hostility from the company, which has turned against its own workers after they dared to organize a union.
The company’s management has threatened workers at both factories with closure should they decide to join Birlesik Metal-Is, arguing that M&T is not financially strong enough to deal with a union and therefore would need to shut down.
M&T Reklam is a company serving to major customers in the USA, Germany, Denmark and elsewhere. Its main clients are VKF Renzel GMBH in Germany, George Patton Associates Inc in the USA and Dadansk Skilte Inventar A/S in Denmark.
IndustriALL Global Union and Birlesik Metal-Is have started an online LabourStart protest campaign to pressure the employer to reinstate the sacked workers and start constructive dialogue with workers’ representatives. To support Turkish workers and send on-line message of protest to the M&T Reklam follow below the link to LabourStart campaign.
http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=2328
"M&T Reklam must recognize Birlesik Metal-Is as bargaining partner and re-instate 45 dismissed workers without any delay" said Kemal Ozkan, Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union. "Otherwise we will continue to advertise union busting of the company to whole world."