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15 August, 2005ICEM news release No. 01/2005
The ICEM has lodged a strong protest with senior management of Norwegian petrochemical firm Jotun A/S for sacking 50 trade unionists in Turkey, members of ICEM affiliate Petrol-Is. Jotun A/S produces powder coatings at a plant called Jotun Toz Boya Fabrikasi in Cerkezkoy, Turkey, near Istanbul.
The sackings occurred 21 December 2004 and were in retaliation to a short and successful strike by trade unionists that began in January 2004. The strike produced an acceptable collective bargaining agreement, but Turkish managers of Jotun A/S immediately began reneging on terms and conditions.
The 50 workers, together with Petrol-Is officers, have maintained a presence outside the factory’s entrances in protest to the firings. The plant’s general manager has individually contacted each of the dismissed workers and offered a return to work if the individual resigns from the union.
“Given this clear violation of inherent Trade Union rights to organize and bargain collectively, the ICEM fully supports industrial action undertaken by our affiliate, Petrol-Is,” stated General Secretary Fred Higgs in the protest letter to Jotun President and CEO Knut Almestrand.
Higgs called on the Norwegian parent firm to reinstate the sacked workers and live up to the words of the company’s own code of ethics: “The international standards issued by the United Nations and International Labour Organisation are minimum requirements for the way we treat our employees and other stakeholders.”
Turkish management of Jotun A/S is in clear violation of ILO Core Conventions 87 and 98, the legal right of workers to organize and bargain collectively.
“We tried many times to negotiate the differences with management, but nothing resulted from the talks,” said Petrol-Is General Secretary Mustafa Cavdar. “Local management has systematically violated the collective agreement, tried to neutralize the union and now has attempted to de-unionize the workers.”
In 2003, Jotun’s Turkish management at another plant—a nearby paint factory called Jotun Boya Sanayi ve Ticaret A/S—provoked similar workplace unrest by also engaging in anti-worker, anti-union conduct.