Court rules in favour of Turkish workers

TURKEY: Readers may remember that following the disastrous earthquake that hit Turkey in August 1999, the Turkish government approved a decree allowing the military to take over the country's major shipyards, including the workforces and infrastructures. The government then declared that due to the new, so-called military status of these shipyards, workers had to give up their union membership with Türkiye Dok-Gemi-Is, an IMF affiliate. One of these shipyards was Pendik Shipyard, near Istanbul. It was taken over by the Turkish naval forces that same year, 1999, and the members of Dok-Gemi-Is working at Pendik were told to resign from this union and instead take membership in Harb-Is, the war equipment workers' union, which refuses the right to wage legal strike action. 51 workers refused this situation and were fired. In what appears to be promising news, Dok-Gemi-Is has now informed the IMF that 18 of these 51 workers have won a legal battle in the Kartal Labour Court in Istanbul in which the court decided that they have the right to receive an indemnity of one year's wages plus the annual interest. The legal process for the other dismissed workers is still ongoing. According to the Turkish Constitution, no one can be forced to resign membership in a trade union. The government has ratified ILO Convention No. 87 on the freedom of association.