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2 March, 2000Turkish shipyards have been taken over by the military and all workers ordered to quit their union, Türkiye Dok, Gemi-Is.
TURKEY: Türkiye Dok, Gemi-Is, the IMF's Turkish affiliate organising workers in the country's port, dock and shipbuilding industry, is facing the loss of their total membership and closure of the union.
As a result of the disastrous earthquake on August 17, 1999, which completely destroyed the main naval shipyards in Gölcük, the government approved a decree which allowed the military to take over the Pendik (Istanbul) and Alaybey (Izmir) shipyards, along with the workforce and infrastructure. Since then, government officials say that due to the "new status" of these shipyards, a sectoral change has taken place and all workers at the Pendik and Alaybey shipyards must give up their union membership. This alone accounts for 2,500 workers, in addition to those workers who lost their jobs in Gölcük, and the government is now attempting to apply the same measures as well to the shipyards at Haliç and Camialti (Istanbul).
Thus, the workers can no longer be represented by a trade union, and Türkiye Dok, Gemi-Is, having lost all its approximate 6,000 members, has no more subscription income and faces probable closure. Although the union is pursuing the case in the courts, it is not optimistic about the outcome.
Both Marcello Malentacchi, IMF general secretary, and Max Baehring, president of the IMF Shipbuilding Department, have written to President Demirel of Turkey and to all appropriate government ministers condemning their actions. The IMF reminded them of Turkey's ratification of ILO Conventions Nos. 87 and 98, on freedom of association and the right to organise and bargain collectively, and their duty to see to it that trade union rights are fully respected. A letter has also been sent to the president of the Commission of the European Union asking him to intervene.
As a result of the disastrous earthquake on August 17, 1999, which completely destroyed the main naval shipyards in Gölcük, the government approved a decree which allowed the military to take over the Pendik (Istanbul) and Alaybey (Izmir) shipyards, along with the workforce and infrastructure. Since then, government officials say that due to the "new status" of these shipyards, a sectoral change has taken place and all workers at the Pendik and Alaybey shipyards must give up their union membership. This alone accounts for 2,500 workers, in addition to those workers who lost their jobs in Gölcük, and the government is now attempting to apply the same measures as well to the shipyards at Haliç and Camialti (Istanbul).
Thus, the workers can no longer be represented by a trade union, and Türkiye Dok, Gemi-Is, having lost all its approximate 6,000 members, has no more subscription income and faces probable closure. Although the union is pursuing the case in the courts, it is not optimistic about the outcome.
Both Marcello Malentacchi, IMF general secretary, and Max Baehring, president of the IMF Shipbuilding Department, have written to President Demirel of Turkey and to all appropriate government ministers condemning their actions. The IMF reminded them of Turkey's ratification of ILO Conventions Nos. 87 and 98, on freedom of association and the right to organise and bargain collectively, and their duty to see to it that trade union rights are fully respected. A letter has also been sent to the president of the Commission of the European Union asking him to intervene.