9 October, 2012IndustriALL sends letter of protest as the Grand National Assembly of Turkey is considering a draft Collective Labour Relations’ Act that replaces two laws in vigour despite criticism from the global union movement and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
UPDATE:
With clear and constant trade union rights violations, Turkey as often the target of IndustriALL Global Union action. One of the major factors is anti-labour and union legislation which is clearly in violations of fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Discussions on modifications of union legislation had begun last year, and the global union movement, including founders of IndustriALL, sent a joint letter to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging him to make the necessary changes so the new draft bill would comply with international standards. In addition to this, the ILO issued a memorandum which found a series of points among the proposed amendments that clearly are in violation of fundamental conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Along with regular violations on freedom of association cases, this year, for more than ten months, Turkish trade unions cannot exercise their rights of collective bargaining, and IndustriALL Global Union filed a complaint against Turkish government at the ILO.
After it started its official sessions at the beginning of October, the Turkish Parliament started to discuss new union legislation, but IndustriALL Global Union believes it is very far from complying with international labour standards.
In a letter to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, IndustriALL General Secretary Jyrki Raina said: “The Collective Labour Relations’ Act in the Parliament does not cover free exercise of fundamental trade union rights, the right to organize, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike with its provisions breaching ILO standards as well as EU norms. We strongly urge you to make necessary revisions in the draft bill within a dialogue with the whole union movement in Turkey.”
Turkish unions, including IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliates, march and demonstrate in front of the Turkish Parliament on 9 October in the capital Ankara protesting against the draft union legislation and demanding a legislation with genuine rights and freedoms.