| Helena
Lipponen
Trade Union Rights in Law and in
Practice
Turkey has a very poor human rights record in general. In
an attempt to move closer to European Union standards Turkish
government passed a series of laws in June and July 2003 to
improve democracy in the country. I was not able to travel
to Turkey this year but have visited Kurdistan several times.
The up-to-date information in this report is mainly based
on the reports of ICFTU and FES.
A strong and democratic trade union
movement is a cornerstone of a functional civil society
The first workers organisations appeared in Turkey after 1908
during the Second Constitutional Period. Soon after the foundation
of Turkish Republic in 1923 the state closed the doors of
all political organisations and also trade unions. The ban
continued up the year 1946 when numerous political parties
were founded and at the initiative of the socialist parties
trade unions were established.
The first Trade Union Act became effective in February 1947.
This act was an important step for the trade union movement.
A large number of unions were founded and in 1952 more than
130 000 workers were union members.
The first central organisation was Türk-Is which was
founded in 1952. In 1967 five member unions of Türk-Is
decided to withdraw and they established DISK (Confederation
of Progressive Trade Unions). After the split Türk-Is
continued to organise the public sector and DISK organised
mainly private sector enterprises.
The right-wing ruling parties were disturbed about the strengthening
of DISK, and the amendments made in the laws introduced stricter
conditions for becoming the authorized union to conduct collective
bargaining at an enterprise. In 1970 thousands of workers,
most of them DISK members, went out to the streets in Istanbul
to protest the new law. DISK leaders and a large number of
workers were arrested but the amended law could not be implemented
although it had been passed by the parliament.
The competition between Türk-Is and DISK continued also
after these events. Military intervention took place in Turkey
on March 1971. Martial law was declared in industrial regions,
trade union activities became subject to prior permission
and strikes were banned. This ban lasted until the end of
1972.
Between 1975 and 1980 DISK assumed the decisive role in the
labour and union movement in Turkey. The confederation grew
rapidly but the military coup of September 1980 put an end
to this development. The military coup suspended the activities
of first and foremost DISK, as well as the other confederations
excluding Türk-Is, and the majority of independent unions.
DISK leaders were put on trial at military courts with the
demand of death penalty.
The new labour laws were enacted in July 1983.Unions were
barred from involvement in politics and commerce, and organizing
meetings outside their stated aims was forbidden. Organization
on a national level became compulsory and professional unions
and federations were prohibited.
Today there are 4 central organisations worth mentioning.
Türk-Is maintains its position as the largest and strongest
confederation. Hak-Is is showing an expansion, DISK is experiencing
very serious problems in organizing and KESK organises civil
servants. Although the new laws do not allow much scope for
independent unions, their number is still quite high.
According to the Ministry of Labour data about 16 per cent
of workers are unionised, out of a total workforce of approximately
24 million. However the true number of unionised workers is
closer to 2 than 4 million.
Workforce
Total workforce 24 mn persons
Employed 21 mn persons
Unemployed 3 mn persons
Share of agriculture 32,8 %
Share of industry 23,9 %
Share of services 43,3 %
There is one employers´confederation and about 50 employers´unions
in Turkey.
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