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Hundreds of thousands of public workers participated in a nationwide public sector strike in Turkey on 23 May, according to EI national affiliate E?itim Sen.

KESK, of which E?itim Sen is a member, is one of the two big Turkish trade union confederations that joined forces to protest against the small pay rise offered by the government, and decided to go on strike after a “so-called” collective bargaining process.

Collective bargaining woes

Two factors work against the spirit of collective bargaining. Firstly, a recent legal amendment to the Public Workers' Trade Unions Act keeps in place existing obstacles to the full exercise of freedom of organisation and right to strike.

In addition, employees are represented by a “trade unions' committee” during collective bargaining. However, this committee is dominated by one confederation which represents fewer than half of the total number of organised public employees in Turkey, says E?itim Sen. Four out of the seven committee members belong to this confederation. This confederation’s membership number increased dramatically after the current governing party took power in 2002.

Arbitration

In the case of conflict, the recently amended Public Workers’ Trade Unions Act makes it compulsory for the parties to resort to an arbitration board, which is composed mainly of people chosen by the government and pro-government trade union representatives, deplores EI's affiliate.

E?itim Sen also rejects the small salary raise the government has offered. The total wage increase would be of less than 5 per cent, and considering the high inflation rate, would mean that wages, already too low, would effectively lose value.

“The Turkish economy seems to be growing, but it is mostly at the expense of employees, who receive low standards in working conditions and wages,” explained E?itim Sen General Secretary Mekmet Bozgeyik. “The Prime Minister is threatening public workers by saying that they can not be offered more than a 3.5 per cent pay raise, alleging that otherwise Turkey's situation might be like the Greek one.”

Three strikes in 2012

While public workers’ right to strike is still not recognised by the government, by exercising rights enshrined in international conventions, E?itim Sen has led three strikes in 2012. It has been suffering from police repression for many years. The most recent attack against unionists for organising International Women’s Day celebrations in March resulted in the arrest of nine E?itim Sen members.

EI supports its affiliate and other public worker organisations’ struggles to ensure quality public services, and urges Turkish authorities to fulfil their obligation to meet international standards for human and trade union rights.