PodcastTurkish government bans metal workers’ strike for 60 days
President Erdoğan has banned a strike by metal workers in four factories for 60 days, claiming that it “disrupts national security.”
Duvar English
The strike of United Metalworkers' Union (Birleşik Metal-İş) has been postponed for 60 days with the decision of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan published in the Official Gazette on Dec. 14.
Following the failure to reach an agreement in the collective labor agreement negotiations with the Turkish Metal Industrialists' Union (MESS), the United Metalworkers' Union went on strike at GridSolutions, Hitachi Energy, Schneider Elektrik and Arıtaş Cryogenic factories.
In the decision published in the Official Gazette with the signature of President Erdoğan, it was stated, “It has been decided to postpone the strike decisions taken by the United Metalworkers' Union in the workplaces specified in the attached list for sixty days due to the fact that they are deemed to be disruptive to national security, in accordance with the Law on Trade Unions and Collective Labor Agreements.”
The metal workers, who are in the collective bargaining period, did not accept the 36.5 percent raise offer of the employers and insisted on their offer of 125 percent. As a result, metal workers have decided to strike in several factories, directly affecting at least 2,000 workers.
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