On 4 April, all Birleşik Metal-İş members at the MAS-DAF Makina Sanayi factory were fired, a total of 110 workers. The mass dismissals came just months after the same company attempted to undermine union organising efforts in August 2010 by firing 22 of the union’s strongest supporters when the trade union applied for authorisation to the Labour Ministry.
The 110 workers began picketing outside the MAS-DAF Makina Sanayi factory in Düzce demanding reinstatement. The workers were detained by the gendarmerie in an effort to stop the union’s second round of actions to force the government to intervene. On 19 July, moments before a press conference was to be held announcing the union’s plans to ramp up actions with a 234 kilometre march from Düzce to Ankara, the Gendarmerie stormed the rally and forcefully detained 12 workers and union leaders, including Mr. Celalettin Aykanat, executive committee member of DİSK and Birleşik Metal-İş. They were later released and the next day workers and union leaders began their march to the capital city to deliver a strong message to the Turkish government that workers must be allowed to join unions without fear of retaliatory dismissals or anti-union discrimination.
Birleşik Metal-İş, in coordination with the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) and International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), won reinstatement for the workers, but five declined to return to the company.