On 17 January, the DESA leather goods company sacked 12 workers from its Sefakoy Plant. Of the 12, nine were sacked for attending a meeting of the Deri-İş , the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) affiliated leather workers’ union, while the remaing three were related to the other nine. A further two workers were sacked on 28 January for their union activities. Deri-İş members continued to face harassment and intimidation, particularly the women workers. On 23 June, a union leader at the Duzce plant was sentenced to five months imprisonment, supposedly for terrorist activities through their involvement in the union.
DESA management continued to brand the union’s president, organising secretary and officers as terrorists and spread anti-union propaganda, including claims that the union officers were Kurds or Armenians, forcing some into resignation because of the racism behind the propaganda. Following the visit of Klaus Priegnitz, ITGLWF General Secretary, in November, management at DESA and the leadership of Deri-Is have agreed to begin negotiations on steps to ensure basic worker rights are respected.
In May, 16 Deri-İş union members at the Kampana leather factory were dismissed by their employer for taking part in a union-led protest against long hours, low wages and serious health hazards caused by the use of chemicals without proper protection. The dismissals triggered a campaign by Deri-İş against the anti-union attitude of the employer. As a consequence, production was shifted to the Savranoglu plant in Izmir. The union also organised workers there. Three more dismissals followed and the workers set up a picket line. The employer then closed the Izmir plant and ordered the workers to move to Istanbul, expecting them to refuse to leave their families. To maintain organising power however 38 workers agreed to transfer to Istanbul on 3 October. They were given no time off to find accommodation and spent their first night in Istanbul in the factory. The employer dismissed 36 workers on 13 October without severance pay by claiming that they occupied the Istanbul plant. The workers continued to demand that the employer respect their basic rights and accept their union.