The end of February 2016 saw violent clashes between the police and dismissed workers, peacefully demonstrating to get their jobs back and for the right to organise at car manufacturer Renault’s Turkish plant Oyak in the city of Bursa.
Workers had been due to hold trade union elections at the plant, following an agreement reached on 4 February between IndustriALL Global Union, its Turkish affiliate Birlesik Metal-Is, representing the overwhelming majority of workers at the Oyak plant, and Renault management. The agreement, which also included the composition and duties of a Social Dialogue Committee (SDC), was the result of discussions on employee representation. The elections for the workers’ representatives were due to be held on 29 February.
Renault management cancelled the elections however just days before they were scheduled to take place, claiming that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security had declared them illegal. There is nothing in Turkish law that makes such elections illegal.
Management then called in workers one by one, including two spokespersons, and dismissed them immediately. The dismissals continued. Over 60 people lost their jobs, and a further 54 were asked to leave with severance packages.
When the protests began, local management asked the police to intervene. They intimidated workers at their homes and as they were coming on and off their shifts. On 2 March, police arrested 21 workers as the night shift ended.
