Turquía - Mass dismissals after car workers strike

Turkey’s automotive giant Tofaş – a joint venture owned by Koc Holdings and FIAT, laid off 142 workers on 24 June 2015 following strikes that crippled the industry in May. Thousands of workers at the Renault, Tofaş and Ford Otosan plants – along with many other spare part factories located in north western Bursa and Sakarya provinces – went on strike on 15 May, to protest against low wages, wage differences among workers employed in the same sector and poor working conditions.

The strike lasted nearly two weeks before agreement was reached over a pay rise, and in many cases management guarantees that no-one would be sacked.

Intimidation soon set in however. The strikers found themselves the subject of investigation by the Bursa Public Prosecutor’s Office for supposedly “aiding and abetting a terrorist organisation”. The Bursa Counterterrorism Unit subsequently summoned the workers, who were questioned as to why they walked off the job and whether or not they were intending to form a new trade union.

The workers had been trying to set up a new union, of their own choosing, frustrated at the failure of the management-favoured union to negotiate effectively on their behalf. All of the workers had resigned from the Metal Workers Trade Union of Turkey (Türk Metal) during the protests. Those who retained their jobs in the factories have reportedly been obliged to reregister with Türk Metal.

The dismissals continued and a total of 250 workers, some with hearing and speaking disabilities, lost their jobs. Nor did the promised pay rise materialise. There was no ambiguity as to the cause of dismissal. The workers learned that they had been fired via a text message that said “Your employment contract has been terminated because of your protests.”

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