Turquía - Union busting at YATAŞ Furniture Company in Ankara (2012)

Members of the Wood Workers’ Union (AĞAÇ-İŞ) Ankara, affiliated to Building and Wood Worker’s International (BWI) were being pressured to rescind their membership and join a different trade union preferred by the management. AĞAÇ-İŞ had started organising activities at YATAŞ after workers there approached them in March, saying they had no collective agreement. They were members of the Öz İplik-İş textile workers’ union, affiliated with HAK-İŞ, but only because the employer had registered them as members, in 2001, without consulting them. AĞAÇ-İŞ managed to register about 100 members despite the hostility of the employer. When the employer found out about the organising drive, three members were fired for their union activities. The other workers were pressured to rescind their membership of AĞAÇ-İŞ. On 11 August, production was stopped and workers were bussed to a notary public to register with Öz Ağaç İş, another HAK-İŞ affiliate. They were promised a wage increase and threatened with layoffs if they refused to register.