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12,000 Turkish textile workers win

29 August, 2013IndustriALL Global Union is celebrating the victory of its Turkish affiliate Teksif. The union led 12,000 workers on a nine-day strike from 15 August. The successful strike has achieved the workers’ demands.

The Textile, Knitting and Clothing Industry Workers’ Union, Teksif, led the united strike from 15 August after sectorial level negotiations with the Turkish Textile Employers’ Federation failed. The previous agreement expired on 1 April 2013.

The new collective agreement will be valid for three years as of 1 April 2013. Here are some details:

Wage increase: It was agreed that wages will be increased with the following formula over the periods of six months: 2013/1 5%; 2013/2 3%; 2014/1 3%; 2014/4 4%; 2015/1 3%; 2015/2 4%. If inflation exceeds these percentages, wage increases will be complemented.

Bonuses: The union’s demand for bonuses with an amount of 120-day salary per year was accepted by the employers. This represents an increase from the prior bonus equal to a 72-day salary period. For new employees, the bonus will be 96-day for the first year of employment while it is agreed to make it 108-day in the second and 120-day in the third.

Overtime payments: It was agreed that overtime payments will be doubled (100% more) for work in weekdays, tripled (200% more) on weekends and four times (300% more) on bank holidays. If a worker is asked to work on a weekend, he or she will be given one extra holiday in the following week. 

Seniority Premium: According to the agreement, workers are entitled to a seniority premium amounting to 7 Turkish Liras on top of their hourly wages for each year of working up to a ten-year seniority.

Sub-contracting: The parties agreed that there will be no subcontracting work at the workplaces.

The Teksif President Nazmi Irgat thanked IndustriALL Global Union for its valuable support.

IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan welcomed the victory:

IndustriALL Global Union salutes the settlement managed by Teksif which is a success as it achieved demands of the workers. One the key elements of this victory was that it was conducted with a great discipline and full participation of the workers with unity. This sets a good example for other unions that if the unions struggle victory comes.”