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FES Turkish Confab Defines Precarious Work as Priority for New GUF

2 May, 2012

Some 80 representatives from 20 Turkish affiliated trade unions of the ICEM, the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and the International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) came together in a Precarious Employment Conference in Ankara on 25-26 April 2012.

Generously supported by Germany’s Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES), the meeting coincided with Turkey government consideration of new employment strategies, policies that have seen wide debated inside the country’s union movement.

Following the conference, General Secretaries of the three Global Union Federations (GUFs) – Manfred Warda of ICEM, Jyrki Raina of IMF and Klaus Priegnitz of ITGLWF, along with ICEM  Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal Özkan – met with Faruk Çelik, Turkey’s Minister of Labour and Social Security. The meeting surfaced the important conclusions of the conference and the country’s record regarding enforcement of trade union freedoms.

Turkish Union Leaders, from left, Nazmi Irgat, Adnan Serdaroglu, Mustafa Kumlu, Ferudun Tankut

The trade union leaders demanded that the government take the necessary measures to ease the concerns of Turkish unions on both counts. The global delegation also met with Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Chairman of Republican’s People Party (CHP), main opposition party at the National Parliament, on several draft bills modifying labour life regulations on trade union rights, flexible working forms and occupational health and safety.

The FES conference saw delegates from Turkey and elsewhere define objectives of the government’s revamped strategies, including: dissemination of employment of definite periods; legitimization of hiring workers through private employment agencies; inserting different forms of flexible work into the nation’s labour code; abolishing the current severance payment system with a new system that will lower employers’ direct responsibilities; changing minimum legal wage applications, such as lower wages for young workers and different regional minimum wage systems; and workplace security instead of employment security.

Speakers at the meeting’s opening underscored the potential repercussions of the new strategies on work life. “Flexible working forms, unlike what we are told, are costly and create problems rather solutions,” said Mustafa Kumlu, ICEM Executive Committee member President of both the Turk-İş Confederation and Tes-İş trade union.

      

Meeting with Turkey Labour & Social Security Minister

“New strategies will claim to bring together flexibility and security, but we know what is waiting us … unsecured jobs and more poverty, just like what exists now in the textile industry,” said Nazmi Irgat, who is an ITGLWF Vice-President, President of Teksif union and Organizing Secretary of Turk-İş.

“The government proposes a new modern slavery system with this employment strategy, and we will never accept it,” added Adnan Serdaroğlu, President of IMF affiliate Birleşik Metal-İş, who also serves as General Secretary of DISK Confederation. Ferudun Tankut, President of another IMF affiliate, Çelik-İş, and Vice-President of the Hak-İş Confederation, said the government’s strategy “has been put into place without soliciting opinions, proposals or agreements of social partners. Our country is missing an important opportunity.

The participants listened to Erhan Batur, Deputy Undersecretary of Ministry of Labour and Social Security, who gave an overview on the legislative efforts of the government for bettering work life in Turkey. Warda, Raina and Priegnitz briefed the assembled on the foundation of the new GUF, IndustriALL Global Union, and defined the struggle against precarious employment that the organization will undertake as a global priority.

          

The three strongly cited the difficulties Turkish workers have in being able to exercise fundamental trade union rights such as freedom of association because of poor labour legislation.

ICEM’s Özkan, IMF’s Jenny Holdcroft and ITGLWF’s Ashling Seely gave specific examples from their respective sectors on the rise of precarious employment throughout the world. Participants also welcomed union representatives Horst Mund from IG Metall of Germany, Sascha Meier from FNV Bondgenoten of the Netherlands, Berivan Öngörür from Unionen and Mats Svensson from IF Metall, both of Sweden, and all shared their experiences and union policies on precarious employment in their countries.

The conference heard extensive reports from Turkish participants through three panel discussions on precarious employment in Turkey. The panels had themes of economic, social and legal settings; the ggovernment’s employment strategy and possible repercussions to work life; and fighting against precarious employment through union organizing. Luc Demaret from ILO-ACTRAV gave a report on international labour standards and protections of precarious employment.

In the summary and conclusions, Turkish and global unions underlined the importance of solidarity and active campaigning against all forms of precarious employment. Turkey has been defined as one of the countries where IndustriALL will embark on a campaign against precarious work. Delegates mandated the global unions to take action, vis-à-vis the government for overcoming potential challenges arising from its strategies.