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14 August, 2005ICEM news release No. 08/2004
T he Turkish government ignored a recent Supreme Court ruling permitting a nationwide glass strike by once again imposing a decree outlawing a strike by ICEM Kristal-İş.
Kristal-İş struck 13 of 15 glass factories on 30 January, just days after the Turkish Supreme Court overruled the government on a glass strike. The government 8 December had imposed Article 33 of the nation's Law on Collective Agreements, Strikes and Lockouts claiming such a strike was a threat to "national security." Kristal-İş represents 5,000 glass workers and is the union of choice for workers at 13 of 15 factories operated by the Sisecam Group, Turkey's dominant glass producer.
"It's outrageous that a country like Turkey that purports to be democratic would trample its own high court to bust a union," said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. "The government needs to radically change its attitude toward trade unions and repeal all remaining repressive labour legislation."
Kristal-İş has been fighting for its very existence against the government and the country's glass-producing industry, controlled by the Sisecam Group and its wholly-owned subsidiary Pasabahce. In court case after court case, Kristal-İş has prevailed in proving it represents an overwhelming majority of workers in the glass industry. Sisecam and the employers association has challenged the union's right of representation, despite Kristal-İş membership in the glass industry.
Last year, both a labour court and a higher court, on appeal, ruled that Kristal-İş met the representation criteria. But Sisecam and Pasabahce continued its harassment of the union. After 700 workers and subcontractors took up union membership at a relatively new Pasabahce plant in the city of Eskisehir last September, the company responded by firing 350 union activists.
After Kristal-İş established a "tent city" for the sacked workers and their families in front of the factory, security forces came in on 7 November to destroy the encampment and arrested 100 Kristal-İş leaders. They were later released.
When the union later issued a legal call for strike action, the government imposed Article 33, calling a glass strike a threat to national security. Following Supreme Court nullification of that decree in late January, the government this time used different language of the labour code to forbid a glass strike, categorizing it an "undefined ban." Kristal-İş had effectively shut production at 13 of the glass plants from 30 January to 14 February.
Kristal-İş struck 13 of 15 glass factories on 30 January, just days after the Turkish Supreme Court overruled the government on a glass strike. The government 8 December had imposed Article 33 of the nation's Law on Collective Agreements, Strikes and Lockouts claiming such a strike was a threat to "national security." Kristal-İş represents 5,000 glass workers and is the union of choice for workers at 13 of 15 factories operated by the Sisecam Group, Turkey's dominant glass producer.
"It's outrageous that a country like Turkey that purports to be democratic would trample its own high court to bust a union," said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs. "The government needs to radically change its attitude toward trade unions and repeal all remaining repressive labour legislation."
Kristal-İş has been fighting for its very existence against the government and the country's glass-producing industry, controlled by the Sisecam Group and its wholly-owned subsidiary Pasabahce. In court case after court case, Kristal-İş has prevailed in proving it represents an overwhelming majority of workers in the glass industry. Sisecam and the employers association has challenged the union's right of representation, despite Kristal-İş membership in the glass industry.
Last year, both a labour court and a higher court, on appeal, ruled that Kristal-İş met the representation criteria. But Sisecam and Pasabahce continued its harassment of the union. After 700 workers and subcontractors took up union membership at a relatively new Pasabahce plant in the city of Eskisehir last September, the company responded by firing 350 union activists.
After Kristal-İş established a "tent city" for the sacked workers and their families in front of the factory, security forces came in on 7 November to destroy the encampment and arrested 100 Kristal-İş leaders. They were later released.
When the union later issued a legal call for strike action, the government imposed Article 33, calling a glass strike a threat to national security. Following Supreme Court nullification of that decree in late January, the government this time used different language of the labour code to forbid a glass strike, categorizing it an "undefined ban." Kristal-İş had effectively shut production at 13 of the glass plants from 30 January to 14 February.