Read this article in:
English
18 August, 2026Two industrial unions have broken through barriers that kept white-collar workers out of collective bargaining, as digitalisation and automation reshape manufacturing worldwide.
Türkiye: a court ruling opens the door
Turkish labour law long defined “worker” as someone physically engaged in labour, shutting white-collar staff out of representation. Around 40 per cent of manufacturing workers had to negotiate pay and conditions individually. In March 2025, the Constitutional Court ruled only two groups can be excluded from bargaining. The two are those who represent management and those who negotiate with unions on employers’ behalf.
Lastik-İş moved fast. It has successfully concluded agreements in principle with Goodyear, Pirelli, Bridgestone and Prometeon to bargain for white-collar staff. The agreements with around 70 companies across the tyre sector aims to secure representation for white-collar workers.
“Lastik-İş’s victory in negotiating such an agreement is a groundbreaking event for trade unions in Turkey, who have been prevented from organizing white-collar workers,”
says IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan.
South Africa: NUMSA defends its mandate in court
NUMSA’s Central Committee voted to expand its scope to technicians, engineers, ICT and other white-collar workers across the value chain. The government registrar challenged this in court. NUMSA won in 2024, and has since used both legal action and workplace organizing to push back on employer resistance. Where bargaining councils exclude white-collar staff on representation thresholds, NUMSA now negotiates workplace recognition agreements directly.
New workers, new tactics
Legal wins are just the start. White-collar workers in Türkiye have not traditionally seen industrial unions as their representatives; Lastik-İş is committed to adapt its structures and bargaining agendas to fit their concerns.
NUMSA is leaning harder into digital organizing to reach a workforce unlike its 1980s and 90s base. It is also investing in training: partnering with the Sector Education and Training Authority on AI and automation, and running courses through the Mbuyiselo Ngwenda Bursary Fund to keep members’ skills relevant as industries digitize.
Why do these victories matter?
In Türkiye, unions previously could reach only around 60 per cent of the workforce, short of the 50 per cent plus-one threshold needed for recognition. Now they can organize up to 95 per cent. And the stakes go beyond these two unions: white-collar workers already make up over half the manufacturing workforce in Germany, France and Sweden, as industry 4.0 and AI reshape the sector everywhere.
“Organizing white-collar workers is not only a question of equality, it is also a question of survival for trade unions,”
says Christine Olivier.
“As work evolves, unions must evolve too.”