Collective Work Relations Law
WE CALL FOR LABOUR LEGISLATION WITHOUT RESTRICTIVE SECTORAL OR BARGAINING THRESHOLDS, AND WHICH GUARANTEES UNION RIGHTS!
Turkey’s “Collective Work Relations Law”, which regulates the collective bargaining system and trade UNION freedoms, is once again pending on the agenda of the National Assembly. Recently, several public declarations were made that announced parties have reached a consensus about the new draft legislation.
However, trade UNIONs have been forced into this ugly negotiation by the government, which hijacked UNIONs’ right to collective bargaining. DİSK rejects this “Collective Work Relations Law” which maintains the 1980 coup d’etat trade UNION legislation and we are not a part of that claimed consensus.
If the “Collective Work Relations Law” is put into force by the National Assembly, it will be remarkably similar to the existing legislation No: 2821 and No: 2822 that were prepared and enacted by the 1980 military junta.
The new draft law:
R26; keeps restrictive sectoral, workplace and enterprise thresholds in place, which are preventative to UNIONs’ right to organize and collectively bargain,
R26; maintains the existing collective bargaining system that has many cumbersome restrictions and prohibitions,
R26; does not give the right to collective bargaining to all workers,
R26; does not solve the problem of trade UNION “authority or jurisdiction disputes” which at this time take years to resolve,
R26; continues to prevent and prohibit general strikes, strikes over trade UNION rights, slow-down strikes, and mandates official mediation in the collective bargaining process,
R26; allows the government to continue to intervene and put pressure on the activities of trade UNIONs during collective bargaining,
R26; does not improve workers right to secure UNION membership and UNION representation in the workplace,
This cannot be called reform!
Therefore, WE DEMAND;
R26; universal freedom to join or form a UNION for all workers,
R26; freedom for trade UNIONs to determine their own internal organization and audit system, and to determine their own activities,
R26; a diverse system of collective bargaining and collective work agreement,
R26; elimination of all thresholds, especially the 10 percent threshold that restricts trade UNIONs’ rights to collectively bargain,
R26; simplification of collective bargaining process, recognition of UNIONs as the organizations that can represent all workers, and a referendum solution to “authority or jurisdiction” disputes,
R26; no prohibitions or restrictions on workers’ rights to strike!
We believe that all workers of this country deserve a labour legislation without bureaucratic thresholds and restrictions, and which conforms to ILO Conventions and the European Social Charter. The reform should eliminate the restrictions the September 12, 1980 military junta made to our trade UNION freedoms, and therefore,
WE DEMAND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ABIDE TO THEIR DUTIES AND DRAFT LEGISLATION THAT FULLY ELIMINATES THE RESTRICTIONS AND THRESHOLDS AND THAT PROTECTS TRADE UNION RIGHTS!
