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Unions push for rights in Turkish dispute
27 October 2008
Turkish and international unions joined together on October 20 in Istanbul in a strong show of support for the struggle for trade union rights at subcontracted transport companies providing services for Unilever Turkey.
Unilever's Turkish manufacturing facilities supply Turkey and the Middle East. Transport is subcontracted to two companies, Çipa and Şimşek, which work exclusively for Unilever. When the ITF-affiliated transport union TÜMTIS began successfully recruiting loaders at Çipa last year, Çipa responded with repression and victimisation. Since April 2008, 87 workers have been dismissed – all of them union members. With the support of TÜMTIS; the ICEM-affiliated Petrol-IS chemical workers' union; and the IUF-affiliated TEKGIDA-IS unon, the dismissed workers (none of whom received redundancy pay) have held a daily picket which is now entering its fifth month.
This week the three Turkish unions, joined by representatives of ICEM, IUF and the ITF met and forged a strong commitment to step up pressure on Unilever to act to ensure that its subcontractors reinstate the dismissed union members, recognise the union and enter into collective bargaining negotiations. Despite a local court decision which recently ordered reinstatement of the first group of dismissed workers, the transport company refuses to recognise the union or meet with a joint Turkish union delegation to discuss how to resolve the conflict. Unilever corporate management has so far rejected any responsibility for the gross breaches of union rights at a company that is an essential part of its distribution system. The three Turkish unions and representatives of the global union federations then travelled to the Unilever warehouse outside Istanbul where they joined the picketing workers.
ICEM, ITF and the IUF will be escalating pressure on Unilever to bring its subcontractors into compliance with international standards on trade union rights and recognition.
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