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ITF stands by Turkish road transport workers’ fight for union rights
12 March 2009
The ITF has expressed solidarity with road transport workers in Turkey who are struggling for their right to belong to a trade union.
The workers, members of the ITF-affiliated road transport union Tumtis, have been bearing the brunt of ongoing attacks on their rights. In the most recent case, 103 workers lost their jobs at the port-loading company Akan-Sel Nakliyat in Mersin port after the union began an organising campaign. Members, whose spirits remain high, have been picketing the port everyday in protest, in what is now a three-month-long dispute.
At the ITF road transport workers’ section steering committee meeting in Brussels, Belgium, last week, participants passed a resolution backing the union. They highlighted other cases involving the arrest and dismissal of Tumtis members for organising workers, where international solidarity led to a favourable turn of events. The resolution included a call on affiliates to take appropriate action to support those involved in the Turkish trade union movement and in particular in the Mersin port dispute. During their stay in Brussels, the Turkish delegation also met with European Parliament and European Commission members as well as with international trade union organisations.
In a letter to Akan-Sel Nakliyat management sent yesterday, ITF general secretary David Cockroft expressed grave concern over the dismissals as well as the possible safety implications of the sackings, including the reported death of an inexperienced forklift truck driver. He said: “The ITF calls on your company to immediately cease the victimization of Tumtis members and reinstate the unfairly dismissed workers without delay.” Cockroft also wrote to the port management company urging it to intervene to help resolve the situation.
A European delegation of trade unionists has set up a petition demanding that 1 May be recognised as Labour Day by the Turkish government. In Turkey, 1 May trade union demonstrations are repressed through the use of force despite the fact that Turkey has signed the Social Charter and International Labour Organization conventions on the right to freedom of assembly.
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