BTS campaign for union rights and modern public services in Turkey

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Contenu de la page: Accueil > Chemins de fer > Communications de syndicats du rail de l'ITF > Issue 12 - May 2011

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Birleşik Taşimacilik Çalişanlari Sendikasi (BTS) (United Trade Union of Transport Employees)

Recent global neo-liberal policies have been used by governments in many countries to privatise and, in some cases, to close down public services. Turkey is no exception, as the increasing inﬂuence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank has been facilitated by the free circulation of capital.

After coming to power in 1983, The Motherland Party (ANAP) has started to implement several changes and regulations required by the liberal economy. The Turkish government has prioritised road transportation and highways. Some 1,200 km of roads have been built with huge economic costs, whilst railways have been neglected.

A jump in exports in 2004 has triggered new policies aimed at increasing the role of transport in Turkey, given its geographical position. National capital started to push the government to transform railways into entities suitable for competitive market conditions. Private sector was expecting to operate a large share of the railway sector, while the state should have retained a role of adviser, planner, regulator and controller.

Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryollari (TCDD, Turkish State Railways)

Created in 1924 when the government nationalised all private railway lines.
Operates the national railways system and seven of the country’s major seaports.
The 10,984 km Turkish rail network is relatively small for a large country with a population of more than 73 million.
Less than a quarter (2,305 km) of the total route length is electriﬁed.
Main railway lines account for 8,697 km, but 95 per cent of the total network is used as single track.
Freight haulage accounts for 88.5 per cent of all freight transport in Turkey and 96.2 per cent of passenger transportation is by road.
By contrast, railways account for just two per cent of passenger transportation and eight per cent of total freight carried in Turkey.

Although TCDD had been a proﬁtable institution between 1981 and 1985, the economic policies implemented by the government forced TCDD to borrow from private banks. As of 1986, the company’s loss has increased from TRY30.57 million (US$20.44 million) up to TRY812.2 million (US$534.5 million) in 2008. Figures released by TCDD showed a TRY515.9 million (US$345.9 million) deﬁcit in 2009, for a TRY1,605 million (US$1,076 million) turnover.

The management of TCDD has earmarked just a small fraction of its network for upgrading to high speed. Construction started in 2003 and trains have been running on Ankara-Eskisehir line since 2009. The High Speed Train Project, in fact two high speed railway lines with a total length of 396 km, has been used by TCDD management as an excuse to neglect the railway system in Turkey.

Restructuring or dissolution?

When TCDD recorded a US$292 million loss in 2003, with a government subsidy worth US$513 million, the Turkish government decided to implement a restructuring plan with the support of the World Bank. The Turkish Ministry of Transport and Communication wrote in 2005 to the World Bank: “TCDD’s performance has declined in recent years. Passenger numbers have declined by around 50 per cent during the 10-year period, to a market share of around 2 per cent. Over the same period freight traﬃc has declined by around 10 per cent to a market share of around 4 per cent.”

The government’s objectives for the restructuring plan were included in the same letter:

a) to signiﬁcantly reduce the current ﬁscal burden of TCDD on public ﬁnance; b) to increase the competitiveness of the Turkish economy by reducing the logistic costs associated with the ineﬃciencies of the railway and port sub-sectors; c) to contribute to Turkey’s accession to the EU.

The dissolution process of the TCDD started with two reports funded by the World Bank. The ﬁrst one was prepared in 1995 by the US consulting ﬁrm Booz Allen Hamilton, which also drafted a law on the future structure of railway. In September 2004, Canadian consultant Canac produced a new report with recommendations regarding the structure of the workforce.

Both reports, supported by the World Bank, called for liberalisation of railway services and the privatisation of TCDD, which would lose its status of public services provider.

TCDD should be transformed into a commercial company, with separate infrastructure and operations divisions. Jobs should be cut and non-core activities closed down.

The law regarding railways has yet to be passed by the parliament, however, in 1996 the TCDD management decided to implement a number of structural decisions suggested by the above mentioned reports:

TCDD occupational high schools and pharmacies, as well as publishing, sewing and laundry activities have been closed down.
TCDD hospitals have been transferred to the Ministry of Health.
All sea ports, apart from Haydarpaşa Port, were to be privatised (Mersin and Samsun ports have been already transferred to private companies).
Haydarpaşa Port to be operated as a proﬁt making centre, in disregard of the city’s cultural heritage.
Many railway stations have been closed down or are operated under a limited timetable, due to lack of personnel.
New private companies set up under the banner of cooperation between private and public sector have replaced TCDD workshops.
Many public services are provided by subcontractors which are employing some 4,000 former TCDD staﬀ.
Freight with tonnage less than 250 is not accepted for railway transport anymore.
Many lines for passenger transportation have been closed down after being deemed unproﬁtable.
Some railway properties have been transferred to municipalities to be turned into proﬁt centres or have been earmarked for sale.

Dramatic consequences for workers and railway safety

TCDD personnel has seen a steady decrease after 1975, as shown in the table below:

Year	Contracted	Public servants	Workers	Total
1951	-	24,637	25,558	50,195
1975	-	27,963	39,679	67,642
1985	170	27,122	38,860	66,152
1995	21,394	2,721	26,454	50,569
2000	22,524	1,453	23,235	47,212
2005	17,334	1,166	17,093	35,593
2009	15,613	858	11,993	28,464

The number of railway employees has dropped by 35 per cent since 1996. In 2010, TCDD employed only 16,488 workers (15,653 men and 835 women). A large majority of TCDD employees are now workers or contracted personnel, after losing their status of public servants. For instance, all train staﬀ including locomotive drivers are considered as contracted personnel, a system that allows the government to cut costs by not paying overtime and by restricting workers’ rights.

As the budget allocated for railways was too low compared to the level of services requested, TCDD management has started in 1996 to implement some improvised “solutions”, as follows:

1. Several positions have been combined under the name of “Train organisation staﬀ”, with increased workloads and deteriorating working conditions. Consequently, the number of occupational accidents has risen, and some employees lost their lives or have become permanently disabled.

2. Flexible and deregulated working hours have been introduced. However, there are no instructions about the responsibilities of employees in this working system.

3. Subcontracting has become a norm, as many services once supplied by TCDD have been transferred to private companies. Ticket oﬃces, sleeping cars, level crossing supervising and cleaning services are provided by subcontractors. About 3,000 workers employed by these companies are deprived of the right to join a trade union, to have a safe job and a minimum wage.

TCDD management’s lack of vision to implement a consistent and documented plan to revive railways in Turkey has caused a high level of railway accidents. The latest one occurred on 27 January 2008, when the Pamukkale Express derailed in Kütahya province, in central Anatolia, killing 10 people, including the chief conductor, and injuring a further 30.

The statute of workers in Turkey

Turkish workers are employed as public servants, labourers and contracted personnel. Public servants can be employed as permanent or contracted personnel, according to the Law on public servants.

Employees of TCDD are organised by DEMIRYOL-İŞ, an aﬃliate of the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK- İŞ). Workers from seaports that have railway connections are organised by LIMAN- İŞ. Each confederation carries out its activities via its aﬃliates in the relevant sector.

There is a new trend following recent changes in the Law of public servants. Working conditions and rights for some staﬀ are determined by decisions of the Council of Ministers. Legal struggle of the Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK) has brought positive changes for workers’ rights, including the right to join a trade union.

Brief history of BTS

Birleşik Taşimacilik Çalişanlari Sendikasi (BTS) (United Trade Union of Transport Employees) was formed through the merger of the Trade Union of Railway Workers (DEMİRYOL-SEN), established in February 1993, and the Trade Union of Airline Workers (TÜM HAVA SEN).
BTS comprises employees in railways, airports, seaports, the Under-secretariat of Maritime Aﬀairs and the Ministry of Transport and Communication.
Headquartered in Ankara, BTS has nine branches – two in Istanbul and the others in Adana, Ankara, Diyarbakır, Eskişehir, Izmir, Malatya and Sivas. There are also some representative oﬃces in districts and provinces.
In 2010, BTS had 3,007 members (2,745 men and 262 women) in the transport sector, out of which 2,509 (2,368 men and 141 women) were TCDD workers, accounting for 24.5 per cent of all unionised employees and 15.2 per cent of all TCDD staﬀ.
Other transport unions had 10,709 members (7,726 TCDD workers), whilst a further 5,110 were not unionised.
BTS has played an active role in the establishment of the Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK), one of the four major trade union confederations in Turkey.
BTS became member of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) in March 1994 and eventually of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF).

Rights to collective bargaining and to strike are not recognised

BTS has struggled for years, along with other unions, to gain the rights to strike and collective bargaining. As of 2001, BTS and KESK have gained a legal status with the Law No 4688/2001, an important achievement for public servants.

However, this law is anti-democratic in many aspects regarding its structure and operation. The law refers to “collective bargaining” rather than “collective agreement” between workers and employers and does not recognise unions’ right to strike. According to the law, trade unions having a majority in a sector shall conduct collective bargaining each year, in August. If there is any dispute in the process, decision is made by a ministerial committee.

KESK did not take part in collective bargaining since 2007 as a form of protest. KESK and its aﬃliates say: “We want Collective Agreement, not Collective Bargaining”.

Although the Turkish Constitution states that: “International agreements, which come into force according to accepted norms, are accepted as law”, public servants in Turkey do not have the rights to collective agreement and to strike. BTS has called on the Ministry of Transport and Communication for a collective agreement and submitted a draft of collective agreement. Furthermore, BTS has ﬁled a lawsuit against the Ministry of Transport and Communication, which rejected the union’s demand. The court case continues.

As the rights to collective agreement and strike are not recognised for trade unions, BTS has organised strikes for one, two or three days. Union members participating in strikes took a serious risk, and some of them have been tried before courts because of these activities.

Sixteen BTS members were temporarily suspended from their positions following the strike on 25 November 2009. As BTS organised a one-day solidarity strike, TCDD suspended a further 30 workers. BTS has put in place various actions, and consequently all those suspended returned to their previous jobs. BTS is providing free legal assistance to its members af- fected by the ongoing legal and administrative investigations ﬁled by TCDD management.

A referendum held on 12 September 2010 gave public servants the right to collective agreements, but still does not allow the right to strike. In case of a labour dispute, it is for a ministerial committee to have the ﬁnal decision.

BTS strongly believes that the Ministry of Transport and Communication and the government should meet the unions as soon as possible to negotiate a collective agreement. It is unacceptable that employers are the only decision makers on working conditions and wages. Unless there is a collective agreement between KESK and the government, KESK and its aﬃliates will not take part into collective bargaining, used to deceive and delay any progress.

BTS ﬁght for a better Turkish railway system

BTS has always supported the idea of a restructuring process in Turkish railway, but one for the beneﬁt of workers and the Turkish society. Unfortunately, the authorities underlined the importance of the capital in the restructuring process.

BTS considers that the restructuring of TCDD is not going in the right direction. The whole process is marred by lack of control, poor management and favouritism, which put railway safety in serious danger and aﬀected negatively working conditions.

Trains have regular delays. Many passengers and railway workers lost their lives in several rail accidents. There are no passenger trains on about one ﬁfth of the TCDD main lines network.

Diﬃcult working conditions and the uncertainty regarding the company’s future have caused a signiﬁcant reduction in the number of railway staﬀ. Employees from several workplaces were dismissed and replaced with low-paid workers who were denied trade union rights.

There are hundreds of administrative and judicial court cases against BTS members because of their trade union activities. Leaders and members of KESK unions were detained and arrested without any concrete accusations and evidence.

BTS is using a series of actions to show the real intentions of government’s brutal actions to implement the restructuring of TCDD. Publications (magazines, bulletins, leaﬂets), web information and press conferences are all part of BTS ongoing campaign for a modern public railway system in Turkey.

This is the edited version of the presentations “Situation of railway workers and our trade union BTS” by Yunus Akil, President of Birleşik Taşimacilik Çalişanlari Sendikasi (BTS), and “Situation of railways in Turkey”, by Yavuz Demirkol, General Secretary of BTS, made at the ETF Railway Workers’ Section meeting held in Istanbul, 26-27 April 2010.

Documents connexes:
Communication d'un syndicat du rail de l'ITF, numéro 12 - Mai 2011 (229kb PDF)

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