Turkish union defies clampdown with international support

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Contexto de página: Página principal > Revista 'Transporte Internacional' > Issue 34 - January 2009 > Turkish union defies clampdown with international

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When Turkish trade unionists were unfairly arrested, the ITF mobilised to campaign and set them free. Mac Urata outlines what happened and how we achieved success

• "If the ITF had not assisted us, I could have ended up in prison for 720 years."
–Huseyin Babayigit, Ankara branch secretary, Tümtis

• "When you see your fellow trade unionists under attack, please remember what international solidarity can do and make sure that you will support them."

On 20 November 2007, the police detained a total of 17 trade unionists. Their charge was “conspiring to set-up a criminal organisation”. The truth was that Tümtis members were organising the workers in one of the larger trucking firms in Turkey, Horoz Cargo. This did not please the management at all. They used their influence in the local government and soon the police were on the case. Mobile phones were tapped and activists were followed.

Unions face many challenges in Turkey. The procedure to obtain authorisation for collective bargaining is very long and cumbersome. Most of the time it is very difficult to make full use of this right. The minister of labour and social security takes the final decision, but rather than the legal time period of 15 days, this can take up to four to five months. Unions trying to obtain collective bargaining agent status often end up in court, which makes the procedure last as long as two years, sometimes even more.

Workers who want to join or resign from a union need to obtain a notary certificate to do so, and this costs a substantial amount of money. It is an obligation which represents a serious limitation on workers’ freedom to join a union of their choice. Trade unions need to obtain support from “50 per cent plus one” workers in a workplace to set up a trade union. So it is unsurprising that such hurdles often make it cumbersome for the workers to join a union. Nevertheless, Tümtis is well respected in Turkey for its fighting spirit and its dedication to organise the unorganised.

Organising workers has always been a challenge, with regular repercussions from the employers. But the arrest of local union leaders was unprecedented. Seven remained in jail and 15 of the 17 trade unionists who were detained were indicted. Visits to the prison by family members were limited to one a week. In the case of the lawyers, they could only meet their clients once a month.

In response to the appeal from Tümtis, the first step for the ITF was to send a protest letter to the Turkish authorities, including the prime minister. It was followed by a call for solidarity that the secretariat sent to its affiliates in the road transport workers’ section. In escalating its protest, the ITF contacted the union and consulted it on the next few steps. The language barrier can be an obstacle to effective communication. In this instance, a fellow trade unionist in the aviation union Hava-Is acted as interpreter in conference calls between the ITF and Tümtis.

The ITF set up an online protest where visitors to the website could send an email to the Turkish government. The union suggested to the ITF that they send their representative to the first court hearing due to take place in early June. A week prior to the date, web-based union news service LabourStart was asked to launch an online protest as the ITF knew that this could generate at least a few thousand protests in several days.

In the meantime, Tümtis utilised its long-standing grassroots relationship with its colleagues in German unions and NGOs. It paid off well as their contacts gathered several thousand signatures to demand the immediate release of the imprisoned union leaders. The prime minister’s office was alarmed by these protest actions generated by the ITF, its affiliates and supporters of Tümtis in Germany. The office told the chief prosecutor in Ankara to meet the union prior to the first court hearing to obtain their view on this matter.

The trial took place at the State Security Court on 6 June 2008. Affiliate of the Turkish national labour centre, Turk-Is, expressed their solidarity with Tümtis. More than 300 union members, supporters and the international delegation rallied before the hearing. In the courtroom, the crowd grew emotional as many saw their seven colleagues for the first time in the 200 days since they were arrested.

The hearing took all day. Finally, the judge ordered everyone in the room to vacate except the union lawyers. It did not take very long before the news reached us that all had been released. While the court hearing continues, they are free to resume their union duties. Another rally was quickly organised. The participants congratulated the union leaders and the lawyers for their work. The president of Tümtis thanked the international delegation.

Looking back, there were a few reasons why this campaign was successful. First and foremost, the ITF secretariat repeats the point that the simple exercise of sending a protest letter does matter. If many affiliates of the ITF can do it, so much the better. However, it is important to strike while the iron is hot. The more time it takes us to react, the more time it will take to catch up. Tümtis is a well-structured organisation where the current leadership and its activists have worked together to resolve this dispute. They knew that the case could set a serious precedent for attacks by employers and used all its avenues to generate support both nationally and internationally. Their grassroots contacts in Germany were especially hardworking. The ITF decided to campaign for the freedom of the arrested trade unionists. It escalated the solidarity actions and involved LabourStart.

Persistence in the campaign sent a strong message to the Turkish government that it had no place to hide. This was an effective message to a country that is seeking entry to the European Union. If the international visitors to the first court hearing did not produce any positive outcome, the ITF was ready to invite Tümtis to meet the European parliamentarians in Brussels and take the case to the ILO’s Freedom of Association Committee.

In the event, this was not necessary, and the labour movement can claim a rightful victory. Hopefully, we have added another ring to the global chain of solidarity.

Mac Urata is the secretary of the ITF inland transport sections.

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Issue 34 - January 2009

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La Revista de la Federación Internacional de los Trabajadores del Transporte

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