Three high-level representatives of the global union family visited Tumtis workers sacked by DHL Turkey on their picket line at Kirac, near Istanbul, on 2 May.
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) general secretary Sharan Burrow, UNI global union deputy general secretary Christy Hoffman and ITF policy coordinator Sarah Finke met the workers and listened to their stories.
Burrow congratulated the men and women on their courage in standing up for their rights and assured them the support of the worldwide workers’ movement.
TUMTIS president Kenan Ozturk commented: “Our members have been on this picket line for over 200 days in all weathers. We have welcomed many international visitors but today we have the ITUC, the organisation that represents all unions worldwide in every sector."
Burrow had the day before witnessed the systematic repression of trade unionists by police, army and special forces as they gathered to mark 1 May – international workers’ day – in Istanbul’s Taksim Square. “There is no place for this behaviour from a country which will be taking on the leadership of the G20 in 2015,” she said.
On 29 April Ozturk and two other union presidents met the director of marketing research at the German embassy in Istanbul to urge the German government to intervene with Deutsche Post DHL, DHL Turkeys’ parent company. The director said he would raise the issue with the German external affairs ministry. Tumtis then held a press event in front of the embassy with Unions' Unity Platform.
