President Tayyip Erdoğan has decided to postpone the strike action called by the Petrol Workers' Union in the Adana and Mersin branches of the Bottle and Glass Factory Ltd. which produces soda, chrome and salt. The strike action has been postponed for 60 days.

During the 18 years of AKP rule, leading officials of the party has used every mass gatherings to declare that they will be defending the rights of the workers. They have continuously claimed that they are in power to serve the masses. However, in matters involving both the workers and their bosses the AKP have clearly sided with the bosses and defended their needs against the workers. Furthermore, the AKP has taken steps to postpone the lawful right of strike action in 17 different occasions. We can therefore say with certainty that the workers working in the glass, chemistry and metal industries have been unable to use their rights for legal strikes. The government's reasons for postponing strike action is its view that strikes are a threat to “national security and the general wellbeing of the masses”!

The same reason has been put forward for the “postponing” the strike called by the soda, chrome and salt workers.

WORKERS' RIGHT TO STRIKE AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING (TİS) HAS BEEN PUT UNDER PRESSURE

Frequent readers of Evrensel will be able to identify that the decision to ‘postpone’ the strike action is in real terms a decision to ‘ban’ strikes. Therefore, the decision taken by the government cannot simply be seen as a temporary ban on workers' right to strike but rather;

- an attempt to keep this right only on paper, which actually means a ban on workers' rights to enforce strike action.

- The rights given to workers under Collective Bargaining (TİS) is losing its validity if it is not supported by a legal right to strike.

- Any grievance which is not resolved by TİS is forwarded to an adjudicator (YHK) which has a bias towards the factory owners and protects their interest over the workers. We will not give up repeating this injustice over and over again.

Workers' legal right to strike has been turned into a ‘ban’ on strike through highly bureaucratic ways. The TIS which has been limited by additional legislations carries serious implications in reality. It implies; “either accept what is being offered by the bosses or we will throw you under the feet of the YHK”, which leaves the workers with difficult choices!

Therefore, this really means a ban on workers' rights to ‘strike’ and an inability to use their ‘rights’ under TIS. Because the bosses who are confident in securing governments backing by way of postponing strike actions are put ahead of the negotiations with the workers. Therefore, it is not surprising that the workers get out of strike negotiations having to make big compromises in their demands. Therefore, it will be true to say that ‘the sword of Damocles’ is always present over the workers, which almost always results in favourable terms for the bosses.

THE ATTACK TARGETS THE RIGHTS OF ALL CLASSES

The current situation in the country shows that the workers lawful right to strike is being taken away from them in a bureaucratic manner. The ‘adjudicators’ are merely present to defend the rights of the bosses. They have failed to meet the requirements of their role. Due to government backing of non-strike action the rights given to workers under TIS are not enforceable in real terms. In other words, the rights under TIS are worth nothing more than their weight on paper due to the pressure it is put under by the President and the adjudicators.

Hence, the decision to postpone the strike action taken by soda, chrome and salt workers should not be seen at face value. It carries much deeper implications for the general workforce. It is an attempt to rob the working class of their most basic right. It is also an attack on the rights assigned to workers under the TIS.

Therefore, the problem is not just as simple as the postponement of the Petrol Workers' Union's strike action but an attack on the rights of all workers to defend their rights.

A statement by TÜMTİS (Transport Workers' Union) also condoned the decision to postpone the strike action. The statement reads ”The ban is not just aimed at the members of the Petrol Union and soda workers. It is an attack on the rights of the whole working class. Thus, the working class needs to stand united against this attack on their basic rights”.

Banu Tuna, speaking on behalf of the Platform of Istanbul Workers' Trade Union Branches (İİSŞP) further said that "We are against the government's attack on workers' rights. We will not stand in silence against the attempts to rob the workers of their rights which derives from their ability to produce”.

WHAT WILL BE THE RESPONSE OF TU CONFEDERATIONS AND JOINT UNINONS?

TÜMTİS and İİSŞP expressed their objections to the actions of the government and promised to stand by the Petrol Workers' Union in support of their demands. However, there is no word from other trade union confederations such as Türk-İş, Hak-İş and DİSK.

As mentioned before, it is the Petrol Workers' Union which is under attack from the government today but if action is not taken the other unions will follow.

If the President is acting in a very comfortable and almost irresponsible manner whilst taking the decision to postpone the calls for strikes, he is going to act with less responsibility when workers' rights are raised in other strikes.

It is exactly for this reason that the unions and their confederations must stand in unison against such actions.

The outcry of the Petrol workers stating that they are "not going to comply with the ban" is an important step but it is even more important for trade union confederations and individual unions to support their outcry by joint action.

This joint response is also important in impacting the talks the government is preparing to hold regarding the redundancy pay over the coming weeks. (EVRENSEL DAILY)