"There should be a student union; students should be members of a union so that despite all the difficulties and obstructions, they can use their right to collective bargaining with school administrations, the Higher Education Board and the government for their own rights and interests".

The Student Union Initiative launched by Turkey's Revolutionary Workers Union Confederation (DISK) is soon becoming a formal union under the name "GENCSEN".

DISK International Relations expert and initiative spokesperson Kivanc Eliacik says that in addition to a variety of problems they face, students are being turned into workers with no social security and that they could not defend any of their rights.

GENCSEN targets to fight to defend the economic, academic and democratic interests of students.

A meeting is to be held in the first week of December in Istanbul where a forum with mass participation is scheduled to set the framework of the union and conclude the legal process.

A platform for seek rights for students

Asked "What is a student union?" Eliacik, also a student, says their aim is to defend the economic, academic and democratic rights of students and listed the problems that GENCSEN will be dealing with:

* Entry to universities, Student Selection Exam (OSS), privatization, lack of social-cultural opportunities, scholarships, the problems of nutrition, shelter and transportation, lack of academic staff, duties, technical deficiencies at campuses, lack of sufficient buildings and hardware, labor and tax robbery, medico-social deficiencies, security units, police, plainclothes police occupations and investigations.

* Disciplinary punishments, ID checks, paid services provided by the university, the labor exploitation of high school and university students, the grading system, unemployment of those with a diploma, lack of student awareness of rights, violence and degeneration at high schools, labor exploitation at professional high schools, exploitation of science and science workers through techno-cities and KOSGEB, the mentality of science for money rather than for humanity.

Eliacik believes that the consequences of new liberal education policies can be overtly seen and that students are more and more expressing their reaction to these with actions.

"The student union is based on working on the most burning problems of students and those close to them which is a struggle against education at a cost and unemployment of graduates" says Eliacik, adding that student unemployment itself is also showing itself as a problem.

"Due to economic problems and the commercialization of education, students are being turned into workers. The Student Union will bring innovations to the union rights platform in Turkey because it will be fighting for the rights of workers with no securities".

"Vocational collages exploit child labor"

Noting that they have no data on the number of students that are forced to work but listing this as one of the priorities of the union, Eliacik said students were working not only at universities but also at vocational colleges, high schools dedicated to teach children a trade.

"At universities students are working as survey takers, marketing staff, waiters or personnel or interns in the information sector, at the library of the school or as photocopiers. None of them are insured or have any security. Making students become workers is an unregistered economy. They cannot defend their rights".

As for career collages, said Eliacik, these reflected the exploitation of child labor where students had to work for extremely low rates or no pay at all.

"Why not an association?"

Asked "why a union instead of a student association?" Eliacik's answer was that a union meant being lasting.

"At the end, the employers have a union too. Unions win lasting rights. A union, when it flourishes, can conduct bargaining with everyone from the municipality to the refectory or the school administration. Students can have a voice."

As to the legality of a student union in Turkey, Eliacik is optimistic that this is no problem.

"Emekli Sen has won its legal battle. According to the international conventions Turkey has signed, there is no obstacle in front of a student union. Article 90 of the constitution further ratifies this... We are organizing for our rights and interests".

Target: Mass participation

Despite having no legal problems, the Union will need support in today's Turkey where a variety of student and youth organizations have already flourished and some have been in preparation for a very long time, outside of the DISK initiative.

Eliacik says they have already won the support and participation of various segments of the society but the question of why and what the union should be about needs to be addressed in a mass meeting. This, she says, is the reason behind the upcoming December forum.

"There is no legal problem in front of the union but out goal is for this issue to be discussed in the media and in academic circles. Our goal is the mass participation of students" Eliacik explains, adding that a number of students had already launched their own initiative at a DISK-affiliated United Metal Workers Union branch while students groups throughout Istanbul were working at every school.

One problem, notes Eliacik, is the overall mentality in the country where the culture of democracy has not flourished and where the 1980 military coup jurisdiction is still in force.

"In a period where there are no warm feelings to the organization of masses, it is a reality that the student union wanting to bring a mentality to classrooms will be subject to various attempts to prevent it."

The student union initiative started in 2000 with the 11th general assembly of DISK where the confederation decided to organize in three new target group areas that were identified as youth, unemployed and retired.

GENCSEN comes in wake of news from DISK that its second project focusing on the rights of pensioners has given birth to its own union, which is named the All Pensioners Union (Emekli Sen). (EZO/TK/II/EU)