Metal Workers Go On Strike in Turkey

On May 14, 5.600 Renault workers stopped working requesting three demands from employers. Workers from TOFAŞ (Turkish Automotive Company) and Coşkunöz, a metal industry producing sub-industry products stopped working soon after. The total number of workers on strike is fourteen thousand now.

Workers demanded rise in wages based on collective labor agreement (TİS). They requested none of the workers to be fired due to the strike and resignations to be accepted by trade unions.

TİS was contracted on Dec 14, 2014 between Metal Workers Trade Union of Turkey (Türk Metal) and Turkey’s Metal Industrialists Union (MESS) and the contract includes years between 2014 and 2017.

An anonymous worker told bianet:  

"Employers didn’t pay attention to us. Factories in Romania and Morocco will go down. Mercedes sent a notice for Renault “If my factory gets harmed during these strikes, I will file a claim for compensation.” Now employers had to considerate us.

"Our wage claim is explicit. We won’t negotiate.” (NV/BD)

 Click here to read this article in Turkish