Turkish Airlines faces international sackings backlash

Turkish Airlines faces international sackings backlash

Turkish Airlines and the Turkish Government are facing an onslaught of public opinion opposed to the sacking of staff and a new national no strike law, the ITF stated today.

The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) launched a campaign on Monday for the reinstatement of 305 Turkish Airlines (THY) workers sacked when they protested against the bringing in of a legal amendment that would totally remove their right to strike – despite the country already having highly repressive anti-union laws.

The ITF campaign has mobilised international support for the workers and their trade union, Hava-Is – as can be seen at the campaign website www.reinstate305.org.

ITF general secretary David Cockroft and ITF president Paddy Crumlin, along with Sharon James of the ITF’s civil aviation section and representatives of Britain’s Unite union, yesterday met with officials at the Turkish embassy in London.

David Cockroft reported: “The meeting was positive and we hope that the Turkish government will now redouble its efforts to find a resolution to this dispute. Nevertheless, we have made it clear that if Turkey and its national airline don’t act to reinstate these workers and cease attacking trade unions they risk a coordinated international campaign by the world’s aviation workers against Turkish Airlines.”

Paddy Crumlin commented: “This continued intransigence seems increasingly likely to damage the image of the country and the airline’s brand. It is simply incompatible with the government’s European aspirations and its assurances when declaring its UN Security Council candidacy for 2015 – 2016 that it is working for ‘fundamental principles and values such as human rights, democracy and rule of law’*”.

He continued: “We would prefer to work with good employers to establish best practice in the industry, but when this kind of victimisation happens we have no choice but to act. As a leading player in the Star Alliance, we expect Turkish Airlines to behave like a world-class airline and to respect labour rights.”

ITF member unions have also arranged meetings with Turkish embassies in Brazil, Ethiopia, Poland, Thailand and the USA for this week, with more being requested in other countries. Meetings have already taken place in Canberra and Washington.

Meanwhile, in London members of the Day-Me Turkish-Kurdish Community Centre are planning a demonstration outside the Turkish Airlines office in the capital in support of Hava-is.

Adding to the pressure, MEPs Evelyn Regner, of the Austrian Social Democratic Party and Jutta Steinruck of the German Social Democratic Party have raised the matter in the European Parliament.

ENDS

*http://www.mfa.gov.tr/candidacy-of-the-republic-of-turkey-to-the-united-nations-security-council-for-the-period-2015-2016.en.mfa

Background
Earlier this year a member of Turkey’s ruling AKP party proposed a bill to parliament that would deny civil aviation workers the widely internationally respected right to withdraw their labour. Turkey already has stringent legislation in place that hugely restricts normal workers’ and trade union rights. The proposal came as the Hava-Is trade union was about to embark on a lawful strike, following a breakdown in negotiations with Turkish Airlines (THY).

THY is run by the Turkish government and is a member of the Star Alliance group which brings together 27 airlines worldwide, including Air Canada, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and US Airways.

The AKP government rushed the legislation through as an amendment that was passed on 30 May, approved by the president on June 2, and took effect on June 3.

Hava-Is members who wanted to protest against the proposed strike ban were left with little option for taking industrial action. So, before it came into force they took one day’s sick leave. In response THY sacked them by text message, phone or email. Three hundred and five of themlost their jobs. THY also plans to take Hava-Is to court in what the union believes is an attempt to destroy it.

The sacked workers and Hava-Is are continuing to protest against the airline’s attacks. It is clear that Turkey’s increasingly authoritarian government has no intention of respecting its international obligations when it comes to workers’ and union rights.Tellingly, the AKP member responsible for the strike ban recently admitted that he was acting under instructions from Turkish Airlines management.

Turkey and the European Court of Human Rights
Key points

• At the end of 2010, the Court had delivered 2,573 judgments concerning Turkey, of which 2,245 found at least one violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. In comparison, the UK and Romania have had 279 and 719 findings of violations respectively.
• In 2011, Turkey was involved in the highest number of judgments of all countries, for the third year running (174), which was 15% of all judgments. Turkey has had the highest number of judgments in each of the last three years. [i]
• Turkey has incurred 352 million Turkish lira (£125m) in fines over the past 10 years, according to Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet [ii]

General record
Turkey's record at the European Court of Human Rights is very poor. According to theCourt's website
(http://www.echr.coeint/ECHR/EN/Header/Press/Information+sheets/Country+profiles)

‘At the end of 2010, the Court had delivered 2,573 judgments concerning Turkey, of which 2,245 found at least one violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, primarily of Article 6 (right to a fair trial within a reasonable time) and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property), and 55 found no violation.’

Turkey's ECHR record compares very badly to its peers, such as

The UK
‘In total, by the end of 2011, the Court delivered 462 judgments concerning the United Kingdom, of which 279 found at least one violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and 95 found no violation.’

Or Romania
‘At the end of 2010, the Court had delivered 791 judgments concerning Romania, of which 719 found at least one violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, primarily of Article 6 (right to a fair trial) and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property), and 21 found no violation.’

The ILO (International Labour Organization) has determined that the freedom of association provisions of ILO Convention 87, which Turkey has ratified, implicitly include the right to strike as an essential means by which trade unions can protect the interests of workers. For more on ILO Convention 87 see www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:3885036060788168::NO:12100:P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:312232:NO

[1] http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/The+Court/The+President/Press+conferences/PressConference2011.htm
2 http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-has-paid-350-million-fines-in-10-years-because-of-judicial-mistakes--.aspx?pageID=449&nID=23005&NewsCatID=405

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