Considered by many a breakthrough, the meeting in Bolu’s winter resort of Abant is expected to address current issues such as the improvement of social welfare and union rights for civil servants, including the right to strike and the right to engage in collective bargaining. The parties will participate in workshops during the meeting, which will run for three days.
The confederations have long been calling for more bargaining power with the government and the right for public workers to strike, but the government dragged its heels and refrained from taking action to this end. Following failed meetings with the government, the Turkish Public Workers’ Labor Union (Kamu-Sen) and the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK) took civil servants to the streets on Nov. 25 to protest the government’s stance.
Having failed to reach a consensus since then, the parties will seek a compromise during the three-day meeting.
Meanwhile Kamu-Sen and KESK announced on Sunday that they would not participate in the Abant meeting. Speaking to the Anatolia news agency on Sunday, Kamu-Sen President Bircan Akyıldız said they would not like to open up “a right that already exists” to discussion. Claiming that the Constitution already grants public servants the right to strike and participate in collective bargaining with the government, Akyıldız said: “We do not want to make an existing right questionable with such a meeting … so we decided not to participate.”
Agreeing with Bircan, KESK President Sami Evren also said on Sunday: “Turkey needs political will to grant its public servants the right to strike and take part in collective bargaining, which is already under the guarantee of the Constitution, some related international legislation and rulings by the European Court of Human Rights.”
According to the law, civil servants in Turkey do not have the right to strike, but they can either stage a work slowdown or demonstrations, provided that they do not leave their jobs. In addition to this, going on strike is grounds for dismissal. Civil servant confederations argue that the current talks are far from bringing solutions to problems that have accumulated over the years.
