The meeting, which was attended by Türk-İş president Mustafa Kumlu, Turkish Public Workers’ Labor Union (Kamu-Sen) President Bircan Akyıldız, Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (DİSK) President Süleyman Çebeci and Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK) President Sami Evren, resulted in the unions deciding that they would take the case to the Council of State, specifically targeting Article 4/C -- a law enacted in 2004 that would provide workers previously employed in state-owned enterprises 11 months of temporary employment in the public sector if dismissed due to privatizations.The move comes after the Council of State’s controversial overturning of several amendments to national laws, including the reversal of an amendment to do away with the coefficient system for higher education. The Council of State has recently been inflicting blows to government reforms, creating legal barriers even for legislation on the restriction of imports of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Tekel workers laid off after the privatization of Tekel’s factories two years ago stated that they wanted to enter the meeting room, with approximately 20 of them waiting outside to be let in. The meeting resulted in a decision to continue the Tekel workers’ protest.
Meanwhile, Labor and Social Security Minister Ömer Dinçer, speaking to reporters before the opening of a social security center in the province of Denizli, stated that he expects all the Tekel workers currently protesting in Ankara to sign work contracts provided by Article 4/C, adding that more and more workers are signing the temporary work agreements daily.
“I expect all of the workers to accept the conditions of 4/C and sign their contracts by the end of the month. There will be no reneging on the contract conditions. If workers sign their contracts, then we will employ them in either the provinces in which they reside or in neighboring provinces. … If they sign by Feb 15, then they will get their first paychecks on that day without delay,” he said. Dinçer also noted that 150 more workers had signed their 4/C contracts on Wednesday evening.
