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Workers, civil servants applaud constitutional amendments
Article 5 of the package would enact changes in the right to establish and enroll in unions. The amendment makes it possible for a person to be a member of more than one union at one time. Article 6 introduced the right to collective bargaining for civil servants and retirees while making the Arbitration Board’s decisions on final wages binding if the bargaining sides cannot reach an agreement in the initial phases of collective talks. With this change, the government loses its chance to always have the last word in its bargaining with civil servants. It also means that the wages of civil servants and retirees will enjoy a rise in the middle run given that the Arbitration Board has always offered an amount higher than what the government proposes. In Turkey, there are 2.5 million civil servants and 9 million retirees.
At present, retirees get pension increases every year equal to the annual rate of inflation. Article 7 curtails the restrictions on strikes. Accordingly, unions will not be held responsible for material damage caused to companies during strikes, even if this damage was a result of purposeful acts of workers and unions. Additionally, the rules that ban calling a strike for political reasons or to demonstrate solidarity for other workers were removed from the Constitution.
Commenting on the changes, Civil Servants’ Trade Union (Memur-Sen) President Ahmet Gündoğdu underlines that civil servants would be earning wages 11 percent higher today if the suggestions of the Arbitration Board were binding for all.
Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Gündoğdu said the Article 6 of the package finally rendered the negotiatiing table meaningful. “We had announced before that we wouldn’t sit at the table with the government, but the amendment closed a big gap. We have become a partner instead of a supplicant. This is a very significant change,” he said.
 Union presidents have welcomed the constitutional amendment package on the grounds that it strengthens their rights.Mustafa Kumlu (L), Salim Uslu (M), Ahmet Gündoğdu(R) |
An end to bureaucratic oligarchy
On the overall package, on the other hand, the Memur-Sen president argued, “If you cannot craft perfection, then you have to choose the one that is nearest to perfect.”
“All the articles in the package are necessary and are intended to close the democratic deficit,” Gündoğdu asserted and said, “We see a constitution in which the nation will be more respected and the people will be set free from the bureaucratic oligarchy, which has wrongfully assumed the “right” of “battering” the nation.
Turkish Confederation of Labor Unions (Türk-İş) President Mustafa Kumlu also applauded the amendments, saying that the three changes were also included among Türk İş’s suggestions to the government for a constitutional amendment. “We expect to see our other suggestions included in the amendments as well,” he noted. “The 1982 Constitution, which was prepared with an anti-democratic approach and is quite incapable of meeting today’s needs despite a series of changes thus far, must be amended with the greatest possible congruity,” Kumlu asserted.
Confederation of Turkish Real Trade Unions (Hak-İş) President Salim Uslu commented on the significance of lifting a number of restrictions on strikes. Underlining that the package introduces important gains for workers, Uslu said Hak-İş gives full support to the package. He also reiterated the union’s demand for a new law on unions.
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