Turkey’s inflation soars to 61
percent as of March 2022.
As a reaction, in the first two
months of 2022, the country
witnessed an unauthorized
strike wave. Thousands of
mostly non-union workers
staged a total of 108 strikes.
Union laws in Turkey are far
from aligned with ILO
conventions. The right to
strike was further restricted
recently. Since 2016,
according to the ITUC, Turkey
has been among the ten
worst countries for workers.
Union density rose from 8%
in 2013 to 13% in 2021. This
was mainly because of the
unionization of workers
employed by subcontractors
working for public institutions.
In the private sector, the
density stagnates around 6%.
Author(s): Alpkan Birelma
Publisher: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 28
City: Bonn
I. INTRODUCTION. 2
II. WORKER UNIONISM. 4
1. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND ITS IMPACT. 4
The establishment and internal functioning of unions and union membership. 4
Authorization of collective bargaining. 4
Restrictions on the right to strike. 5
2. AN OVERVIEW OF WORKERS’ UNIONISM IN TURKEY. 6
Collective bargaining coverage and union density. 6
Unionization of subcontracted workers in the public sector. 7
Strikes. 7
A gender lens on worker unionism. 8
Tripartite social dialogue. 9
3. TRENDS IN UNION MEMBERSHIP AND LANDSCAPE. 9
A look at the industries. 10
A look at the unions with the highest membership and growth . 13
4. A CLOSER LOOK AT THE THREE CONFEDERATIONS. 13
Türk-İş. 13
Hak-İş . 14
DİSK. 17
III. CIVIL SERVANT UNIONISM. 19
1. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF CIVIL SERVANT UNIONISM. 19
2. THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF CIVIL SERVANT UNIONISM. 19
IV. CONCLUSION. 21
REFERENCES . 22
