Global organization ranks Turkey among the 10 worst countries in protecting workers rights

Among the 10 worst countries in the world where workers rights have been violated, Turkey has been classified by the International Trade Union Confederation for gross human rights violations against them and their unions, as part of a crackdown by the Turkish authorities.

The report also pointed to the siege by the Turkish police on the headquarters of the Turkish Progressive Trade Union Federation, known as the DISK, last May, when it arrested its chairman Arzzo Čerkez-Oğlu, its secretary general Adnan Serdar Oğlu and 25 other members of the TCU, one of the largest trade unions in Turkey.

The union accused the Turkish government, led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, of pursuing policies hostile to workers and their union representatives. He also accused Ankara of violating their rights, as well as those of their defenders, according to his latest report, against which Ankara has been widely criticized by local and international human rights institutions.

The largest Turkish trade union confederation confirmed that the information contained in the report of the International Trade Union Confederation, which listed Turkey among the 10 worst countries in which labor rights are violated in the world. It monitored the imprisonment of 26 teachers who were members of the Education Union after raiding their homes in the Kurdish-majority province of Diyarbakir, in south-eastern Turkey, as well as after inspecting the contents of their offices at their workplaces.

The Turkish regime continues to carry out a campaign of arrests against trade union leaders this year for their opposition to the Turkish government and criticism of its policies against non-governmental unions, according to the IFJ report. The report also confirmed the authorities continued hostility towards workers and the prohibition of some employers from joining unions that protect their rights.

“Over the past years, various Turkish trade unions have come under security pressure, especially after the failed coup attempt against President Erdoğan’s rule in mid-July 2016, when some of them were shut down under the pretext of being linked to Fethullah Gülen’s group, which Ankara accuses of being behind the coup attempt.”

“Tens of thousands of their jobs have been dismissed under the pretext of taking part in the coup attempt, while Ankara has been accused by international actors, including a UN agency, of violating its labor convention after authorities shut down trade unions and jailed some of their leaders.”

Turkish trade unions, which were closed by Ankara, turned to the ILO after the authorities violated their freedom of association, as did the Action-Ish Union, but the authorities have not reversed the decision to close the union so far.