Turkish and international trade unions have organised protests against the draft collective labour relations act that was adopted in parliament this month. Union representatives, backed by the ILO, have stated the law violates basic trade union rights, such as the right to organise and to collective bargaining. Trade union protests were barred from reaching the parliament building in Ankara by police blockades. After the declaration was read by organisers, the police used teargas and pressurised water to disperse the protesters. Upside to the new law is that the strike ban in aviation that caused international uproar in May (see May newsletter) is cancelled through the collective bargaining act.
English: http://www.ituc-csi.org/turkey-new-trade-union-law.html?lang=en
http://www.industriall-union.org/turkish-parliament-debates-union-legislation-without …
http://www.itfglobal.org/press-area/index.cfm/pressdetail/8047
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.