Work stoppage that kicked off on Thursday at the Turkish factory of French car manufacturer, Renault, has grown into a region-wide strike with thousands of workers from several automotive firms walking off the job in the northwestern industrial city of Bursa. After some 5,000 Renault workers went on strike over wage increases on Thursday night, workers at another automaker, Tofaş -- a joint venture between Italian Fiat and Turkey's Koç Holding -- and those at Çoskunöz Holding, a well-established domestic producers of auto parts, initiated their own protest. While Renault announced that it had suspended production at the factory until May 18, Tofaş sent their workers an SMS message that said operations had ceased until further notice. Coşkunöz said the workers' demands were unlawful and would not be met, vowing to take legal action. The strike is supported by workers from a host of companies operating in the automotive sector in Bursa such as Beltan Trelleborg Vibracoustic (TBVC), Delphi, SKT, Ototrim Automotive, Rollmech and Mako. The Renault factory in Turkey is run as a joint venture with the army pension fund, Oyak, and is reported to produce around 318,000 cars a year while Tofaş manufactures 240,000 units. According to news agencies that have talked to protesters since Thursday, the labor union that represents Renault's workers had the management of another factory in the automotive sector increase workers' wages by 60 percent effective as of April for the next three years, but failed to agree on a wage hike for the Renault employees. Employees' families show solidarity Employees on strike and their families have been protesting in front of their companies since Thursday, with some staying overnight in tents in the factory yards. A man who has worked for Renault for eight years, Erhan İmralı, said the company has not offered a considerable wage increase for a long time despite high inflation rates. Underlining that the time period for collective bargaining was recently extended from two to three years, İmralı said: “We showed our reaction but the union failed to declare this to the company. … All we want is to have same conditions as the workers of the company that provided a wage increase, but the management [of the union] did not lend an ear to us.” Pevrul Kavlak, the head of the Metal Workers Trade Union of Turkey (Türk Metal), which is authorized to engage in collective bargaining agreements with Renault on behalf of its workers, said he has contacted the Renault headquarters in France but management will not allow the Turkish affiliate to go beyond the conditions compromised in the collective bargaining deal. The United Metal Workers' Union (Birleşik Metal-İş), which is part of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK), released a statement on Friday enumerating the workers' demands, which include increased wages, job security, recognition of worker representatives when bargaining with the company and assistance in eliminating fake unions in bargaining. Metal Industrialists' Union (MESS) and The Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions (TİSK), on the other hand, called on workers to end their protests. Index confirms Turkey has a gripe with unionization Visiting protesters in front of the Tofaş and Renault factories on Friday and Saturday, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputies Sena Kaleli and Mahmut Tanal offered their support to the workers. Tanal said: “The workers' union reached a deal with the employers and the employees suffered in the end. The union abuses its duty and rights. In the case of misconduct, the contracts the union signed with the employees become null and void.” Unions have always been a source of debate in Turkey, with the management of authorized unions failing to protect workers' rights and mostly backing the government and companies. As a result, workers often opt out of being a union member, exposing them to abuse by their employers. According to Ministry of Labor and Social Security data, unionization density corresponding to the ratio of wage and salary earners that are trade union members, divided by the total number of the labor market, massively dipped from 57.5 percent in 2003 to 9.68 percent in 2014, signifying a worsening trend. Yet, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistics on this index are far worse than those recorded in Turkey's official data, hinting at a bleaker picture. Turkey had the lowest rate of unionization density in the OECD, with merely 4.5 percent of its labor market being a member of a union in 2012. The OECD average in the same year was 17.1 percent. The OECD doesn't count those who are not members of authorized unions in the calculation.

• published: 17 May 2015
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