Our Turkish affiliates and the ITUC have serious concerns over a draft bill stipulating extensive amendments to the Labour Law (No. 4857) and the Employment Agency Law (No. 4904). The draft has been endorsed by the Parliamentary Commission and is this week before the Grand Assembly for consideration. However, fully effective consultations have not been carried out with the trade unions. This is despite the fact that these amendments will lead to a significant deterioration of workers’ rights throughout the entire labour market.

The draft amendments give companies the right to use agency work in case of “unforeseen increase in business volume of enterprise” or “periodical business increases”. This stipulation is extremely broad and prone to abuse by employers who choose to employ workers under insecure short-term contracts in order to circumvent their obligations under labour laws and to prevent the unionization of their employees. The amendments thus bear the risk of depriving millions of workers from employment protection and fundamental rights at work.

We are asking our members to send protest letters to the Turkish government in support of the actions of our Turkish affiliates’ campaign against the proposed amendments. Attached is a model letter including the necessary contact details. Please send a copy of your letter to tur at ituc-csi.org