Metal workers around Turkey set to strike

ISTANBUL

Around 15,000 Turkish metal workers are expected to walk off the job on Jan. 29, after members of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions’ (DİSK) Birleşik Metal-İş union voted to go on strike on Jan. 14.

The workers' union called for the strike following a breakdown in negotiations with the Metal Industrialists' Union (MESS) over the latter's demand for three-year contracts.

Birleşik Metal-İş said MESS's most recent offer was the same as it had signed with the members of other unions last month, while arguing that the employers' move to offer a three-year contract for collective bargaining instead of a two-year deal would make cheap labor more permanent.

“This strike is not just that of our union, Birleşik Metal-İş, this is a strike belonging to [all of] DİSK and the Turkish working class,” said DİSK Chairman Kani Beko.

Birleşik Metal-İş is present in 42 workplaces around the country.