Tekel workers in Turkey end protest

The workers removed their tents following a decision made by Council of State.

The Council of State 12th Chamber granted a motion for stay of execution of a previous cabinet decree which enabled contracted personnel to apply for benefitting 4/c legislation in 30 days.

Article 4/C is a law enacted in 2004 that would provide workers previously employed in state-owned enterprises 11 months of temporary employment in the public sector if dismissed due to privatizations.

The reason for bringing the relevant provision of the Article was the time period of application specified as “in 30 days”.

Workers from the privatized TEKEL factories displayed the protest in capital Ankara for 78 days in an effort to secure a transfer to other public institutions along with their employee rights.

The government offered to reemploy Tekel workers under 4-C contract, which means a partial loss of rights for the workers, the initial cause of the protests. However, the government promised to ameliorate the conditions of the contract with the new offer.

Turkey's major confederation of labor and civil servant unions had gone a one-day nation wide strike on February 4 to extend support to Tekel (tobacco and alcoholic beverages monopoly) workers in protest of the government.


/World Bulletin/