Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 342, June 2006

Case No 2126 (Türkiye) - Complaint date: 17-APR-01 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 164. The Committee last examined this case at its June 2004 meeting [see 334th Report, paras. 67-74]. The Committee recalls that the allegations in this case concerned the change of branch activity classification of the Pendik and Alaybey shipyards from “shipbuilding” to “national defence”, which resulted in the loss of representation rights for the Dok Gemi-Is trade union on behalf of workers involved. Allegations of anti-union discrimination were also raised and more specifically: (a) allegations of the impending dismissal of 1,100 workers of the Haliç and Camialti shipyards, virtually all of whom were alleged to be Dok Gemi-Is members; (b) allegations of harassment and intimidation of Dok Gemi-Is members by management of the Pendik and Alaybey shipyards, including the dismissal of the maximum number of workers allowed by law (nine per month), and the dismissal of some 200 workers at the ship-scrapping site at Aliaga the day after they had agreed to join the Dok Gemi-Is union. In the course of its last examination, the Committee expressed its concern over the absence of progress made to give effect to its recommendations in this case since its first examination in 2002 and requested the Government in particular to: (a) take the necessary steps to guarantee the right of Dok Gemi-Is to organize and represent its members in the Pendik and Alaybey shipyards and to ensure that any lost membership in this union as a result of the classification of these shipyards as falling within the national defence be immediately restored; (b) to institute independent investigations into all the allegations of anti-union discrimination and to take the necessary remedial steps if these allegations are proven to be true.
2. 165. In its communication of 3 February 2006, the Government once again states that, under section 4 of Act No. 2821 on Trade Unions, the branch of activity covering a workplace is determined by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the decision of the Ministry in this respect may be appealed against by the parties concerned. In the present case, the Ministry’s decision to classify the Pendik and Alaybey shipyards as workplaces under the “National Defence” branch of activity was contested twice before the competent courts and the courts of first instance rejected the appeals of the unions concerned. The Supreme Court of Appeal confirmed the verdicts of these courts. The Government further states that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has initiated work to amend, with consensus of social partners, Act No. 2822 on Collective Agreements, Strikes and Lockouts. The Government points out, however, that there is no intention to abolish or change the branch of activity called “National Defence”.
3. 166. The Committee notes the Government’s intention to amend Act No. 2822 on Collective Agreements, Strikes and Lockouts as well as its affirmation that it has no intention to abolish or change the branch of activity called “National Defence”. The Committee recalls that in the present case, the sudden change of the branch classification of the Pendik and Alaybey shipyards has, for a significant number of workers, resulted in the immediate loss of their right to be represented by the organization which they had freely chosen. While not calling into question the approach of setting up broad bands of classification relating to branches of activity for the purposes of clarifying the nature and scope of industrial level unions, the Committee considered that the fine distinction made between shipbuilding in the commercial sector and that carried out for naval purposes bordered on the illogical, particularly given the identical nature of the functions carried out by the workers and the fact that there was no distinction between their status as “employee” falling within the scope of the Trade Unions Act. The Committee concluded that the radical impact of the decision to classify the Pendik and Alaybey shipyards as part of the national defence sector with the resulting loss of trade union membership and representation, constituted a violation of both the organizational and the representational rights of the workers affiliated to Dok Gemi-Is, in contravention of Convention No. 87 (ratified by Turkey) [see 327th Report, paras. 843 and 844]. In these circumstances, the Committee can only reiterate its previous recommendations and strongly urge the Government to take the necessary steps to guarantee the right of Dok Gemi-Is to organize and represent its members in the Pendik and Alaybey shipyards. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the measures taken to ensure that the workers at the Pendik and Alaybey shipyards can join the organization of their own choosing, including Dok Gemi-Is. The Committee also urges the Government to institute independent investigations into all the allegations of anti-union discrimination in this case and to take the necessary remedial steps if these allegations are proven to be true. It requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of these investigations.