These workers, their family members and supporters have been demonstrating since 15 December 2009, in protest against the closure of their workplaces. They were attacked by the security forces on the third day of their demonstration in Abdi İpekci Park. On 19 January 2010 some 100 TEKEL protestors started a hunger strike, which was called off when the six major Turkish trade union confederations, including 4 ETUC affiliated organizations, met to decide what next steps should be taken. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish Prime Minister, met the leaders of TÜRK-İŞ on 28 January and instructed his Ministers to come up with a solution to end the conflict by the following week.

The ETUC calls on the Turkish government to ensure that negotiations begin immediately with the tobacco workers’ trade union TEKGIDA- İŞ, with a view to ensuring that these workers are transferred to other public enterprises with their full employee benefits, in accordance with the law. The ETUC will be monitoring the situation and calls on European trade unionists to support the campaigns led by the international and European food workers’ unions, IUF and EFFAT.

For more details see http://cms.iuf.org/?q=node/204and http://www.effat.eu/files/1264171959_doc_Tekel%20conflict%20EN%2021.01.10.pdf .

As a European trade union organization, we support these workers in their fight for their most elementary needs: the right to earn a decent living for a decent day’s work!