Agreement at Kadıköy Municipality leads to resignations! Branch management resigns en masse from the union

Hazal Güven - 12punto.com.tr

The collective bargaining process, which had been ongoing for 6 months at Kadıköy Municipality, concluded with an agreement signed just minutes after the strike banner was hung, without accepting almost any of the workers' demands. Despite the union management's promise until the final minutes of the legal deadline that "We will not leave that table until all your demands are met," the agreement was signed with terms far below the workers' demands.

Municipal workers who are members of the DİSK-affiliated Genel-İş Union and the Anatolian Side No. 1 Branch Management gathered to hold a press conference. The union's branch executives and numerous municipal workers announced their resignation from the union, reacting to the signing of a contract that fell far short of their demands.

The following statements were included in the announcement:

"To the press and the public;

The strike we initiated on the evening of November 18 due to the deadlock at the collective bargaining table ended just 1 minute later, following an unfair termination by the Genel-İş Headquarters and a message sent by the employer.

In Istanbul and Izmir, many elected Genel-İş branches have unfortunately suffered a similar fate. The will of the branch management, which represents the will of the workers and looks out for their interests, and consequently the workers themselves, was once again ignored in Kadıköy, just as it has been many times in the last month.

The free, collective contract we prepared to protect our rights and receive what we are owed was once again reduced to a framework agreement and poverty wages by the employer and the union. This problematic cooperation and approach is not befitting of any political party or union. We refuse to be a part of calculations that push municipal workers further into a bottleneck, and we call on the Genel-İş Headquarters, which has recently taken its cooperation with the employer to another level, to resign.

Being a branch of a union that sits in those seats and ignores the will of the workers has lost its meaning for us. As the Anatolian Side No. 1 Branch Board of Directors, we are resigning.

We will continue to fight for workers to receive what they are owed and to achieve humane living and working conditions.

We announce to the entire public that we will continue to stand against anyone who engages in hostility toward workers and labor, whoever they may be."

News Source : 12punto