Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

The Committee notes the observations of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey, the Turkish Confederation of Employers’ Associations and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). The Committee also notes the adoption of the Public Employees’ Trade Unions Act No. 4688.

Articles 1 and 3 of the Convention. The Committee notes that while section 18 of the Public Employees’ Trade Unions Act No. 4688 generally provides for a prohibition of acts of anti-union discrimination, this guarantee is not accompanied by sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions. In its last report, the Government had indicated, regarding the protection of workers against anti-union discrimination, that a new draft Bill amending Labour Act No. 1475 and Trade Unions Act No. 2821 has been prepared by a commission of experts appointed by the social partners and the Minister of Labour and submitted to the Council of Ministers. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the mentioned draft Bill and to indicate whether the new draft Bill covers public servants not engaged in the administration of the State as concerns the protection against anti-union discrimination.

Article 4. In its previous observation, the Committee noted that the Government had initiated work to amend Acts Nos. 2821 and 2822, and that it had proposed to lift the 10 per cent membership requirement in a given branch of activity for collective bargaining purposes. The Government had indicated that the work on the draft Bills amending these Acts had not been finalized due to continuing consultations with social partners in order to reach a consensus on the questions of dual criteria contained in the legislation for determining the representative status of trade unions for collective bargaining purposes. The Committee also considers that at the enterprise level, if no union covers more than 50 per cent of the workers, collective bargaining rights should be granted to the unions, at least on behalf of their own members. The Committee expresses the firm hope that the Government will take the necessary measures to ensure the conformity of the draft Bills with the requirements of the Convention and once again requests the Government to provide a copy of the draft Bills amending Acts Nos. 2821 and 2822.

In its previous comments, the Committee had also requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that all workers in export processing zones (EPZs) would enjoy the right to negotiate freely their terms and conditions of employment. The Government had indicated that, regarding the issue of compulsory arbitration in EPZs, the proposed amendment in this regard had yet to be enacted. The Committee notes that, in its report on Convention No. 87, the Government states that an Act adopted by the Parliament on 3 August 2002 (not sent by the Government) has repealed Act No. 3218 on EPZs. The Committee therefore requests the Government to send a copy of the new legislation.

Article 6. The Committee notes from sections 3(a) and 15 of the Public Employees’ Trade Unions Act No. 4688 that several categories of public servants are denied the right to organize, and therefore to collective bargaining. The definition of "public employee" in section 3(a) refers only to those who are permanently employed and have finished their trial periods. Section 15 lists a number of public employees (such as lawyers, civilian civil servants at the Ministry of National Defence and the Turkish Armed Forces, employees at penal institutions, etc.) who are prohibited from joining trade unions. The Committee would like to underline that while Article 6 of the Convention allows public servants engaged in the administration of the State to be excluded from its scope, other categories should enjoy the guarantees of the Convention and therefore be able to negotiate collectively their conditions of employment (see General Survey of 1994 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 262). Furthermore, as concerns armed forces and the police, although they can be excluded from the scope of the Convention, even in these areas it is understood that civilian workers at these institutions should be entitled to fully exercise the rights granted by the Convention as all other workers. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend sections 3(a) and 15 so that public servants, other than those engaged in the administration of the State, are fully ensured the right to collective bargaining in accordance with the Convention.

Furthermore, the Committee requests the Government to provide details on the relationship between the role and functions of the Supreme Administrative Committee, the Institution Administrative Committee and the Public Employees Committee during collective bargaining. The Committee points out that, as concerns the employees of public enterprises and institutions, the public employer, instead of a Committee composed of various authorities, should be able to negotiate directly with the representative unions of a given public enterprise or institution and that the scope of employment conditions to negotiate should not be restricted to the economic conditions mentioned in section 28 of the Law but should also cover all the questions concerning working conditions. In this situation, consultations with budgetary authorities or other public bodies and authorities prior or during the collective bargaining could remain possible.

The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any measures taken to ensure the full application of the Convention.