Turkish cabinet announced on May 23 that they settled to postpone workers' strike at Soda Corporation factory in Mersin province for 60 days. The council of ministers ruled that the strike of workers is a "threat to national security."
The parties have to agree after 60 days. In practice, this means that there is no chance to continue the strike after the 60-day period.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally noted that the state of emergency declared after the July 15 coup attempt in 2016 is to the benefit of the capitalists since it serves to ban strikes.
WORKERS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE DESPITE THE BAN ON STRIKE
542 workers of Soda Corporation factory continue their strike despite the government's ban on it. The strike of the workers started in the early hours of May 23.
The workers are organised in Petrol-İş Union and they note that a committee of workers are to meet their employers to negotiate their demands. The workers say they are not going to sign any agreement until their employers agree to meet their demands.
The workers say they "demand a salary increase of 740 Turkish liras [$160]. But the employers offer 390 Turkish liras [$85[. The undersecretaries of the Ministry of Labour offer 450 Turkish liras [$97]. Our union declared that it will not agree on these amounts."
One of the workers on strike reminded Erdoğan's words that the government can easily postpone strikes under state of emergency.
