Reaction to Strike Bans Grows: Call for Struggle for Working Class Rights

Common Reaction from the Working Class Against Strike Bans: "This Struggle Cannot Be Stopped"

Consecutive statements came from labor unions against the postponement of the strike of the Turkish Mine Workers Union on national security grounds by Presidential Decree. Birleşik Metal-İş and Health and Social Service Workers Union reminded that the right to strike is a constitutional right and called for a joint struggle against interventions against this right.

Özkan Atar: "The Struggle of the Working Class cannot be Stopped by Bans"

Birleşik Metal-İş General President and DİSK Vice President Özkan Atar emphasized in a statement that strike bans are one of the heaviest attacks against the working class. "The struggle of hundreds of thousands of public workers and our working class for bread and a decent life cannot be stopped by strike bans," Atar said, adding that the confederations are depriving workers of their right to strike by conducting the process without compromising with the government.

Stating that they are one of the unions where strikes are banned the most, Atar reminded that metal workers showed how strike bans can be overcome with the resistance at the beginning of the year. "As long as the right leadership is provided and the unity of the working class struggle is established. The working class of Turkey will win."

Sağlık-Sen: "The Right to Strike Cannot Be Arbitrarily Limited"

Another statement on the strike ban came from the headquarters of the Health and Social Service Workers Union of Turkey. The statement said that the postponement of the legal strike decision of the Turkish Mine Workers' Union with the Presidential Decree published in the Official Gazette is alarming.

The union reminded that the right to strike is guaranteed by both the Constitution and international conventions and emphasized that arbitrary restrictions on this right are unacceptable. "Strike, which is a peaceful and democratic right, is the most fundamental tool for workers to defend their social and economic rights," the statement said, adding that the union will stand by the struggle.