Türkiye: Polonez management violates union rights and terminates 146 workers

Workers at Polonez, a major processed meat manufacturer in İstanbul, represented by IUF affiliate Tekgıda-İş Union, are facing serious violations of their freedom of association, including non-compliance with Turkish law, ILO conventions and OECD Guidelines for Multi-National Enterprises:

• The local managers, who became aware of union organizing at Polonez immediately tried to prevent Tekgıda-İş' efforts to secure a majority in the workplace, by hiring more than 200 new employees in just one evening
• An investigation by the Ministry's Guidance and Inspection Department revealed that the company had initially fired 13 workers, all members of Tekgıda-İş; following protests, Polonez dismissed 132 more workers
• Despite heavy fines and criminal complaints against the company, their anti-union campaign continues

Mustafa Türkel, Tekgıda-İş Union President, stated, "Polonez' managers are committing serious violations of the freedom of union organization, which is one of the fundamental and constitutional human rights in Türkiye and all around the civilized world. This has to stop!"