Turkish textile labor & employers' unions sign agreement

29 Aug '13

2 min read

The textile workers’ union in Turkey and the textile industry employers union have signed a collective agreement that intends to resolve the complaints and meet the demands of the textile workers’ union.

According to a statement issued by the Textile, Knitting and Clothing Industry Workers’ Union of Turkey (TEKSIF), the TEKSIF and the Turkey Textile Industry Employers Union signed the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The union and the employers’ association have signed a 36 month contract which aims to resolve the textile workers’ issues regarding bonus, overtime pay, salary rise and seniority wage rise.

According to the agreement, the bonus level would be returned to the 120 days level instead of the current 72 days, workers who work overtime especially on general holidays, national holidays, regional holidays or weekdays would receive double their pay.

The agreement states that each worker would receive a seniority wage raise, as well as additional payment would be given according to their work duration. Each year would add 7 liras to the wage, which means if a worker has been working for 10 years, he/she would receive 70 additional liras in wage.

Workers would also receive 5 percent rise on salaries during completion of the first six months, 3 percent on second six months, 3 percent on the third, 4 percent on the fourth, 3 percent on the fifth and 4 percent during the sixth six months.

The agreement also states that the workers’ social assistance payments would be raised parallel to the rise in wages.

The union and the employers’ association had called for the collective bargaining process in April 2013, but the process was stalled by the end of June 2013.

Subsequently, around 12,000 textile workers went on strike earlier this month, affecting nearly 30 major textile and clothing producers in the country, but the workers have now withdrawn the strike after the agreement was reached.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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