Victory for Sinter Metal workers
Jan
24
Written by:
24/01/2012 15:17
Workers fired for joining the Turkish metal union have won their case after an intense three year struggle.
Last month the Supreme Court ruled that Sinter Metal, a global parts manufacturer, fired workers for joining the Birlesik Metal-IS union.
In December 2008 all 378 Sinter Metal Birlesik Metal-IS affiliated workers were dismissed. An additional 16 were dismissed weeks later.
In December 2010 a ruling in favour of the workers was finally handed down. The court ruled that the workers were not dismissed for economic reasons as claimed by the company, but for their trade union membership. Sinter Metal was ordered to reinstate them, or to compensate them with 12 months wages and an additional 4 months wages.
The decision was appealed in the Supreme Court but in December 2011 the company lost its case.
Union boss Jyrki Raina said in a statement "Fuelled by a broken legal system and a culture of corporate impunity, this kind of case is all too common in Turkey.... We will take up this glaring example of shortcomings in the Turkish judicial system with the government and to push for changes to guarantee workers’ rights against anti-union companies like Sinter Metal,”
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