bianet, TGS Sign Collective Labor Agreement

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Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) has signed Collective Labor Agreement with the IPS Communication Foundation in which bianet operates.

The agreement qualifies to be the first TİS signed with a news site.

The agreement has been signed at the ceremony in which bianet Project Advisor and IPS Communication Foundation President Nadire Mater, TGS General President Uğur Güç, TGS Secretary General Mustafa Kuleli, and TGS İstanbul Branch President Gökhan Durmuş attended.

The TİS includes articles of personal rights such as annual leave, wage rise, premium as well as social gender equality, editorial independence and animal rights.

Mater: Right/peace based journalism practice is our invitation

Following the signing of the TİS, Mater spoke as follows:
"In such days and years when necessity of being organized frequently voiced yet not actualized, I would like to express that the agreement we signed right ahead of the Labor Day and May 3 World Press Freedom Day.

"Lack of journalism in favor of people's right to information, and lack of labor job security in the polarized/forced to be polarized media environment which has been surrendered by multiple government crackdowns, reveals that the problems cannot be overcome without organizing and unionizing.

"The agreement we signed is very eye-opening in terms of personal rights and social rights. I wish both signing of the agreement and its approach will be leading. The agreement at the same time qualifies to be an invitation to media laborers' organization efforts as well as journalism debates and right/peace oriented journalism practice".

Güç: A leading agreement for Internet journalists

Güç spoke as follows:

"We've signed TİS with a news site for the first time in Turkey. It has become a progressive and leading agreement with regards to rights. It is also going to be a leading agreement for the websites and Internet journalists to come.

"It is a success to have this agreement signed in such an environment of pressure and crackdown ahead of May 1. This is an agreement that will take the rights forward".

Emphasize on editorial independence

Following phrases are included in the Purpose article of the TİS:
"This TİS guarantees protecting and developing editorial independence on the basis of people's right to information and journalist's right to deliver/make news free from all sorts of power focuses. It refuses masculine/sexist, discriminative, polarizing, provoking violence, biased, in favor of dominant, militaristic approach and terminology that include hate speech.

It guarantees to protect and develop right, citizen and peace oriented journalism mindset. It promotes to develop democratic participant journalism model specific to workplace, and spread it in general journalism environment as a model".

The agreement also guarantees to realize social gender equality and take necessary positive measures to prevent women, youth, elder, refugee, disabled and LGBTI laborers from being exposed to any sort of discrimination.

Emphasize on social gender equality

Social gender equality takes a privileged place in the agreement

According to this,

The employer exerts effort to have the women and LGBTI employees had equal opportunities with all the employees, represented equally in all working fields and publishing, and that takes positive discriminative measures.

All sort of precautions to prevent LGBTI employees from being exposed to discrimination because of their sexual orientations and sexual identities during hiring process, during the period they work and in case of mandatory discharges will be taken by the employer.

Furthermore,

Women employees will be granted paid vacation on March 8, the women who work despite the vacation will be paid an extra day wage. The women will be granted leave of absence on their period on their demand.

The expression “feminist” for the first time in TİS

* According to TİS, all kinds of physical, psychological, verbal and sexual harassment, violence and mobbing against women and LGBTI employees constitute disciplinary offense. The complaints will be predicated on the statements of women and LGBTI employees, the other party will have to prove the opposite.

* In addition, a board consisting of three members will be set up to evaluate the complaints. One member will be the employer, the other one will be designated by TGS Women’s Commission and the last one will be a feminist organization member or a feminist activist.

Mobbing and Job security

* The mobbing article in TİS requires measures to be taken to prevent that employees do not get exposed to mobbing by co-workers or the employer.

* With TİS, also the job security and personal rights of the employees have been guaranteed in case of mandatory military service, custody and arrest.

Support for kindergarten and animals

Besides support for kindergarten, TİS also provides financial support for union members who live with animals in their households. (EA/TK)