DİSK members protesting the bill in Ankara, the capital.
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The Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş), the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) and the Confederation of Turkish Real Trade Unions (Hak-İş) have released a joint statement against a new omnibus law proposal, which they say will lead to age-based discrimination among employees.
According to the bill, employees aged between 25 and 50 can be employed with a fixed-term contract for up to two years, therefore will not be able to benefit from severance pay and notice pay.
Over the years, the government opened the right to severance pay several times but had to draw back due to reactions by workers' organizations.
CLICK - Severance pay in Turkey: What does the government propose? Why do unions object?
The three confederations pointed out that the proposal allows fixed-term contracts to be extended, which effectively annul the right to severance pay for the specified age group.
Also aiming to make part-time work more widespread, the bill will lead to further losses of rights such as part-time working old-age pension, invalidity pension and entitlement to an unemployment allowance, they noted.
Here is the full text of the statement:
As TÜRK-İŞ, HAK-İŞ and DİSK, we share with the public our common concern about the regulations of the omnibus law proposal, and the drawbacks of the proposal which is on the agenda of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and demand that the provisions of the proposal that bring flexibility to Labor Law be withdrawn from the agenda of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. With the Law Proposal, it is possible to expand and extend the scope of a fixed-term employment contract. We find this regulation extremely inconvenient, as workers working on fixed-term contracts cannot benefit from severance and notice pay and job security (reemployment lawsuit) provisions. Employees under the age of 25 and over the age of 50 are not able to benefit from rights such as severance and notice pay as a result of being employed on a fixed-term employment contract (as temporary workers) and without any condition. This will result in unfair practices. This regulation, which will be introduced depending on age, will cause discrimination among the workers. It will cause the deterioration of working arrangements and social justice. Everything will turn upside down as the labor law in our country is regulated on the basis of the indefinite term employment contract. In addition, this discrimination based on age is also against the principle of equality referred to in our Constitution. In the Law Proposal, there is a regulation for workers under the age of 25 who have less than 10 working days. With this offer, the obligation to make payments for long-term insurance branches of workers under the age of 25 is removed. This proposal will eliminate workers from enjoying vital rights such as unemployment, invalidity, old age, death, occupational injury, occupational disease and maternity. We find this regulation unfavorable especially in terms of "the right to social security". We think that this regulation will lead to the deprivation of social security rights as it is "age" and "employment type" related. It is in conflict with the provisions of the Constitution on the right to equality and social security. The omnibus law proposal aims to widespread part-time work. We find this regulation objectionable as it will cause serious loss of rights in many issues such as part-time working old-age pension, invalidity pension and entitlement to an unemployment allowance. As three workers' confederations, we demand the withdrawal of this proposal, which we think will harm the rights of workers, especially severance pay and social security rights, which are guaranteed by the Constitution and laws. In these difficult days when our country is dealing with the global epidemic and earthquake disaster and trying to heal its wounds, it is the common desire of all workers that this proposal which causes great concerns and creates a loss of rights is withdrawn from the agenda of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. We call on all political parties in the Turkish Grand Assembly to act with common sense in this regard and to listen to the voices and wishes of the workers. We would like to emphasize that we, as the three labor confederations, are insistent on this matter. As TÜRK-İŞ, HAK-İŞ and DİSK, we once again underline that we are in favor of addressing the labor-related issues using social dialogue mechanisms which has a long history in our country. |
(HA/VK)
