{"id":283040,"date":"2026-02-26T04:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T04:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/?p=283040"},"modified":"2026-02-26T04:00:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T04:00:06","slug":"the-establishment-of-trade-unionism-in-turkey-is-a-half-finished-class-autonomy-within-the-modernization-of-the-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/the-establishment-of-trade-unionism-in-turkey-is-a-half-finished-class-autonomy-within-the-modernization-of-the-state\/","title":{"rendered":"The Founding of Trade Unionism in Turkey: Unfinished Class Autonomy within State Modernization"},"content":{"rendered":"

To understand the history of trade unionism in Turkey, it is first necessary to dispel an illusion: Trade unions in this country did not emerge as an organic product of a long class struggle from below, as in Western Europe. Trade unionism in Turkey developed within the controlled framework of state-centered modernization.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The waves of strikes in the last period of the Ottoman Empire (port, tobacco and railway strikes after 1908), while important, failed to produce continuity. In the early Republican period, industrialization was largely carried out by the state. The working class often emerged in state enterprises, not against private capital. This was a factor that shaped the development of class consciousness from the beginning.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The 1947 Trade Union Law granted workers the right to form trade unions, but not the right to strike. This is a critical detail. The state accepted organization but not conflict. The worker could be represented but could not stop production. This was the first structural limit placed on the nature of trade unionism.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1961 Anayasas\u0131 ile grev ve toplu s\u00f6zle\u015fme hakk\u0131 tan\u0131nd\u0131. 1963\u2019te y\u00fcr\u00fcrl\u00fc\u011fe giren yasalarla birlikte i\u015f\u00e7i s\u0131n\u0131f\u0131 tarihsel olarak en g\u00fc\u00e7l\u00fc hukuki zemine kavu\u015ftu. 1960\u2019lar\u0131n sonunda yakla\u015f\u0131k 2 milyon sigortal\u0131 i\u015f\u00e7i vard\u0131 ve sendikal\u0131 oran\u0131 %40\u2019lara yakla\u015fm\u0131\u015ft\u0131. Bug\u00fcnk\u00fc %14\u201315 oran\u0131yla k\u0131yasland\u0131\u011f\u0131nda bu dramatik bir farkt\u0131r.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But there is an important point here: Legal expansion has not produced a fully autonomous class politics. Trade unions established strong ties with political parties. The distance from the state was never fully built. This created a union culture in the 1970s that was both strong and fragile at the same time.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The June 15-16 resistance of 1970 was the clearest expression of the collective power of the working class. The 1977 May Day massacre in Taksim showed the point of conflict of this power with the state. By the end of the 1970s, the number of official members was approaching 5 million; although academic studies show that the actual effective membership was in the 1.5-2 million range, the unionization rate was high.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This period was the peak of the trade union movement. But it was also the period of the failure to institutionalize the independent class line.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When the September 12, 1980 military coup came, not only were trade unions closed down; the collective memory of the class was also interrupted. The 1982 Constitution and 1983 laws introduced authorization thresholds, strike restrictions and bureaucratic obstacles.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

From this point on, trade unionism took a defensive posture.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The first big observation here is this:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Trade unionism in Turkey has never taken root as a fully autonomous class movement. Its permeable relationship with the state and the political system has increased its strength but also its fragility.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here lies the first root of today's structural weakness.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

NEOLIBERAL RESTORATION: PRIVATIZATION, SUBCONTRACTING AND THE SYSTEMATIC EROSION OF UNION POWER<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The September 12, 1980 coup politically suppressed the trade union movement. However, what really weakened trade unionism was not the military bans, but the neoliberal economic order that followed. Because repression may be temporary, but the transformation of the regime of production is permanent.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The neoliberal policies implemented in Turkey since the mid-1980s have eroded union power along three main axes:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Privatization<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Subcontracting<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Flexible and precarious employment model<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This triad removed the historical basis of the trade union movement.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Privatization: Dismantling Trade Union Strongholds<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Accelerated after 1986 and peaking in the 2000s, the privatization process was not only an economic choice; it was also a class restructuring.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Between 2002 and 2020, privatization revenues in Turkey exceeded $60 billion. TEKEL, T\u00dcPRA\u015e, PETK\u0130M, TELEKOM, ports, sugar factories, SEKA, energy distribution companies and many other public enterprises changed hands.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    What did these businesses have in common?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    High unionization rate.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Kamu i\u015fletmelerinde sendikala\u015fma oran\u0131 %70\u201380 band\u0131ndayd\u0131. Toplu s\u00f6zle\u015fme kapsam\u0131 g\u00fc\u00e7l\u00fcyd\u00fc. \u0130\u015f g\u00fcvencesi y\u00fcksekti.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    What happened after privatization?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n