Aviation maintenance workers in Turkey win settlement
January 27, 2011
Hava-Is president Atilay Ayçin addresses workers at Turkish Technic Inc
Union representing aviation maintenance workers in Turkey reached an agreement on pay and conditions earlier this week. The deal was brokered just hours before the union was scheduled to announce its intention to take strike action.
The ITF-affiliated Turkish civil aviation union Hava-Is reached the settlement with management at Turkish Technic Inc, a Turkish Airlines subsidiary, on 24 January. The union had planned to announce strike action over the company’s refusal to agree on a fair deal.
Last August, Hava-Is, representing some 2500 technicians, engineers and mechanics at Turkish Technic Inc won barganing rights for its members following a two-year legal battle. The union’s struggle took place in the midst of alleged “behind the scenes” plans to undermine Hava-Is, believed to have been engineered by the Turkish government.
The new agreement will see workers receive an overall wage increase of between five and 10 per cent, including a substantial increase in social benefits over a two-and-a-half-year period covering 2009, 2010 and the first half of 2011. Low paid workers will gain the most, compared with those on an average wage.
In addition, most of the union’s demands on working conditions were met, including a two-day increase in annual leave entitlement. Hava-Is representatives also managed to see off provisions on areas such as flexible working and lower wages for newly hired employees.
Hava-Is president Atilay Ayçin commented: “In addition to substantial economic gains, we not only preserved our contractual and working conditions provisions, but improved them significantly as well. The determination of our members was effective and ultimately proved successful in the bargaining process.”