______________________________ Forward Header __________________________________
Subject: oil industry boycott
Author: /DT=rfc-822/DV=ICEM@GEO2.poptel.org.uk/ADMD=telemax/PRMD=internet/C=no
at x400
Date: 14.8.96 16:58
To all ICEM affiliates
Brussels August 14, 1996
Oil companies attack on trade union rights in Turkey
Dear Colleagues:
For several years there has been a co-ordinated attack by a number of major
oil companies on trade union representation of their workforces wherever
national law has allowed such attacks. The latest such attacks are in Turkey
but similar attacks have taken place in the United Kingdom and Fiji.
As in the other cases the attacks in Turkey seem to be led by Shell although
both Mobil and BP are active participants in the derecognition attempts.
Workers in the three companies are represented by the ICEM affiliated
Petrol-Is, the Petroleum, Chemical and Rubber Workers Trade Union of Turkey.
In a remarkable show of unity the entire labor movement of Turkey has mounted
a national boycott campaign of the three renegade companies.
The boycott was officially launched at a July 17, 1996 press conference in
Ankara, the capital city, supported by three national trade union centers,
Turk-Is, DISK and Hak-Is. Also present, showing public support to the
campaign, were representatives of national trade unions from all three
confederations, engineer and architect organizations, medical organizations
and consumer groups. The oil companies have found themselves confronting not
only the trade union movement but broader civil society itself.
Background to the boycott.
Although successive governments have made some improvements to the labor
legislation in Turkey many restrictions remain on trade union activity in
both the consitution of the country and the labor code initially introduced
by the past military government that seized power in September 1980. Union
rights, taken for granted in most industrial countries remain either
outlawed or restricted in Turkey and the oil companies have been intent on
exploiting these restrictions to the full.
Collective agreements are based on the workplace. However before a union is
legally allowed to sign a collective agreement covering a workplace it must
first of all prove that it has at least 10% of the entire workforce of the
industry ( throughout the country) in membership. It then needs to organize
50%+1 of the workers in a particular workplace. Once the union has proved it
satisfies these conditions the law allows it to negotiate and sign
agreements covering the entire "full-time" employees at the workplace in
question. In the petroleum sector, as in many other industries, there are
also major restrictions on the right to strike. These restrictions were
actually extended to the petroleum industry in the mid-1980's folllowing
successful Petrol-Is strikes.
In moves mirrored elsewhere in the world the oil companies in Turkey are
increasingly "contracting-out" work that was previously carried out by
full-time employees and dividing workers into core and peripheral
activities. Under the Turkish legislation the contracted out or "non-covered
personnel" are no longer covered by the collective agreements, cannot be
members of the trade union but continue to be counted as part of the overall
workforce.
Over the last three years the companies have transferred almost half of their
workforce into this "non-covered" personnel status making it a statistical
impossibility for a union to legally bargain for any of their workers!
Furthermore, in an attempt to destroy rather than merely derecognize Petrol-Is
in their operations, the companies have used the tactics, very familiar to
the TGWU in Britain, to pressure their remaining core employees to resign
from the union.
Petrol-is informs us that workers have been threatened with dismissal if they
do not quit the union - and at the same time offered immediate pay rises if
they give up their union membership. We are told by the union the companies
have gone as far as handing workers closed envelopes containing cash as a
"reward" for resigning from the union. Turkish legislation requires a worker
to obtain an official document, signed by a public notary at a cost
equivalent to around USD 10, to join or resign from a trade union. It
appears that the oil companies have been recompensing (with interest!) any
worker who resigns?
Given these facts it is not surprising that Petrol-Is membership has
plummetted in the three companies:
SHELL MOBIL BP
31/3/94 17/7/96 1/4/94 17/7/96 1/4/94 17/7/96
Total workers 434 500 603 600 282 250
members 222 113 312 27 147 99
Petrol-Is has made numerous attempts to resolve the long-standing disputes
over recognition through goodwill and dialogue. The latest attempts were
made during discussions with the companies on July 16 - the eve of the
formal launch of the boycott. Discussions proved fruitless and the boycott
has been launched.
The union has held a series of demonstrations to bring their campaign to the
attention of the Turkish population. Thousands of workers and supporters
have brought the streets of Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir to a standstill.
The campaign is already showing signs of success. Petrol-Is estimate that at
least 100,000 drivers are refusing to buy the products of any of the
companies concerned. Over 100 small firms and cooperatives have announced
that they will no longer use or stock products from these oil majors and
hundreds of thousands of posters and stickers are being distributed and
displayed throughout Turkey.
Shell in particular is under fire from the growing environmental movement in
Turkey who have joined the campaign with enthusiasm. The company produces oil
in the South East Region of the country around Diyarbakir. The company is
widely believed to be responsible for the recent pollution of drinking water
supplies to the area. Petrol-Is and ICEM are presently researching this issue
and will provide you with further information as it becomes available.
Information from the area is difficult to obtain - the whole region is
subject to "extraordinary conditions" legislation with strict controls on all
the population by the Governor of the Province and the Turkish Military.
Shell has on occasions taken advantage of this legislation in restricting
trade union activities in the region.
Please send messages of support to the union at:
Bayram Yilderim
President Petrol-Is
Altunizade Mah, Kushakisi Sok. No:25
81180 Altunizade - Uskular
ISTANBUL
Turkey
fax:+ 90 216 391 6678
+90 216 310 4012
e-mail petrol-is@geo2.poptel.org.uk
Please protest to the subsidiaries of Shell, Mobil and BP in your country as
well as to the headquarters and Turkish subsidiaries at the following
addresses:
Shell
Chairman Shell Transport and Trading
fax: + 44171 934 43 68
Chairman Royal Dutch Petroleum
fax: + 31 70 377 26 16
Genel Mudurluge
Shell Turkey
Oymaci Sok No 51
Altunizade 81180 Uskudar
Istanbul
Turkey
fax: + 90 216 391 5744
+90 216 391 5761
Mobil
Chairman Mobil Corporation
fax:+1 703 846 46 69
Genel Mudurluge
Mobil Oil Turk A.S.
Cumhuriyat Cad No 26
Pegasus Evi 80200 Harbiye
Istanbul
Turkey
fax: +90 212 248 42 92
BP
Chairman BP Oil
fax:+44 171 496 4630
Genel Mudurluge
BP Petrolleri A.S.
Fahrettin kerim Gokay Cad No 62 A-C Blok
Altunizade Kucuk Camlica
Istanbul
Turkey
fax:+90 216 326 7650
Thanking you in advance for your action and support.
yours fraternally,
Victor E. Thorpe
General Secretary