“If the last clause of Article 90 of the Constitution is in effect as a regulation at the top of the hierarchy of laws in domestic law, and if Turkey is bound by the Council of Europe’s (CoE) European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Revised European Social Charter (REDC), the UN’s Twin Covenants and ILO’s Conventions No. 87, 98 and 151 and has legal obligations because it “ratified”7 these agreements, it means that there is a “dual legal regime” with regards to labour rights: 1) Domestic law that includes the Constitution, and Laws no. 4688 and 6356, but that is in conflict with 2) Transnational law that includes agreements and decisions taken by supervisory organs, but is no doubt integrated in domestic laws in compliance of the ‘monist system,’ which the Constitution recognizes.”8 Short Explanation Concerning the Legislation in Turkey Source: ILO - [1946 - the ILO became a specialized agency of the newly formed United Nations] Before discussing examples of rights violations, it is important to provide information on the relevant substantive and procedural legislation. Law No. 6356 contains provisions regulating the competence of unions to conclude collective labour agreements in a workplace, specific workplaces or workplaces covered by an operating contract. In order to have the competence to negotiate collective labour agreements for a workplace or workplaces, the Law outlines two conditions— one of which also functions as a precondition. The first condition is a trade union must represents at least 1% of workers engaged in a given sector of activity. The second condition is the trade union represents an absolute majority (50% + 1) of the workers employed at the particular workplace. For example, for a trade union to have the competence to conclude a collective labour agreement, it should have at least one thousand members in a sector that employs one hundred thousand workers. Moreover, if one hundred workers are employed in a given workplace, 51 of them should be members of the trade union. Source: DİSK - [2012 There is serious criticism regarding the conflict between the general framework of rights described above and the Agreements Law] national legislation regulating its practice; in particular, Law No.6356 on Trade Unions and Collective Labour Agreements. For example, in his research, Prof. Dr. Gülmez, the main Turkish scholar in this field, summarises findings from a detailed analysis about the conflicts between Law No.6356 and the general framework as follows: - Protest on Unions and Collective Labour 20 C O L L E C T I V E R I G H T S O F W O R K E R S U N D E R T U R K E Y ’ S C O N T I N U O U S S TAT E O F E M E R G E N C Y T R A D E U N I O N R I G H T S I N E U R O P E A N A N D E U R O P E A N - A F F I L I AT E D E N T E R P R I S E S In enterprises with more than one workplace, the threshold of this competence is 40%. For example, in an enterprise that consists of three workplaces and employs 200 workers, the union must have at least eighty members in order to 7 Emphasis belongs to the writer of the quotation. 8 Gülmez, Mesut. “Örgütlenme ÖzgürSÜZlüğü” Cephesinde Yeni Bir Şey yok! Olacağı da Yok!.[“Nothing New on the Union UN Freedom Front and Nothing’s Going to Happen!]” Çalışma ve Toplum 37.2 (2013). T H E L E G A L F R A M E W O R K O F T H E S TAT E O F E M E R G E N C Y A N D I T S L I M I T S 21