burst with anger and said “enough is enough. We’re also human. What is this that we are experiencing?” Moreover, this was not the first protest. There had been other small and large protests before. [Back then] They suppressed the workers immediately and fired them. Türk-İş – Petrol-İş Union, Rıza Köse (July 29, 2019) Rıza Köse: has been a Petrol-İş Union International Relations Services Specialist since 2005. On behalf of the Union, he took part in unionisation efforts at many foreign investment enterprises, and was part of international contact and applications. At the same time, he conducts these efforts in collaboration with the global union IndustriAll. The number of foreign investment workplaces where Petrol-İş is organised is increasing. Our Union has valuable experience in such enterprises. These enterprises have different approaches toward union rights. In most of the cases that I observed, at first sight it appears as if European headquarters have a positive attitude towards union rights, whereas the local management does not. But once you dig deeper, you witness that they are acting in some form of “collusion.” In recent cases such as Recticel, Flormar (Yves Rocher) etc., we saw that local management frequently used methods such as competence disputes, etc. to prevent unionisation efforts, but when we contacted the European headquarter, we saw that they allow this and do not interfere. For example, in the Recticel case, during our contact with the head office in Europe, we realised that they were pretty familiar with unionisation procedures and processes in Turkey. When our efforts achieve results with regards to the recognition of union rights from European headquarters, it is not because these companies respect these rights. It is because they signed binding international agreements and documents, or because they do not want to risk losing prestige. European companies’ compliance with documents of responsibility or global framework agreements is a result of balance of power. For example, in the Flormar case, we learned that Yves Rocher had signed a global agreement on workers’ rights, but our French colleagues informed us that the company did not renew this agreement. A company that feels strong can abandon such things. The ability to achieve respect for union rights through mechanisms set up by framework agreements, code of conducts, the Global Compact or European Business Councils while carrying out 94 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 unionisation efforts in European countries depends on whether there are strong unions and/or Business Council in the home country, and whether they have the capacity to weaken the company’s international prestige, etc. Achieving results by filing complaints through such mechanisms takes a very long time. On the other hand, even when there are results, there are no sanctions. The company gets a warning and is called upon to obey the rules. In recent years, I do not recall a single case, including European companies, that showed respect to and recognized unionisation without objecting from the beginning onwards. However, there are employers who try to prevent it at first and then change their attitudes. Perhaps the most positive example is Veritas, which produces automotive parts in Çerkezköy in the Thrace region. At first, the employer threatened to dismiss workers etc., and then as a result of the Union’s efforts, it sought a settlement, the Union obtained competency and concluded a collective agreement.102 This example shows us that companies can have a respectful attitude towards labour rights without resorting to the objection mechanism of competence or dismissals, which companies may sometimes consider to be their rights. Another example in which we managed to establish a dialogue during unionisation efforts is the Contitech company, which is under the umbrella of the German company Continental.103 The collective bargaining process that resumed in 2015 was being postponed for years due to the employer’s continuous objections. As a result of our contact with the European Business Council and the German Chemical Union, Continental’s management met with the representatives of the Council, the international union and Petrol-İş. In the meeting held in Bursa, we informed them that the Union actually is competent and even though laws in Turkey allow a dispute mechanism, they do not comply with universal employment norms. In order to create peace at the workplace, we asked them to withdraw their objection and called them to sustain dialogue. The meeting had positive results and we started the collective bargaining process. We signed 102 The union received its certificate of competence for conducting collective agreements on 13.02.2018 by registering 67 workers out of 117 workers in the workplace following its application dated 07.02.2018 to the Ministry. Collective labuor agreement negotiations started on 24.04.2018. The first collective agreement was signed on 08.08.2018. (https://petrol-is. org.tr/haber/veritas-isyerinde-tis-imzalandi-11958) 103 The unionisation efforts that had started in Bursa before were fruitless due to the dismissal of leading workers. They have been resumed later on. The union received its certificate of competency on 18.02.2015 following its application to the Ministry. The Contitech management objected to the union’s competence and has started a legal process. INTERVIEW SUMMARIES 95