The first round of collective negotiations between Turkish Airlines and ITF-affiliate Hava-İş will be held on January 16, 2013 at the company’s headquarters in Istanbul.
The negotiations are aimed at ending the seven-month dispute following the dismissal by Turkish Airlines (THY) of 305 workers on 2 June 2012. The workers were sacked via email, text messages and phone calls for joining a peaceful protest to protect their right to strike.
Atilay Ayçin, president of Hava-İş, said, “This is the perfect opportunity to establish a civilised, modern social dialogue between two sides. We are ready for this. Our only prerequisite is the reinstatement of our 305 colleagues who were unfairly sacked.
“However, if THY management prefers to escalate the dispute, we will not refrain from a fight.”
Legal victories in the Turkish labour courts have so far secured the reinstatement of 28 of the 305 dismissed workers, while other cases are ongoing.
In protest against the dismissals, the dismissed aviation workers have held a non-stop picket in front of Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport for over 200 days.
The ITF launched an international campaign in June 2012 to support the workers and their union. For more information, latest news and resources see www.reinstate305.org.
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