May 1 — International Workers’ Day in Istanbul and once again workers wanting to mark this important day of proletarian solidarity by demonstrating in the city’s Taksim Square were met with the brutality of the riot police. Dozens were arrested. This year the need to protest was as high as it has ever been. Not only has the country been rocked by the consequences of the war in Ukraine, on the other side of the Black Sea, President Erdogan has used the diversion to launch his own ground and air offensive against Kurdish rebels in Iraq. It is the working class who are paying the economic costs of these conflicts.
Mass protests and strikes by workers are breaking out amid unprecedented inflation in Turkey. According to official data, the annual inflation rate is 63.25%, while according to independent analysts it is 123.8%. Annual food inflation stands at more than 85%, increasing each month by more than 8%. According to independent surveys, 59% of Turkish citizens cannot make ends meet. Employers and the government are not indexing wages, pensions, and benefits to keep up. As a result, more and more people are falling below the poverty line. In 2021 alone, 2.9 million families have been left without electricity, and 1 million without gas.
This situation is pushing workers to turn to the trade unions and fight for higher wages. Just in recent months, there have been at least 108 strikes in Turkey, more than there were in 2021. The wider strike movement began with a three-day walk-out by Trendyol couriers, as a result of which workers secured a wage increase of 38.8%, while the company owners initially were only willing to “concede” 11%. This success has inspired courier workers across Turkey and mass strikes have broken out.
Workers in the garment, automotive, and paper industry, steelworkers, medics, journalists, warehouse workers, and dockers have been on strike. One example of effective action was shown by workers at the Migros supermarket chain, who staged an 18-day strike that succeeded in meeting all the demands of the striking workers. On the first day of the strike, the business owners used the police against the workers. This just caused a major public outcry and strengthened the determination of the strikers.
During this strike, 150 people were arrested and over 250 striking workers were fired. In response to this pressure, the strikers put forward new demands and forced business owners to reinstate all the sacked workers, securing better working conditions and higher wages. Turkish businesses spend huge resources attempting to suppress unions and strikes, firing workers and union leaders, and using threats and intimidations. But workers’ solidarity for their rights can overcome this.
One inspiration to struggle is Zahide Sogut, who has fought for five years for higher wages at auto parts maker Farplas Automotive. As inflation was skyrocketing, many workers came to realise the need to fight for better conditions at their workplaces. When they tried to organise a trade union, Sogut and 150 other striking workers were sacked. On 8 March, a group of laid-off workers marched to the walls of Farplas, expressing solidarity with the striking workers inside, who in turn demanded their reinstatement.
The legal barriers to forming a union or going on strike are very high. Of the 108 strikes this year, only one was “sanctioned”, most of the others were broken up by the police and the organisers were sacked. Periodic government bans are imposed on the organisation of trade union events under the guise of fighting the pandemic. And Erdoğan bans or postpones “legal” strikes by decree, citing threats to national security, as is regularly the case with strikes by Turkey’s Petroleum, Chemical and Rubber Workers Union “Petrol-İş” that organizes workers at the Soda Industry Corporation, a carbonated beverage factory.
There have also been outbreaks of street struggles sparked by dissatisfaction with the policies of Erdogan’s regime. For example, the court decision to imprison human rights activist Osman Kaval for life and the 18-year imprisonment of seven activists in the Gezi Park case sparked spontaneous protests involving thousands in the last weeks. In 2013, the development of Gezi Park, the only park in the district sparked a wave of protests among local residents. When police violently dispersed them, protests and strikes erupted across the country in response. A local environmental protest grew into a widespread movement demanding a change of government that did not subside for several months. The violent repression of the protests, the arrest of left-wing activists and restrictions on assembly rights continue.
The situation facing Turkish workers, women, and youth is likely to increase dissatisfaction. The right-wing government with its defence of the capitalist system cannot take any effective measures to support living standards. Instead, it is increasing military expenditure, while decreasing social budgets. As if the increase in global prices is not bad enough, the government’s policy has meant that Turkey’s inflation rate is amongst the highest in the world.
As the government is feeling increasing insecurity, it is stepping up its attacks of groups it sees as a threat. The latest, in mid-April, was the decision by public prosecutors to demand the closure of one of Turkey’s largest feminist organisations “We Will Stop Femicide”, which it claims is responsible for “disintegrating the family structure”. Such attacks, together with the war and economic situation are leading to an increase in workers’ consciousness and a struggle for change.
As they move into action, workers, women, youth, and the Kurdish minority have a rich tradition of radical struggle to lean on. But too often, the struggle in Turkey has been misled down the paths of reformism or Stalinist era “communism”. What is clearly needed is the building of a revolutionary socialist organization that can link up with the wider protest movements, present demands and tactics to tackle inflation and unemployment, give a lead to the struggle for democratic rights against authoritarian rule, ensure the workers’ movement gives a clear lead in the fight for womens’ rights and for Kurdish self-determination and, most importantly to present a clear programme for the overthrow of capitalism in Turkey as part of the international struggle to establish a democratic, socialist society. If you agree with us, join us.
