2,500 Renault workers on strike in Turkey, production halts

More than 2,500 workers in a factory run by French carmaker Renault in western Turkey have gone on strike over wages and benefits, the company said on Friday. 350 workers from Tofaş, a joint venture of Turkey's top industrial conglomerate Koç Holding and FIAT, have gone on strike to support Renault workers on late Friday.

Workers stopped production overnight Thursday in the company's factory in the Bursa province, state-run Anadolu Agency said.

Some workers refused to leave the factory, which employs 5,000 people, at the end of their shifts, while others staged demonstrations in the factory's courtyard, chanting slogans against both the company and the union representing them.

The workers were angered when employees at a nearby car parts plant of German Bosch recently won a 60-percent wage increase thanks to efforts of the same labor union that represents the Renault workers, Anadolu Agency said.

Turkish Metal Union, part of Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş), stated that the strike arose from only 191 workers that earn 300 Turkish liras more than others. Chairman Pevrul Kavlak said that there had been an authority dispute between Turkish Metal Union and United Metal Union, causing a trial period of 38 months that left 1,200 unemployed as raises were frozen while 600 others had financial troubles. Kavlak said that Bosch had increased the wages by itself to keep the workers, and 191 workers had received three wage increases, causing an imbalance when they started collective bargaining after the trial. When some workers in Renault demanded an equal wage with these 191 workers, Renault management in France declined, Kavlak said. He added that a perception has been created as Turkish Metal Union is actually denying such an increase while the factory accepts it.

Turkish Employers' Association of Metal Industries (MESS) deemed the strike as illegal due to a three year-long contract covering the 2014-2017 period, and said that they closely monitor the situation.

United Metal Union, part of Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions (DİSK), accused Turkish Metal Union of collaborating with MESS to enforce a prolonged collective bargain to workers without improvement in living and working conditions. The union stated their demands as increase in wages, end to layoffs, recognition of worker representatives by the management and banning "fake" trade unions and their representatives from workplaces.

A Renault official said no negotiations had been scheduled, adding that the carmaker would take measures "to protect both the company and its workers and get back to normal."

"For us, this is an unforeseeable situation. It's absolutely unjustified because what they are doing is against the law," the official told AFP.

The factory, one of the biggest car plants in Turkey in terms of production capacity, produces nearly 400 cars in each shift.

Renault has operated in Turkey since 1969 when it established a joint venture with OYAK, the Turkish army's pension fund.