Page 276 - KAZOVA - ENGLISH
P. 276

What is important here is this: the laws for trade unions are
        constructed so that henceforth the authority of trade union or-
        ganisations is derived from the bosses. They are forced to seek per-
        mission from the bosses before being able to use their authority
        as organisations of the workers. On the contrary, bosses can arbi-
        trarily cancel the authority of trade union officials by pressing

        charges and these officials are not able to use their authority while
        legal proceedings are under way. For this reason, BELTAS workers
        are not able to function as trade unionists. The obstructions to
        trade unions have been removed, limitations in their competence
        have been removed, they have areas of competence but because
        the mayor’s office pressed charges they are unable to make use of
        their authority. Moreover, this is a mayor’s office belonging to the

        CHP (translator’s note: supposedly a left-wing party). We suppose
        that this mayor did not listen to CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu!
        Kilicdaroglu had made a call for organisation in trade unions. He
        had said get organised. It means the mayor was not listening! But
        of course he was. This is the CHP’s real face. They are the ones
        who send police and rapid reaction police to attack workers. They
        even seek help from the AKP’s courts to obstruct trade unions.
        They also get the AKP’s police to attack workers. But since the
        CHP is not our main subject here we just mention this in paren-
        theses. What we wanted to stress is that even when all legal objec-

        tions are overcome, you are still not able to engage in trade union
        organisation. You cannot use your authority as a trade union. Even
        this depends on the permission of the boss. It does not matter
        whether or not the bosses’ charges are found to be justified or not.
        Even if they are found to be in the wrong, you still have to pay the
        other side’s expenses and attorney expenses. As much as that. But


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