43 Turkish Loomis union activists who have been dismissed and blacklisted have vowed not to give up their struggle to be reinstated.
On Wednesday 27 March, Swedish Transport Workers Union representative Jörgen Andersson and Head of UNI Property Services, Eddy Stam, met with the workers in Istanbul.
Stam said, “They explained to us how they had been exploited by Loomis and lost their jobs when they dared to raise their voices about attacks on worker rights. We fully support that they be reinstated immediately.
“Besides addressing and rectifying the issues of unpayed overtime, illegal practices and union harassment and intimidation, Loomis must live up to their global agreement with UNI to guarantee freedom to organise.
It is an obvious breach of the agreement and so far we have heard nothing but lame excuses from global management.
It is time for global management to step in and initiate a dialogue to resolve this unacceptable situation with the group of 43 and the wider issues. UNI will support these workers with all its means.”
Background
Loomis recently took over G4S operations in Turkey and is in the middle of integrating and consolidating its activities which has caused disruption. After the take-over, Güvenlik IS reached 40% membership density and gained recognition, as required under Turkish law which has been certified by the Ministry of Labour. The company then began victimising union members and started a legal procedure to dispute the recognition of the union.
As signatories to a global agreement with Loomis, both UNI and the Swedish Transport Workers Union reported this situation to the company’s headquarters in Sweden and called for immediate action.
