CEO Trexta, TURKEY: We urge Trexta management to respect basic workers rights.

Why This Is Important

Workers in Trexta Company in Turkey are forced to work long hours, without sufficient health and safety measures and workers can not get their legal right of severance pay. Between August and 12 November 2011 members and on 15 February 2012, 3 union members were dismissed because of their union work and membership. Other workers have been known to receive warnings by management not to join the union.

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http://www.change.org/petitions/ceo-trexta-turkey-we-urge-trexta-managem...

Dear Colleagues,

We call support for Trexta workers who struggle for their right of organization.

In summer 2011, Deri-İş union (Leather Workers Union of Turkey) started its organising campaign at Trexta in Çerkezköy, a leather company producing mobile phone covers for international companies such as Blackberry, Nokia and Iphone and with a predominantly female workforce. (75 % of total 600 workers)

Trexta has plants in Istanbul (Turkey), Chennai (India), Guangzou ( China) and has offices in Hong Kong, Beijing (China), San Diego (USA) and Singapore.

The employer responded with hostility and fired several female workers who joined the union for better working conditions. Between August and November, 25 members were fired. On February 15, 3 active union members were dismissed. (Semra Dag, Esin Kara, Aysun Kabakcioglu)

Deri-Is initiated a picket line in front of the factory and they will continue their struggle until they achieve their demands.

Their demands are recognition of the Union and reinstatement of the unfairly dismissed union members.

Since then Deri-İş mobilised international support which resulted in Nokia visiting and auditing the company in Turkey in November. Strategic research and organising campaign continue. Yet due to the employer’s anti-union campaign and limited resources of Deri-İş, activities can not gain full momentum. More support is needed to accelerate Deri-İş campaign which is located at the intersection point of the issues of gender, labour and human rights.