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Günce Nur İnce and Nejdet Eksilmez, who are among journalists laid off by Sputnik Turkey, and İlyas Coşkun from the Journalists Union of Turkey discussed the strike at Sputnik Turkey and journalists’ right to unionization
Twenty-four unionized journalists working at the Turkish offices of the Russian news agency Sputnik in Istanbul and Ankara were laid off by the news agency after negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) failed this summer. Following the failure of negotiations, TGS declared a strike on 17 August, demanding better pay and working conditions, the reinstatement of the dismissed journalists and acknowledgment of their right to unionization. As of the first week of October, the strike is still underway.
Expression Interrupted platform recently hosted an online panel focusing on the Sputnik strike and the journalists’ right to unionization. Journalists Günce Nur İnce and Nejdet Eksilmez, who were both laid off by Sputnik Turkey, and TGS Union Organizer İlyas Coşkun were the speakers of our online panel, held on 4 October and moderated by journalist Meltem Akyol.
‘This is a professional struggle, not an individual one’
TGS Sputnik Representative Nejdet Eksilmez recounted the process of his dismissal from the agency where he had worked for 12 years and how the strike evolved:
“Due to changing economic conditions, the salaries we received were not enough for us anymore. We believed that if we unionized, we would be able to achieve our demand for an increase in our salaries and after reaching the required number of employees we unionized under TGS. Our demands in the draft collective labor agreement text were a 35 percent increase in our salaries; to be under contract within the scope of the Press Labor Law No. 212, financial support for bills, stipends for food and commute, and a social assistance package.
“The successful results achieved through the BBC and AFP strikes gave us strength. The most important thing in Turkey is to learn how to wage a struggle. We are learning this in this strike. This is a professional struggle, not an individual one. That’s why not only Sputnik employees but also university students studying in faculties of communications should keep an eye on this strike. The success achieved here will profit them, too.
“Twenty-four people were fired for exercising their constitutional rights. The answer to the question about our demands is not simply being fired from our jobs. People think this is an ordinary thing. We want everyone to understand that being fired for exercising your constitutional right is not an ordinary situation, but one that requires an apology. We are waging a struggle here, and we will win this fight.”
‘I became a union member against mobbing’
Günce Nur İnce, who has worked as an anchor and editor at Sputnik Turkey for seven years, said: “Before the strike, I was simply an office worker. During the strike, I learned how to be a journalist in the field. During this strike we are also learning ways to gather public support as much as we can.”
İnce added: “Before, I didn’t know what it meant to be a union member. I didn’t think of becoming a union member at first. But I had been subjected to mobbing for years through unequal pay and intense workload. I was already questioning this. Then I learned that unions can protect their members against mobbing and impose sanctions on the employer. After finding out about these, I decided to join the union. I was also very disappointed when the employer called 24 staffers into a room one by one to question them and then fire them because they became union members. That’s why I'm here.”
‘The issue is not salary increase, but recognition of the union’
TGS Union Organizer İlyas Coşkun recalled that they held nine sessions with Sputnik Turkey managers to start the collective bargaining agreement process: “When the issue of salary increase came up, Sputnik Turkey managers withdrew from negotiations. After we declared a strike, they fired four unionized staff members from their Ankara office and 20 unionized staffers from Istanbul, citing ‘downsizing due to economic reasons’ as a pretext. However, they kept on hiring new employees during the strike. The main problem here is not salary increase, but a failure on the part of the employer to recognize the union. The problem is the employer refusing to sign a CBA with the union and failing to acknowledge its employees’ constitutional rights. We believe that the state should not turn a blind eye to a violation of constitutional rights so ever since the first day of the strike we have been calling on the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Directorate of Communications and the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) to take responsibility regarding the matter. Among these three bodies, we had difficulty contacting the Directorate of Communications and they have not yet taken any steps. We ask the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to send an inspector to the employer who continued to hire new employees after laying off 24 staffers citing downsizing. We call out to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the Directorate of Communications: Journalists in Turkey were fired for exercising their constitutional rights. How long will you remain silent about this?
“Journalists in Turkey are already struggling with censorship, self-censorship, prosecution, investigation, and being subjected to physical violence for doing their jobs. But there is also the economic and social rights dimension. Why should journalists unionize? Because if we do not have job security and editorial independence, we may wake up one morning and find ourselves unemployed.”
Coşkun concluded: “We demand that the employer return to the negotiations that they broke and that our 24 dismissed members be reinstated, and we want fair salaries to be guaranteed through a CBA.”
This material has been funded by UK International Development from the UK government; however, the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies.