High tension in wage negotiations

With only three weeks left before the general elections, the resistance launched by metal workers in major automobile factories in Bursa, one of Turkey's centers of industry, has shifted the focus to the "class struggle." It looks as if the changing world and national economic climate will reflect on wage fights. Maybe, the classification that went on over identities for a long time in Turkey will return to its original course: class division. 

The labor resistance that started in Bursa last week suddenly changed Turkey's agenda, especially at a time when the election competition peaked? In two major automobile factories, Tofa? and Renault, workers revolted. Other workplaces again in the metal sector joined them and solidarity grew. 

The reason is the employer, the union and the unsatisfying clauses in the last collective contract. In other words, the focus is on economics. The anger from economic dissatisfaction has blown back against the biggest labor confederation, Türk ??, and its organization in metal, Türk Metal. We can call this a "belated rebellion." 

Fight in metal 

The industries in the metal sector are the ones that generate the highest added value and profit in Turkey. While the leaders of Turkey's bourgeois, Koç Holding, were leaving several sectors, one of their legs remained in metal, due to the reasons cited above. Koç is present in Tüpra?, Yap? Kredi Bank and two major automotive producers in metal (Tofa? and Ford), and in white goods (Arçelik). 

Automotive and other metal sectors were mostly founded and developed in the 1970s. The employer's union, Turkish Employers' Association in metal industries (MESS), was supported by the Koç Group. Annoyed by the rising labor movement in those years, instead of...