Metal workers’ strike postponed over ‘security concerns’

The strike initiated by the United Metal Workers Union at the factory of Schneider Energy in the northwestern province of Kocaeli's Çayırova has been postponed for 60 days by a presidential decree.

The union announced that the workers at the Schneider Energy factory went on strike as of 10 a.m. on Jan. 23 due to the failure to reach an agreement in the collective agreement negotiations.

Following the decision published in the Official Gazette with the sign of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the strike was postponed for 60 days on the grounds that it violates national security.

"The real losses in the wages of our members are incomparable with their production and productivity outputs. The demands of our members are justified and affordable," the union said in a written statement on Jan. 23, "warning the government not to postpone the strike."

"Postponement decisions that have been convicted many times in the past by the Constitutional Court will not prevent our union from exercising this right," it added.

The post shared on the social media account of the union showed that the union officials and workers continued the strike on the second day despite the decision.