Thousands of workers stop work at Turkey’s largest oil refinery
Thousands of workers at Tüpraş, Turkey’s largest oil refinery, staged a work stoppage today after negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement broke down between the employer, Koç Holding, and the Petroleum Workers' Union (Petrol-İş), a union official has announced.
The dispute affects about 3,500 workers across Tüpraş's four refineries in İzmir, Kocaeli, Batman, and Kırıkkale.
Speaking to reporters outside the İzmir refinery after negotiations, Petrol-İş Aliağa Branch Chair Hasan Toptan said, "We are at the point where negotiations end and our struggle has begun.”
“As of this morning, we decided on a work stoppage action in coordination with our headquarters. We will continue our struggle with 3,500 Tüpraş workers across the country,” Toptan remarked, noting that negotiations failed after 13 rounds.
The work stoppage took place between 8.00 and 10.00 am at all four refinery locations.
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The standoff emerged after Koç Holding proposed a 28% wage increase for the first six months and an 18% raise for the following six months, along with a three-year contract. The union rejected the offer as inadequate under current economic conditions.
Workers are demanding a two-year contract, with a 71% raise for the first six months and increases of 40% plus an additional 13% for the following periods.
Minimum wage effect
Accusing employers of pegging wage offers to government-set minimum wage increases, Turan said, “Recently, the increase set by the government for the minimum wage has become a ceiling imposed by capital in all collective bargaining talks.
“They now say, ‘The government is giving this much, we can’t offer more.’ We’re already in the fifth month of the year, and employers are still insisting on a 30% offer. These offers are unrealistic under current conditions.”
Tüpraş was established in 1983 as a parent company by merging four state-owned oil refineries in Batman, İzmir, İzmit, and Kırıkkale. It was privatized in 2006 and transferred to Koç Holding, Turkey's largest business conglomerate. (VK)
