1. TEZ-KOOP-IS / TURKEY Union of Commerce, Education,Office and Fine Arts Workers
45,000 members , covered by CA’s
Universities,public institutions,ministries,
institutions,commercial exchanges, trade unions
Membership rates in commerce sector;
Migros %
Carrefour %
Real %
Tesco %

2. Organising is the vital necessity of a union
Obstacles infront of organising
Turkish Laws
Young workers
Intimidation of the employers
Yellow unions
To remove the obstacles
Making pressure to the government
Education
Strong union policy/organised labor force
Struggling

3. Organising activities of Tez-Koop-Is in commerce sector
In 2003 we organised 800 of 1500 Tesco workers. The employer appealed, in 2005 we lost all our members because we didn’t demonstrate. Failure!
we organised 2600 of 3570 Carrefour employees. The employer appealed. CA was signed in Second CA was signed in (Today 8000 employees, 6000 union members)
we organised Real workers. No appeal. The 3rd CA was signed in 2010.
(Today 2000 employees, 1400 union members)

4. Tesco organising campaign 2008-2010
Goals
Organise the majority of Tesco workers by the 2nd half of (50%+1 at the company level)
Build a relationship with the company
Negotiate a collective agreement

5. Challenges
Lack of confidence towards the union because of the failed organising campaign in
Large number of stores and Tesco continued opening new stores.
Large geographical area.

6. Strategy 1- Preparation: (March- August 2008) Establish relationships
Regular meetings and discussions about solidarity and the need to be organised
Identify «leader workers» and build worker commitees in all stores
Discussion with leader workers about the union and worker rights
Within 6 months the organisers managed to built up groups in every store and identified the “leader workers”

7. Strategy 2-Organising (August 2008 –April 2010)
Leader workers organise workers inside the stores
Individual membership registration with notary public ( 20 € per member)
Planning and Reporting
Organiser Coaching
Regular meetings with leader workers

8. Strategy Organising (August 2008 –April 2010)
Organising campaign started quietly
March 2009: dismissal of a leader worker, followed by public union statement
Pressure and intimidation by store managers and supervisors on workers
February 2010: Another dismissal of a leader worker: Company refused to discuss with union

9. May 2010 7644 employees 3922 memberships
6 May 2010: Majority application to the Labour Ministry
6 June 2010: Labour Ministry issues majority decision (3922 of 7644 workers )
12 June 2010: Tesco Kipa appealed

10. Recognition Campaign ( June 2010- March 2011)
4 court hearings since June 2010.
3 press statements infront of the biggest stores
Organising is still going on.
4260 union members (March 2011)
Next hearing on 4th April.

11. Recognition Campaign Plan A – search for a dialogue / union dicipline
Plan B – using the advantages of the organised force
The employer is insisting on not withdrawing the appeal but the union is already inside of the company with 60% organised force.

12. Cooperation with UNI
UNI Tesco Global Union Alliance formed in June 2008.
Alliance meeting in Izmir in June Global Solidarity
Meetings with leader workers.
Store visits of UNI delegation
Support of USDAW /UK
Report on the employment practices of Tesco in Turkey

13. What we learned from our experiences?
The necessity of an organising strategy
Not only recruiting but “organising” the workers.
“organising the non-organised workers”
Setting goals
the participation of the union members to the union’s policy.
“organising the organised workers” for better CA’s
Between we organised Carrefour, Real and Tesco. We signed successful collective agreements with Carrefour and Real. In every CA we improved their wages, social benefits. We have committees, we are giving the decisions with our members. The relations with the employer, in 2010 we renewed both our Carrefour and Real CA’s. In both of them we took a strike decision and signed the agreements two or three days before the strike. So negotiations were very difficult, but inspite of everything the employers respect us. Because we have the organised force. If we go on a strike, it won’t be at only one or two stores.
we have to go on organising our organised members. before every CA, our majority has to be approved by the Ministry. This is the law. For instance in Migros there are workers and we have 15,600 members but every 2 years before renewing the CA we are applying to the Ministry for majority.

14. New Goals
CA with Tesco
Mediamarkt organising campaign has started in November 2010
Inditex – planning the strategy

15. Thank you!