Turkey & Labour Relations
A labour movement caught between military coups and political Islam
Turkey’s labour relations have been shaped by a turbulent political history — military interventions, the clash between secular and Islamic political traditions, and a state that has consistently viewed independent unionism with suspicion. Despite a legal framework that nominally provides for collective bargaining, Turkey’s union movement faces threshold requirements, political fragmentation, and periodic suppression that limit its reach and effectiveness.
10 Things That Stand Out About Labour Relations in Turkey
- Turkey’s first trade unions emerged in the late Ottoman period, and the republic founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk initially permitted union organization before restricting it through the 1930s and 1940s as part of the state’s corporatist economic model. Genuine free unionism only became legally possible after Turkey’s transition to multi-party democracy in 1946.
- The Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş), founded in 1952, was Turkey’s first major union confederation. Historically aligned with the secular establishment and tolerated by successive governments, it has been criticized for its cautious approach to industrial action and its close relationship with state institutions.
- One of the most significant figures in Turkish labour history is Kemal Türkler, founding chairman of the progressive confederation DİSK (Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions). Türkler was assassinated in 1980 in circumstances widely attributed to right-wing nationalist forces, shortly before the military coup that banned DİSK and imprisoned its leadership.
- The military coup of September 12, 1980 was catastrophic for the Turkish labour movement. DİSK was banned, its assets seized, and over 1,000 of its leaders prosecuted. Türk-İş, viewed as less politically threatening, was permitted to continue operating under military supervision. The coup set back independent unionism by a decade.
- Turkey’s current labour law framework, rooted in the 1982 constitution and legislation passed under military influence, includes threshold requirements for union recognition that are among the most restrictive in the OECD. Unions must organize at least 1% of all workers in a sector nationally to seek a bargaining certificate, and must represent over 40% of workers at a workplace — barriers that prevent many unions from achieving bargaining rights.
- DİSK was re-established after the return to civilian government and remains Turkey’s most progressive union confederation, associated with the secular left. Hak-İş, founded in 1976 and historically associated with political Islam, has grown significantly under AKP governments since 2002. The three-way division of the Turkish union movement — Türk-İş (secular centrist), DİSK (secular left), and Hak-İş (Islamic conservative) — reflects Turkey’s deep political polarization.
- Public sector workers in Turkey gained the right to organize and bargain collectively only in 2001, and even then the framework excludes the right to strike. KESK (Confederation of Public Employees’ Trade Unions) represents the progressive tendency in public sector unionism and has faced repeated prosecution of its leaders for political activities.
- Union density in Turkey is approximately 8–12%, one of the lowest in the OECD, reflecting the threshold barriers, the large informal economy, the suppression of the 1980 period, and the fragmentation of the movement among competing politically-aligned confederations.
- The AKP governments of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (from 2002 onward) have had a complex relationship with the labour movement. While Hak-İş has flourished under AKP patronage, independent and progressive unions have faced increasing legal pressure, and the crackdown following the 2016 coup attempt saw dozens of union leaders detained and union organizations closed.
- Turkey’s growing informal economy — where workers are employed without contracts, social insurance, or access to collective bargaining — represents the central challenge for Turkish labour relations. With a significant proportion of the workforce outside any formal employment framework, the gap between labour law on paper and the reality of Turkish working life remains enormous.
