Syrian refugees in Turkey and trade union responses

ABSTRACT

This article discusses trade union responses in Turkey to Syrian refugees against a background characterized by shrinking boundaries of union inclusion. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with trade union executives from confederations and affiliated trade unions in textile and garment, construction, local public services, commerce and metal sectors, and focus group discussions with union members in the workplace. At the confederation level, Turkey’s trade union movement generally adopts a solidaristic rhetoric regarding Syrian refugees and attempts to shape trade union policies accordingly. However, there is little articulation with sectoral unions and the work-place level. Sectoral unions who do not encounter Syrian workers in the workplace do not place refugee issues on the trade union agenda. Instead union-level responses foreground the negative effects of Syrian refugees on the labour market while humanitarian considerations remain secondary. Unions demand formal employment of Syrian refugees should be ensured to eliminate these problems to prevent competition with local labour leading to a race to the bottom regarding pay and working conditions. Members at the workplace level oppose Syrian refugees with an exclusionary and somewhat hostile attitude, alleging that they damage the labour market, urban security and social life.

KEYWORDS:

• Immigration
• trade unions
• Syrian refugees
• Turkey

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the co-editors Raul Delgado Wise and Branka Likic-Brboric of this special issue as well as Carl-Ulrik Schierup for their invaluable comments on earlier drafts of this paper. I also thank the anonymous reviewers who contributed to the refinement of the paper with their suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 I am grateful to the trade union executives and members who spared their time to share their views, experiences and suggestions with me.

2 In 2006 ICFTU merged with the World Confederation of Labour to form the International Trade Union Confederation.

3 Turkey applies a geographical limitation to the 1951 Refugee Convention and non-Europeans are not allowed to apply for refugee status in Turkey. Syrian nationals who came to Turkey due to events in Syria after 28 April 2011 are provided with temporary protection and are not officially considered as refugeees.

4 For a survey on Syrian refugees in Turkish garment supply chains, see Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (2016).

5 Turkey took over the Chairmanship of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) as of July 1st, 2014, causing expectations that Turkish trade unions, facing the enormous challenge of irregular migrant labour, would actively participate in Civil Society Days and become critical contributors to the agenda. However, despite the intensive efforts of a team of researchers from Turkey on GFMD and civil society, trade unions were almost non-existent in the 2015 GFMD process.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Seyhan Erdoğdu

Seyhan Erdoğdu is Professor of Department of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations at Ankara University (retired). She got her PhD in Labour Economics and Industrial relations from the same University. Her academic interests are international trade unionism, international labour migration and precarious working patterns.