President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has banned a strike by metalworkers organized by the United Metalworkers’ Union (Birleşik Metal-İş), who rejected a 40% wage increase imposed by the employers’ association MESS. The decision, published in the Official Gazette, claimed the strike posed a threat to “national security and public order.” The workers had called for the strike to demand fairer wages amid Turkey’s soaring inflation and cost-of-living crisis.
This marks yet another instance of Erdoğan blocking strikes during his tenure, following bans on glass, metal, and soda ash workers’ strikes in recent years. Critics argue these interventions favor employers and undermine workers’ constitutional rights. The union responded defiantly, stating, “We continue our strikes with the same determination, within the framework of our constitutional rights.”
As inflation continues to strain workers, Erdoğan’s frequent use of executive power to suppress labor actions has drawn criticism from unions and human rights groups. Many see these bans as part of a broader erosion of democratic and labor rights in Turkey, deepening tensions between the government and workers.
