DESA Workers Win Supreme Court Case: Buyers must act NOW!
Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:13
Almost a year to the day since DESA workers began their struggle for union recognition, the Supreme Court in Turkey has confirmed that 18 of the workers sacked by the Turkish leather factory had been illegally dismissed as a result of union organising. The Supreme Court rulings represent a significant victory for the DESA workers, including worker-organiser Emine Arslan.
But the struggle is not over yet. DESA management is reported to have renewed its harassment of the protesting workers and have threatened employees who associate with union members. Without your help, the 18 workers may still be out of a job and threats against workers may persist.
Help DESA workers get their jobs back!
Over recent weeks 18 workers have won their cases at the supreme court, which confirmed that the lower court had been correct to find DESA guilty of illegally dismissing workers due to organising actvities. More workers are waiting for their ruling and we expect a smiliar outcome. However this does not mean automatic justice for DESA workers.
Turkish law, which does not meet the requirements of ILO conventions on freedom of association, gives the company the option to compensate workers if it does not wish to reinstate them. Although the compensation costs will be high, it is likely that DESA will choose to pay out rather than allow union organisers to return to the factory. The workers do not want compensation. They want to be allowed to return to the jobs that were illegally taken from them. This is particularly pressing given the current economic crisis, which has seen a drastic reduction in employment in the Turkish garment industry.
Should DESA be allowed to get away with keeping these workers out of their jobs, it would have a negative impact on the rights of all DESA workers to join the union of their choosing. It will send a signal to workers in this and other factories that union organising will not be tolerated by factory owners and that these rights will not be upheld or supported by international buyers, regardless of the codes of conducts that are posted on the walls.
DESA workers have been fighting for justice for over a year. They have followed every legal process open to them, have responded to every request for information made by campaigners, unions and brands and have proved willing to engage in meetings and dialogue whenever the opportunity has been provided. There is no excuse for more delays.
Buyers Remain Silent on Reinstatement
DESA buyers have consistently stated that they were waiting for the Turkish court decision before agreeing to take action on the freedom of association allegations made by the Deri Is union, the ITGLWF and the Clean Clothes Campaign (represented in the UK by Labour Behind the Label).
Prior to the decision it seemed that brands were unwilling to accept that union busting had or was happening at the factory and instead preferred to commission multiple audits to investigate the situation. The auditors commissioned by most of the brands never contacted or iinterviewed the union, nor did they speak to workers outside of the factory premises. One of the audits carried out last year did include interviews with the Deri Is union, but the results of this audit have ever been shared with either Deri Is or campaigners.
The most recent audit report seen by the Clean Clothes Campaign stated that 'no freedom of association violations were found at the factory' although several times in the report auditors recorded the fact that workers believed they would lose their jobs should they chose to join the union. These court decisions prove what Deri Is and the Clean Clothes Campaign have been stating throughout the dispute - that workers were dismissed purely as a result of their organising efforts and that as a result, freedom of association does not exist at the factory.
Of all the brands that have been contacted through urgent appeals in recent months we understand that only Mulberry has sent a full response. See our reaction to Mulberry's communication here >>
Days after the first Supreme Court decisions were announced, the majority of DESA’s major buyers (with the notable exception of Prada) met at the ETI in London. Representatives of the ITGLWF and the Clean Clothes Campaign were not permitted to attend the meeting, but were hopeful that the news from Turkey would result in some concrete action on behalf of the buyers. As yet, we have not seen any movement towards dialogue between DESA and the union and have not received communication from the brands about the meeting or their plan of action.
We are saying ‘enough is enough’ to all of DESA's buyers. The facts of case are clear: workers have been dismissed for union organising and
should be reinstated immediately. The terms of reinstatement and for ensuring a constructive and continuing dialogue between Deri Is and DESA
can only be worked out through negotiation between the two parties. It is time for brands to demand that negotiations now take place and to
ensure a fair and lasting resolution to this dispute.
We now have a limited time to ensure that workers at DESA are reinstated and that the union is permitted to operate freely in the factory.
TAKE ACTION today to demand justice for DESA workers.
http://www.cleanclothes.org/desa-renews-threats#action
