Author
Birelma, Alpkan
Publication Date
2018
Publication Place
-
McMaster University
Subject
Labour, Trade union revitalisation, Power resources, Union ideology, Turkey
Type
Periodical
Language
English
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Özyeğin University
Library Asset ID
1918-6711
Record ID
25f8553a-6c84-4480-9e43-05ff3f53ef19
Library Location
Humanities and Social Sciences
Date
2018
Notes
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung's Trade Unions in Transformation Project
Sample Text
The article concerns the recent transformation and ensuing successes of a Turkish trade union of road transport workers called Tum Tasima Iscileri Sendikasi (TUMTIS). In the mid-2000s, TUMTIS was mainly organised in small-sized freight companies having around 1 500 members with collective contracts. The strategic choice of a new leadership to concentrate on a large-scale, international firm with the support of Global Unions was the turning point. The ensuing United Parcel Service campaign ended with a collective agreement for nearly 2 700 new members in 2011. The union won its second large-scale organising victory at DHL in 2014. At the time of writing, a third large-scale firm is on the verge of recognition. To scrutinise this case, I use the power resources approach in a critical way. To the approach, I add an examination of the subjectivities of union leaders by drawing on the debates about different types of unionisms, importance of the ideology and motivations. I argue that the agency behind this revitalisation can be only explained by taking both its objectivities and subjectivities into account. While the class unionism embraced by TUMTIS leaders explains the subjective side of the story, associational power from below and its meeting with international solidarity play the key role on the objective side.
Cilt
9
