28/06/2012 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
28.06.2012 – PACE’s Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development has expressed concern at a recent amendment to Turkish law banning strikes in the airline sector, following the calling of a strike at Turkish Airlines, as well as the subsequent sacking of hundreds of striking airline workers.
In a statement, the committee said it was concerned these moves may violate the right to strike enshrined in European legal instruments such as the European Social Charter, which has been in force in Turkey since 2007.
The committee pointed out that a key article of the Charter explicitly recognises “the right of workers and employers to collective action in cases of conflicts of interest, including the right to strike, subject to obligations that might arise out of collective agreements previously entered into”.