Metal workers quickly declared a strike

Ebru Çelik

The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) process in the metal sector has reached the strike stage. The United Metal Workers' Union announced that it would go on strike at a total of 43 factories in 31 companies immediately after the mediator's report, rejecting the 18% poverty-level wage increase put on the table in its last meeting with MESS.

Speaking at a press conference held at the United Metal Workers' Union Headquarters in Kadıköy, Istanbul, General President Özkan Atar said that MESS's offers were ‘imposing poverty.’ Atar stated that the government had previously blocked strike decisions but that they had overcome the obstacle, adding, "They could not and will not scare us with bans. May our strike be auspicious and successful.‘

Atar stated that the workers' basic demands had been ignored during months of negotiations, saying, ’None of our basic demands, particularly wage increases, have been met. On the contrary, proposals that take away our acquired rights have been put on the table."

Atar also drew attention to MESS's insistence on a three-year contract, saying, ‘A three-year contract means three more years of impoverishment for metal workers. We will neither accept nor negotiate this.’

RIGHTS UNDER THREAT

Recalling that the employers’ side wanted bonuses to be conditional on actual work, wage cuts for workers on sick leave, compulsory compensatory and make-up work, and the termination of supplementary health insurance, Atar said, “Workers’ acquired rights cannot be subject to negotiation.”

‘A living wage is the most fundamental right of all metal workers,’ said Atar, continuing his speech: "Successive price increases have greatly reduced their purchasing power and eroded our wages. With wages below the poverty line, we have begun to live on the brink of starvation. It is impossible for workers to live on these wages and meet their basic needs. We cannot accept either the official inflation rate or an offer slightly above it. MESS must stop coming up with these figures that have no connection to reality."

Reacting to employers telling workers ‘there is a crisis’ while breaking profit records, Atar highlighted the gap in income distribution with these words: "While we are becoming poorer, employers continue to add to their profits. We work day and night in the most difficult conditions and the heaviest jobs. We are the ones who create the profits they earn. Now, we want and will definitely get our fair share of what we have created. Now it is the employers' turn. It is time for employers to put their hands in their pockets."

Reminding that another factor weighing heavily on workers is the unfair tax system, Atar also criticised the state's tax policies with these words: "Employers claim that our wages have increased in foreign currency terms as a result of the fixed exchange rate policy, while assuming that the prices of the goods we consume have remained stable. The income that workers deserve decreases as their working hours increase. The unfairly low income tax brackets further impoverish workers. The first tax bracket, at 15%, has only been increased by 20.3% compared to last year. Yet the official annual inflation rate is 30.89%. This situation is unacceptable."

‘WE WILL NOT RECOGNISE THE BAN’

Stating that this offer, which proposes only an increase in line with the inflation rate (32.95% annually) for other periods and social rights, would drive workers into poverty, Atar responded to the threat of a strike ban: "We have stated that this proposal condemns metal workers to work for poverty wages and is unacceptable; that MESS's proposal is far from the workers' expectations. It should be known that we will not hesitate to exercise our right to strike if our demands are not met. We warn you now: no one should count on a possible strike ban. If our strike is banned, we will exercise our constitutional right and will not accept the ban. We showed our determination yesterday, and we will not hesitate to show it again tomorrow. The strike will of thousands of workers was trampled on by the government under the guise of “postponement”, and the strike weapon was taken from our hands. However, in various workplaces, we carried out actual strikes by asserting our constitutional and unlawfully banned right to strike."

THE RIGHT TO STRIKE CANNOT BE PROHIBITED

Atar, President of United Metal Workers' Union, recalled that the strike right of metal workers had been banned many times in the past under the name of ‘postponement’. Emphasising that gains were achieved through actual strikes despite this, Atar listed the following examples: In 2022, the strike was banned at Bekaert, and the workers went on an 18-day actual strike. In 2023, a contract was signed following an actual strike at Green Transfo Energy. Strikes continued in practice at Hitachi Energy, Schneider Electric, GE Grid Solutions and Arıtaş Kriyojenik despite the bans.

‘No one should expect relief from the strike ban,’ said Atar, adding, ‘If our strike is banned, we will exercise our constitutional right in practice.’

“THIS STRUGGLE IS FOR ALL OF US”

United Metal Workers announced that strikes would begin on Friday, 30 January, at nine workplaces in the first stage.

It was reported that the strike dates for other factories would be announced gradually as the process unfolds. Atar emphasised that the struggle was not limited to United Metal Workers members, stating, ‘This process is a struggle to secure our children's future. Metal workers will win. Because we are right, we are organised, and we are strong.’

TURK METAL ALSO DECLARED A “STRIKE”

No agreement was reached in the session between the Turkish Metal Workers' Union and MESS. The union announced that, following the failure to reach an agreement in the group collective bargaining process covering 138,000 workers, the Executive Board met on 19 January and formalised the strike decision.

In a statement from the union, it was noted that in the five sessions held to date in the Group Collective Labour Agreement negotiations, a total of 54 articles, including 47 main articles, 5 additional articles, and 2 temporary articles, as well as 2 regulations attached to the agreement, were accepted as proposed by our union. It was recalled that no agreement had been reached on a total of 38 articles, including 33 main articles, 2 additional articles, and 3 provisional articles, as well as 1 regulation.

MESS began negotiations with a 10% offer for the first 6 months of the agreement, raising this rate to 15% on 8 January 2026 and to 18% (10.5% + a flat rate of 17.30 TL) at the final session on 13 January 2026.

The Turkish Metal management had requested a 38.97% increase for the first six months.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Metal işçileri grev kılıcını hızlı çekti, published in BirGün newspaper on January 21, 2026.