A strike of 130,000 workers at 179 workplaces across the metal sector in Turkey, including all major multinational companies, scheduled to begin on 2 February 2018, has been banned by the Government on the grounds of being “prejudicial to national security”...

The strike was banned by government decree, announced in the Official Gazette on 26 January 2018 after being signed by the President Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and all cabinet ministers on 24 January...

On the day the decree banning the strike was issued, the employers’ organisation MESS invited the three unions to another session of negotiation before the strike date. However, the decree bans further talks between the union and employers...

Wages in the metal industry are low, and conditions are difficult and dangerous. The unions are demanding a significant improvement.

Turkish Law [...] has a provision which rules that “a lawful strike or lock-out that has been called or commenced may be suspended by the Council of Ministers for 60 days with a decree if it is prejudicial to public health or national security.”

[S]trikes are often banned by the government, in a violation of ILO Convention 87 on the right to freedom of association. Turkish unions have frequently defied strike bans and taken illegal industrial action. In some cases, they have won significant victories despite the ban.