2025 Wildcat Strikte Report
The year 2025 was recorded as a period in which the upward trend in wildcat strikes observed after 2022 continued and spread across the country. This report examines the wildcat strikes that took place in 2025 according to the city, industry sector, and their outcomes. Information such as the reasons for the strikes, their duration, and the number of workers involved is not included in the report; details of the strikes can be found on our website under the map and strikes tabs. Strikes carried out by official unions and covered by the “legal strike” provisions of the Trade Unions and Collective Labor Agreements Law No. 6356 are not included in the report.
In 2025, numerous individual, sectoral, and general strikes were carried out by public employees working under the Civil Servants Law No. 657. Due to the inability to accurately determine their prevalence and the number of workplaces where they occurred, these strikes will be examined separately in the second section of the report, based on the date, sector, and city information.
On the other hand, in order to obtain meaningful results regarding strikes in other sectors, the distribution of strikes by city and sector, the distribution of results by city, the distribution of results by sector, and the distribution by month were examined, excluding strikes carried out by public employees.
1.Strikes Excluding Public Sector Employees' Strikes
If public sector employees' strikes are excluded, a total of 216 wildcat strikes took place in 40 cities in 2025. Strikes were most prevalent in Istanbul, Gaziantep, and Izmir. There were 37 strikes in Izmir, 35 in Gaziantep, 33 in Istanbul, 28 in Kocaeli, 8 in Kayseri, 6 in Hatay, 5 each in Samsun, Adana, Bursa, and Mersin, 3 each in Denizli, Urfa, and Eskişehir, 2 each in Ankara, Tekirdağ, Manisa, Trabzon, Aydın, Adıyaman, Yozgat, Konya, Zonguldak, Kırıkkale, Çorum, Tokat, and Bolu, and 1 each in Antalya, Sakarya, Rize, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Batman, Artvin, Kütahya, Balıkesir, Yalova, Diyarbakır, Osmaniye, Karabük, and Malatya.
Strikes occurred in 18 sectors, including Metal, Textiles, Garment and Leather, Municipal Services, Construction, Health and Social Services, Petroleum, Chemicals, Rubber, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals, Transportation, Energy, Hunting, Fishing, Agriculture and Forestry, Trade, Office, Education and Fine Arts, Shipbuilding, Maritime Transport and Warehousing, Accommodation and Entertainment Services, Mining and Quarries, General Services, Cement, Soil and Glass, Wood and Paper and Press, Publishing and Journalism, and Food Industry. The sectors with the highest number of strikes were Metal with 45 workplaces, Textiles, Garment and Leather with 36 workplaces, Municipal Services with 33 workplaces, and Construction with 31 workplaces.
Strikes resulted with achievements in 64 workplaces, including 16 in Istanbul, 10 in Gaziantep, 8 in Izmir, 6 in Kocaeli, 3 in Adana, 2 each in Kayseri, Hatay, and Adiyaman and one each in Mersin, Ankara, Manisa, Trabzon, Rize, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Artvin, Aydın, Urfa, Samsun, Yozgat, Yalova, Malatya and Balıkesir.
Strikes at 110 workplaces ended without any achievements, including 27 in Izmir, 22 in Kocaeli, 15 in Istanbul, 7 in Antep, 4 in Bursa, 3 each in Kayseri and Denizli, two each in Mersın, Eskişehir, Tekirdağ, Urfa, Kırıkkale, Samsun, Çorum, Konya, and Zonguldak, and one each in Ankara, Adana, Hatay, Batman, Kütahya, Sakarya, Tokat, Diyarbakır, Bolu, Osmaniye, and Karabük.
Information could not be obtained on how and when the strikes ended at 42 workplaces, including 18 in Antep, 3 each in Kayseri and Hatay, 2 each in Istanbul, Izmir, Mersin, and Samsun, and 1 each in Eskisehir, Manisa, Trabzon, Adana, Aydin, Bursa, Yozgat, Antalya, Tokat, and Bolu.
Strikes resulted with achievements in 64 workplaces, including 16 in the Construction sector, 13 in the Municipal Services sector, 10 in the Textile, Garment and Leather sector, 8 in the Metal sector, 5 in the Energy sector, 3 in the Transportation sector, 3 in the Hunting, Fishing, Agriculture and Forestry sector, two in the Shipbuilding, Maritime Transport and Warehousing sector, and one each in the Petroleum, Chemical, Rubber, Plastic and Pharmaceutical, Health and Social Services, Press, Publication and Journalism, Cement, Soil and Glass sectors
Strikes at 110 workplaces ended without any achievements, including 32 in the Metal sector, 19 in the Health and Social Services sector, and 18 in the Municipal Services sector, 8 in the Textile, Garment and Leather sector, 8 in the Petroleum, Chemical, Rubber, Plastic and Pharmaceutical sector, 7 in the Construction sector, 6 in the Trade, Office, Education and Fine Arts, 5 in the Transportation sector, 2 in the Energy sector, and one each in the Food Industry, Shipbuilding, Maritime Transport and Warehousing, Mining and Quarrying, Hunting, Fishing, Agriculture and Forestry and Wood and Paper sectors.
Information could not be obtained on how and when strikes ended at 42 workplaces, including 18 in the Textile, Garment and Leather sector, 8 in the Construction sector, 5 in the Metal sector, and two each in the Municipal Services, Hunting, Fishing, Agriculture and Forestry, Accommodation and Entertainment sectors and one each in Transportation, Petroleum, Chemical, Rubber, Plastic and Pharmaceutical, Mining and Quarrying, Energy and General Services sectors.
February, which is the pay raise period in many workplaces, July, which was the scene of wildcat strikes by public sector workers due to the failure to reach an agreement between the government and unions in the 2025 Public Sector Collective Bargaining Framework Protocol negotiations and December, which witnessed warning strikes at MESS member workplaces due to the failure to reach an agreement in the group collective bargaining agreement negotiations between the Birleşik Metal-İş Union and MESS, were the months with the highest number of strikes.
The wildcat strikes took place; at 16 workplaces in January including 4 each in Istanbul, Izmir, and Kocaeli, and one each in Gaziantep, Balikesir, Manisa, and Kayseri, at 37 workplaces in February, including 22 in Gaziantep, 3 in Istanbul, 2 in Kayseri, and one each in Mersin, Artvin, Aydın, Hatay, Rize, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Adana, Urfa, and Trabzon, in March, at 13 workplaces, including 6 in Antep, 2 in Kayseri, and one each in Istanbul, Izmir, Mersin, Adiyaman, and Yozgat, at 11 workplaces in April, including three in Izmir, two each in Istanbul and Kocaeli, and one each in Antep, Batman, Hatay, and Kırıkkale, at 15 workplaces in May, including 5 in Izmir, 3 in Istanbul, 2 in Bursa, and one each in Kocaeli, Hatay, Kayseri, Samsun, and Adıyaman, at 7 workplaces in June including two each in Istanbul and Izmir, and one each in Kocaeli, Ankara, and Eskisehir, at 39 workplaces in July, including 10 in Izmir, 5 in Gaziantep, 4 each in Istanbul and Samsun, 3 in Kocaeli, 2 each in Kayseri and Konya, and one each in Mersin, Denizli, Manisa, Sakarya, Hatay, Kirikkale, Corum, Kutahya, and Zonguldak, at 8 workplaces in August, including 2 in Istanbul and one each in Izmir, Antalya, Bursa, Aydin, Urfa, and Tokat, at 7 workplaces in September, including 3 in Izmir, 2 in Adana, and one each in Istanbul and Yalova, at 15 workplaces in October, including 4 in Istanbul, two each in Denizli and Adana, and one each in Izmir, Mersin, Kocaeli, Hatay, Yozgat, Çorum, and Tokat, at 7 workplaces in November, including one each in Istanbul, Izmir, Hatay, Urfa, Zonguldak, Diyarbakır, and Bolu, at 41 workplaces in December, including 16 in Kocaeli, 6 in Istanbul, 6 in Izmir, 2 each in Eskisehir, Tekirdag, and Bursa, and one each in Mersin, Ankara, Bolu, Trabzon, Osmaniye, Karabuk, and Malatya.
2.Public Sector Employees' Strikes
In 2025, numerous individual, sectoral, and general strikes were carried out by public employees working under the Civil Servants Law No. 657.
Six sectoral strikes took place in the Health and Social Services sector. Of these, the strike on January 6–10 was held in at least 33 cities, the strike on January 8 in at least 37 cities, the strike on February 14 in at least 26 cities, the strike on March 14 in at least 27 cities, the strike on May 29–30 in at least 7 cities, the strike on July 31 - August 1 in at least 11 cities. One wildcat strike occurred at the sectoral level in the Education, Teaching, and Science Services sector. This strike, which took place on March 25, saw participation in at least 4 cities.
In 2025, public sector employees held three general strikes across Turkey. The general strike on January 13 took place in 10 sectors (all public sectors except Religious Affairs and Foundations) and at least 65 cities; The general strike on August 18 took place in 10 sectors (all public sectors except Religious Affairs and Foundations) and at least 54 cities; The general strike on December 19 involved participation in 7 sectors (Office, Banking and Insurance Services, Education, Teaching and Science Services, Energy, Industry and Mining Services, Health and Social Services, Agriculture and Forestry Services, Transportation Services, Local Government Services) and at least 27 cities.
Additionally, in the Health and Social Services sector, there were individual wildcat strikes at 9 workplaces, including 1 in January, 1 in February, 1 in March, 2 in April, 1 in May, 1 in July, 1 in August, and 1 in November, in the Local Government Services sector at 6 workplaces, including 1 in April, 2 in August, 2 in October, and 1 in November, in the Energy sector at one workplace in August, in the Transportation sector at one workplace in August and in the Office, Banking, and Insurance sector at two workplaces in December.
