January 2025 Wildcat Strike Report
In January 2025, there were widespread and mass participated strikes by public labourers, primarily health labourers, as well as many wildcat strikes in various sectors. The strikes of public labourers will not be discussed together with other strikes taking place in January due to the fact that they cover a large number of cities and workplaces and the number of workplaces where strikes took place cannot be clearly determined, and will be examined in the relevant section of the report.
As far as we have been able to determine through press and social media channels and one-to-one interviews, apart from the strikes of public labourers, wildcat strikes took place in 7 cities and 16 workplaces, including 4 workplaces in 2 cities in the Municipal Services sector, 3 workplaces in 1 city in the Construction sector, 2 workplaces in 2 cities in the Weaving, Garment and Leather sector, 5 workplaces in 3 cities in the Metal sector, 1 workplace in the Cement, Soil and Glass sector and 1 workplace in the Mining and Quarrying sector.
Strikes in 10 workplaces, 2 in Municipal Services, 3 in Construction, 4 in Metal works, 1 in Cement, Soil and Glass, resulted in gains; strikes in 4 workplaces, 2 in Municipal Services, 1 in Weaving, Garment and Leather, 1 in Mining and Quarries, ended without gains. The strike in 1 workplace in the Metal Works sector continues as of 1 February 2025. No information was found on the outcome of 1 strike in the Weaving, Clothing and Leather branch.
1. Public Labourers Strikes
In January 2025, public laborers went on strike with widespread and mass participation. Between January 6-10, 2025, health workers working in Family Health Centers went on strike, and while these strikes continued, on January 8, health workers working in 2nd and 3rd step public health institutions also went on strike. On January 13th, public laborers working in almost all public sector jobs went on a wildcat strike across Turkey against the salary increase set at 11.54 percent for the first 6 months of 2025. It is not clear how many workplaces participated in these strikes. On January 17, public laborers working in Gaziemir Municipality in Izmir organized a one-day wildcat strike.
1.1. Family Health Centers (Ocak 2025)
Sector: Health and Social Services (Public)
Start Date: 06.01.2025
End Date: 10.01.2025
City: Adana, Adıyaman, Afyon, Ankara, Antalya, Balıkesir, Bursa, Çanakkale, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Edirne, Eskişehir, Antep, Giresun, Hakkari, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Kırklareli, Kırşehir, Kocaeli, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Muğla, Ordu, Samsun, Siirt, Urfa, Dersim, Uşak, Van, Kayseri
Result: Failed
Physicians, nurses and midwives working in family health centres carried out a wildcat strike across Turkey between 6-10 January 2025, demanding the cancellation of the Legislation on Family Physician Contract and Payment, which entered into force on 1 November 2024 and regulates their working and personal rights, which they described as a ‘torture regulation’, and the withdrawal of the draft law presented in the national assembly.
As far as we were able to determine, health workers in at least 33 cities participated in the strike, including Adana, Adıyaman, Afyon, Ankara, Antalya, Antep, Balıkesir, Bursa, Çanakkale, Denizli, Dersim, Diyarbakır, Edirne, Eskişehir, Giresun, Hakkari, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Kayseri, Kırklareli, Kırşehir, Kocaeli, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Muğla, Ordu, Samsun, Siirt, Urfa, Uşak and Van.
Family physicians had carried out wildcat strikes against the Legislation on Family Physician Contract and Payment on 17-18 February 2022, 5-7 November 2024 and 2-6 December 2024.
1.2. Public Health Institutions (8 January 2025)
Sector: Health and Social Services (Public)
Start Date: 08.01.2025
End Date: 08.01.2025
City: Adana, Adıyaman, Ankara, Antep, Ardahan, Balıkesir, Bolu, Bursa, Çanakkale, Denizli, Dersim, Diyarbakır, Düzce, Edirne, Eskişehir, Hakkari, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Kayseri, Kırşehir, Kırklareli, Kocaeli, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Muğla, Ordu, Samsun, Siirt, Urfa, Uşak, Van, Afyon, Antalya, Giresun
Result: Failed
While the wildcat strike initiated by Family Health Centre (FHC) workers continued, health workers working in 2nd and 3rd step public health institutions also went on strike on 8th of January, with demands for an effective violence law to end violence in health, a decent income reflected in retirement without performance and turnover pressure, decent working and living conditions in the earthquake region, strengthening the 1st step and preventive medicine and establishing a referral chain, and qualified medical specialty education.
As far as we were able to determine, health workers in at least 37 cities, including Adana, Adıyaman, Afyon, Ankara, Antalya, Antep, Ardahan Balıkesir, Bolu, Bursa, Çanakkale, Çorum, Denizli, Dersim, Diyarbakır, Düzce, Edirne, Eskişehir, Giresun, Hakkari, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Kayseri, Kırklareli, Kırşehir, Kocaeli, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Muğla, Ordu, Samsun, Siirt, Urfa, Uşak and Van, participated in the strike that took place in public health institutions.
1.3. Public Labourers General Strike (January 2025)
Sector: Bureau, Banking and Insurance Services (Public), Education, Teaching and Science Services (Public), Health and Social Services (Public), Local Administration Services (Public), Press, Publications and Communication Services (Public), Culture and Arts Services (Public), Public Works, Construction and Rural Services (Public), Transportation Services (Public), Agriculture and Forestry Services (Public), Energy, Industry and Mining Services (Public)
Start Date: 13.01.2025
End Date: 13.01.2025
City: Adana, Adıyaman, Afyon, Ağrı, Aksaray, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Antep, Artvin, Aydın, Balıkesir, Batman, Bingöl, Bitlis, Bolu, Bursa, Çanakkale, Çorum, Denizli, Dersim, Diyarbakır, Düzce, Edirne, Elazığ, Eskişehir, Erzincan, Giresun, Hakkari, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Isparta, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kırklareli, Kocaeli, Konya, Kütahya, Malatya, Manisa, Maraş, Mardin, Mersin, Muğla, Muş, Nevşehir, Ordu, Osmaniye, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Siirt, Sinop, Sivas, Şırnak, Tekirdağ, Tokat, Trabzon, Urfa, Uşak, Van, Yalova, Zonguldak.
Result: Failed
Public laborers staged a wildcat strike across Turkey on January 13, 2025 against the determined salary increase of 11,54 percent for the first 6 months of 2025. The strike, called by KESK, BASK, HÜR-SEN, ASİM-SEN and United Public Labour, took place in Bureau, Banking and Insurance Services, Education, Teaching and Science Services, Health and Social Services, Local Administration Services, Press, Publication and Communication Services, Culture and Art Services, Public Works, Construction and Rural Services, Transportation Services, Agriculture and Forestry Services and Energy, Industry and Mining Services.
As far as we were able to determine, public labourers went on strike in at least 65 cities including Adana, Adıyaman, Afyon, Ağrı, Aksaray, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Antep, Artvin, Aydın, Balıkesir, Batman, Bingöl, Bitlis, Bolu, Bursa, Çanakkale, Çorum, Denizli, Dersim, Diyarbakır, Düzce, Edirne, Elazığ, Eskişehir, Erzincan, Giresun, Hakkari, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Isparta, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kırklareli, Kocaeli, Konya, Kütahya, Malatya, Manisa, Maraş, Mardin, Mersin, Muğla, Muş, Nevşehir, Ordu, Osmaniye, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Siirt, Sinop, Sivas, Şırnak, Tekirdağ, Tokat, Trabzon, Urfa, Uşak, Van, Yalova and Zonguldak.
1.4. Gaziemir Municipality
Sector: Local Administration Services (Public)
Start Date: 17.01.2025
End Date: 17.01.2025
City: İzmir
Result: Failed
Employees of Gaziemir Municipality in Izmir, have staged a one-day wildcat strike on 17th of January 2025 due to the failure to reach an agreement between Tüm Bel-Sen union and the municipality in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) process. In the press statement, the municipality employees have expressed that they wanted to sign a CBA at the average level of Izmir and that the mayor has imposed a lower raise on the grounds of the financial crisis in the municipalities.
2. Municipality Services
In January 2025, the strike of workers working for Eseray Cleaning, a subcontractor of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, which started on 31 December 2024, continued. With this strike, wildcat strikes were carried out in 4 workplaces, including Karabağlar Municipality workers, İZELMAN and İZENERJİ workers, which are subsidiaries of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, and drivers working for Beşiktaş Municipality. The strikes of Eseray Cleaning and Karabağlar Municipality workers ended without gains, while the strikes of İZELMAN - İZENERJİ workers and Beşiktaş Municipality drivers ended with gains.
2.1. İzmir Metropolitan Municipality (Eseray Cleaning)
Sector: Municipality Services
Start Date: 31.12.2024
End Date: 05.01.2025
City: İzmir
Result: Failed
Workers employed by Eseray Cleaning, a subcontractor company that cleans toilets and baby care centres belonging to Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, started a wildcat strike on 31st of December 2024 demanding an end to working as a subcontractor and a job with security. The strike of Eseray Cleaning workers ended without any gains when their employment contracts were terminated on 5th of January.
2.2. Karabağlar Municipality
Sector: Municipality Services
Start Date: 03.01.2025
End Date: 03.01.2025
City: İzmir
Result: Failed
In Izmir, after the failure to reach an agreement in the collective bargaining agreement negotiations between Genel-İş Union, which is the authorised union in KARBEL company within Karabağlar Municipality in Izmir, and Social Democrat Public Employers' Union (SODEMSEN), the workers went on a wildcat strike by stopping work for half a day. The workers announced that if their demands are not accepted, they will go on strike on 23rd of January 2025.
2.3. İzmir Metropolitan Municipality (İZELMAN - İZENERJİ)
Sector: Municipality Services
Start Date: 07.01.2025
End Date: 08.01.2025
City: İzmir
Result: Goals Achieved
Workers of İZELMAN and İZENERJİ, subsidiaries of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, started a wildcat strike on 7 January 2025 due to their wages not being paid. Thousands of municipality workers gathered in Basmane in the morning and marched to the presidential office of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay. The strike, which lasted for two days, ended on 8th of January with the announcement that all of the missing wages of the workers would be paid on Friday at the latest.
2.4. Beşiktaş Municipality Drivers
Sector: Municipality Services
Start Date: 29.01.2025
End Date: 30.01.2025
City: İstanbul
Result: Goals Achieved
Drivers working for a subcontractor company in Beşiktaş Municipality started a wildcat strike at midnight on 29th of January 2025 because of their wages not being paid which were due last month. The strike ended on 30th of January 2025 after an agreement was reached that the wages would be paid.
3. Construction
In January 2025, three wildcat strikes took place in the construction sector, all in Istanbul. All of the strikes resulted in gains.
3.1 Salih Us Akıncılar Construction
Sector: Construction
Start Date: 14.01.2025
End Date: 15.01.2025
City: İstanbul
Result: Goals Achieved
Construction workers, members of Yapı Yol-İş, working for Salih Us Akıncılar Inc. at the construction site of Kadıköy District Health Directorate, started a wildcat strike on 14th of January 2025 due to their wages not being paid. It was announced by Yapı Yol-İş that the strike ended with a victory on 15th of January with the workers receiving all their rights.
3.2. Hilton Hotel Construction Site
Sector: Construction
Start Date: 28.01.2025
End Date: 31.01.2025
City: İstanbul
Result: Goals Achieved
Workers at the Hilton Hotel construction site in Üsküdar district of İstanbul, working under the contractor company CCN Holding subcontractor Net Teknoloji, started a wildcat strike on 28th of January 2025 for their wages that have not been paid for 2-3 months. The strike ended on 31st of January 2025 upon the promise to pay the missing wages in full, to give all the rights of the workers who wanted to quit work and to pay the wages on time.
3.3. Medistate Hospital Construction Site
Sector: Construction
Start Date: 28.01.2025
End Date: 30.01.2025
City: İstanbul
Result: Goals Achieved
Construction workers, members of Dev Yapı-İş, working for Temsis Electricity, a subcontractor of the contractor Birleşim Engineering-Erde Engineering, at the construction site of Medistate Hospital, which is being built by Görgülü Plus Construction in Çekmeköy, Istanbul, started a wildcat strike on 28th of January 2025 due to the delay in the payment of their wages. The strike ended on 30th of January 2025 after an agreement was reached with the boss that all wages would be paid.
4. Weaving, Garment and Leather
In January 2025, two wildcat strikes took place in the weaving, garment and leather industry, one in Izmir and the other in Antep. The wildcat strike of Digel Textile workers, which lasted for one day, ended without any gains. No information has been found on the duration and outcome of the wildcat strike of Art Carpet workers.
4.1. Digel Textile
Sector: Weaving, Garment and Leather
Start Date: 17.01.2025
End Date: 17.01.2025
City: İzmir
Result: Failed
Workers at Digel Textile, a German men's clothing company operating in the Aegean Free Zone in Gaziemir, İzmir, started a wildcat strike on 17th of January 2025, finding the boss's wage increase low. After the strike, the workers became members of TEKSIF, affiliated to Türk-İş, and the union, which gained the majority in the factory, applied for authorisation to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. After the union's authorisation application, the workers ended the strike and went back to work on the same day. However, 4 workers were dismissed after the strike.
4.2. Art Carpet
Sector: Weaving, Garment and Leather
Start Date: 20.01.2025
End Date: No Information
City: Antep
Result: No Information
Workers at Art Carpet in Antep started a wildcat strike on 20th January 2025 due to the long period of their wages not being paid. There is no information in the press and social media channels about how long the strike lasted and how it ended.
5. Metal Sector Strikes
While some of the wildcat strikes that started in December 2024 in the Metal Sector resulted in gains, strikes continued in January 2025 in 4 enterprises and 5 workplaces in 3 cities, Kocaeli, Manisa and Balıkesir. While strikes were concluded with gains in a total of 4 workplaces, 1 at Grid Solutions, 2 at Schneider Electric and 1 at Arıtaş Cryogenic, the strike at Green Transfo continues as of 1st of February 2025.
The United Metal-İş Union is authorised in the workplaces where the strikes took place and these strikes started as official strikes on different dates upon failure to reach an agreement in collective bargaining agreement negotiations. However, despite being banned by the Presidential decree on 14th of December 2024, the strikes continued, and as of this date, they lost their official character and turned into wildcat strikes.
Following the failure to reach an agreement in the collective bargaining negotiations between the United Metal-İş Union and the Metal Industrialists' Union of Turkey (MESS) for Hitachi Energy, Grid Solutions, Schneider Electric and Arıtaş Cryogenic workplaces regarding the 2024-2026 period, a strike decision was taken. In addition, after the failure to reach an agreement in the collective bargaining negotiations with Green Transfo, which is not covered by MESS, it was announced that a strike would start on 25th of December at the company's factory in Gebze, Kocaeli.
As no agreement was reached by the date the strikes were announced to start, strikes started on 14th of December 2024 at Hitachi Energy's factories in Kartal, Ümraniye and Tuzla districts of İstanbul and Dilovası district of Kocaeli, and on 13th of December at Grid Solutions' factories in Gebze district of Kocaeli and Schneider Electric's factories in Yunusemre district of Manisa and Çayırova district of Kocaeli.
Upon the banning of all of these strikes by the Presidential Decree No. 9231 published on 14th of December 2024, United Metal-İş declared that they would not accept the decision to ban the strikes and that they would continue. In line with this declaration, workers at Hitachi Energy, Grid Solutions and Schneider Electric continued the ongoing official strikes as wildcat strikes. Workers at the factory of Arıtaş Cryogenic, which is part of the MESS group agreement, in Gönen, Balıkesir, also started a wildcat strike on 19th of December. Workers at Green Transfo's factory in Çayırova, Kocaeli, which is not part of the MESS group agreement, started a wildcat strike on 25th of December.
5.1.Grid Solutions
Sector: Metal
Start Date: 13.12.2024 (Official Strike) 14.12.2024 (Wildcat Strike)
End Date: 14.01.2025
City: Kocaeli
Result: Goals Achieved
The strike, which continued for 33 days, 32 of which were wildcat, at the factory of Grid Solutions in Gebze district of Kocaeli, ended on 14th of January 2025 with the agreement reached between United Metal-İş and MESS.
In the statement made by United Metal-İş, it was stated that with the signed collective bargaining agreement, the average wage in the workplace was 54,300 TL net as of 1st of September 2024 according to the 27 percent tax bracket.
5.2. Schneider Electric
Sector: Metal
Start Date: 14.12.2024
End Date: 06.01.2025
City: Manisa, Kocaeli
Result: Goals Achieved
The strike, which continued for 25 days, 24 of which were wildcat, in 2 factories of Schneider Electric, ended on 6th of January 2025 with the agreement reached between United Metal-İş and MESS.According to the statement made by United Metal-İş, an agreement was reached on the following terms:
- In the first 6 months; the average wage and monthly payments to be received reached to net 56.200 TL.
- In the second 6 months (on 1st of March 2025), the average wage and monthly payments to be received will be net 71,150 TL.
- The 3-year CBA imposed by MESS and all of the articles containing flexibility were withdrawn.
5.3. Arıtaş Cryogenic
Sector: Metal
Start Date: 19.12.2024
End Date: 10.01.2025
City: Balıkesir
Result: Goals Achieved
The 23-day strike at Arıtaş Cryogenic was concluded on 10th of January 2025 with the agreement reached between United Metal-İş and MESS.
According to the statement made by United Metal-İş, the collective agreement was signed for 1 year, and wages were increased by 45 per cent in the first 6 months. Thus, the lowest wage in the workplace reached 43 thousand 140 TL net and the highest wage reached 76 thousand 440 TL. The average wage in the workplace has become 51 thousand 705 TL.
5.4. Green Transfo
Sector: Metal
Start Date: 25.12.2024
City: Kocaeli
Result: In Progress
The strike at Green Transfo continues on its 39th day.
6. Strikes Organised in Other Sectors
6.1. Sanikey Bocchi Ceramic
Sector: Cement, Soil and Glass
Start Date: 07.01.2025
End Date: 28.01.2025
City: Kocaeli
Result: Goals Achieved
Workers at the Sanikey Bocchi Ceramic factory in Dilovası district of Kocaeli started a wildcat strike by stopping production on 7th of January 2025 due to their wages not being paid for a long time. The strike ended on 28th of January after the employer promised to pay the workers' receivables, including compensation for those who were laid off.
6.2. Develi Gold Mine
Sector: Mining and Quarries
Start Date: 28.01.2025
End Date: 31.01.2025
City: Kayseri
Result: Failed
On 28th January 2025, 600 mine workers of Çiftay Mining, a subcontractor company of Develi Gold Mine in Develi district of Kayseri, started a wildcat strike demanding an increase in their wages and improvement of their working conditions. The workers ended the strike on 31st of January after negotiations.