Harranite Strike in Turkey’s Metal Industry

The strike which started in the Renault factory located in Bursa, Western Turkey, on May 14th, 2015 has ignited a wildfire in the metal industry. The strike movement which first spread to several factories in Bursa and then jumped to Izmit, a nearby industrial city as well as Ankara, Turkey’s capital, has already become a turning point for Turkey’s workers movement.



What exactly happened in the metal industry?

Everything started when the workers in Bosch in Bursa forced the union called Turk Metal to declare a strike in April. Even the threat of a strike sufficed to give Bosch workers a better contract than what had been agreed upon by Turk Metal [1] and the Metal Industrialists Union (MESS) of the employers. Consequentially, factories of the metal sector started boiling, foremost in Bursa. Metal workers in Renault started resigning from Turk Metal at the beginning of May. When the first 16 workers who resigned were fired with the collaboration of the union and the bosses, the workers stopped production and the fired workers were rehired in a few hours. On the 14th of May, the Renault workers went on strike again and resigned from Turk Metal all together. Soon, the struggle started spreading to other automotive and metal factories in Bursa. First the workers in TOFAS, a subdivision of FIAT, and Coskunoz went out. In Bursa they were followed first by the Mako factory and then Valeo, Otorim and Delphi factories also joined the Harranite workers’ spring. In the meanwhile, On May 20th, the workers in Ford Otosan and Hyundai in Izmit and Turk Traktor in Ankara also joined the strike movement. It has to be underlined that one of the strongest aspects of the strike movement is that the workers partners and children participate in the struggle with as much determination as the workers themselves.

Who are the Harranites?

It is not just the workers in Bursa, Izmit and Ankara who are on a wildcat strike that call themselves Harranites but all metal workers from all over the country who support them. This is a reference to an old Turkish film called Kibar Feyzo [2], made in 1978 in which Kemal Sunal, a famous Turkish comedian plays the lead. In the film, there is a scene where Feyzo notices that the other workers are getting paid three hundred liras whereas he’s getting paid only one hundred, and he inquires why. The accountant tells him “Because they’re from the union” to which Feyzo responds “but I’m from Harran [3]”. Feyzo goes away thinking the boss must be from the union too. The reason the metal workers refer to themselves as the Harranites is that they’re struggling not just against the bosses, but also Turk Metal, one of the largest and most horrible unions in Turkey, commonly referred to by the workers as bloodsuckers. So far tens of thousands of workers have resigned from Turk Metal and it doesn’t seem as if the resignations are going to stop anytime soon.

What do the metal workers want?

All of the metal workers who’ve been struggling since the 14th of May have three demands. The metal workers demand the removal of Turk Metal from the unions, a guarantee none of those participating in the struggle will be fired and new contracts based on the contracts given to Bosch. There is a real difference between the contract made for Bosch and the contract made between Turk Metal and MESS which binds all the members of Turk Metal. According to the collective work contract, the average hourly wage of the workers is two liras less than what the Bosch workers will be receiving. This amounts to around 500 – 600 liras in monthly salaries. For many metal workers, this difference goes as deep as the line between life and death. For the employers, not paying these wages amounts to making the workers suffer and pay for the deepening crisis.

Why are the workers against Turk Metal? Is there an alternative to the unions?

Though Turk Metal did rip off the workers in the latest contract badly, this isn’t the only reason why the metal workers hate Turk Metal so deeply. Infamous with its leaders’ dirty connections, Turk Metal is a dark and corrupt union with a long history of violent attacks against the workers which doesn’t hesitate to get them fired too. To quote a Renault worker: “When we were resigning together on the 5th of May together, they hospitalized two of our friends. We pressed charges. They’ve always been like this, acting like the mafia. We don’t accept this union. We want no other union either… We’ve set up a Workers’ Committee. The union isn’t in charge anymore, we are.” For the metal workers also know that Birlesik Metal [4], member of DISK [5] which sabotaged the struggle of the workers in Greif factory and which prevented the workers from continuing to struggle in the workplace after the strike they had to call was declared illegal is not the alternative. Besides, the number of workers who’ve resigned from Turk Metal has already exceeded the total membership of Birlesik Metal. The workers have established their own committees in many factories. This experience of the Harranite metal strike constitutes an example for the working class of the whole world.

The metal strike will win if it expands, the working class will win if it does

Today, the metal workers are confronted with a bosses’ front from Turk Metal to the government, from MESS to the police. MESS and Turk Metal declare the struggle illegal and throw threats at the workers. Also Turk Metal, on the brink of collapse as it is, still spreads all sorts of slanders against the workers, plays the victim and blames the workers of being ungrateful. The government is giving signals of acting against the strike, civilian policemen infiltrate the workers to spread rumors and engage in provocations. Uniformed policemen openly threaten the workers struggling in the factories with attacks. The bosses are scared. They know that it is quite possible for the Harranite workers strike to keep expanding. They know that the more the strike spreads, the closer the metal workers will be to victory. The time for struggle has come for the metal workers: Victory is near. Our striking Harranite brothers and sisters need all sorts of support from every member of our class. We need to spread this struggle all our class brothers and sisters: unionized and non-union, blue collar and white collar, unemployed, retired, house workers. If the Harran strike wins, so will all of us!

Pale Blue Jadal

(Picture: Renault Resistance, Friend of the Worker, Enemy of the Union)



[1] The main metal workers union in Turkey, member of the strongest union confederation in the country, Turk Is.

[2] Feyzo the Polite.

[3] A town near Urfa, a city in Turkish Kurdistan.

[4] United Metal Workers Union.

[5] The Revolutionary Workers Union Confederation, the left-wing private sector union confederation in the country, originally a pro-Soviet split from Turk-Is.

