We visited the headquarter of the United Metalworkers's Union
The second field visit of the second-semester course SOC420 Social Rights and Social Inclusion in Europe and Turkey of the Jean Monnet SOCRETUR module took place on May 17, 2024 at the headquarters of the United Metalworkers' Union (Birleşik Metal-İş) affiliated to DİSK. We were welcomed to the union by Eyüp Özer, an expert in Birleşik Metal-İş's international relations department. Pointing out that the "united" quality of Birleşik Metal-İş stems from the merger of two different unions, Özer began his presentation by stating that these two unions were Türkiye Maden-İş, founded in 1947, and Otomobil-İş, founded in 1963. Stating that Otomobil-İş became a union to which T. Maden-İş members turned and organized after DİSK closed in 1980, Özer said that in 1992, when DİSK became active again, T. Maden-İş was re-established. However, the two unions, which were already united in practice, officially merged in 1993 and decided to conduct their activities together under the DISK umbrella. Following this general presentation of the union, Eyüp Özer provided information on the state of trade unionism in Turkey, obstacles to union organizing, working conditions and the importance of acting in concert with the international trade union movement when conducting trade union activities in multinational companies. Afterwards, the students who had taken part in the excursion shared their questions. It is interesting to note that most of the questions asked by SOC420 students concerned the problems encountered by students during their internships and their experience of paid work during their studies.
