This book aims to provide introductory knowledge on the Turk-ish industrial relations System with special reference to the development of trade unionism. Since this seems to be an area where literature in the English language is very limited -and almost non-existent as far as post -1960 developments are concerned-, the Faculty of Economics of the University of İstanbul has come to the decision that the publication of Dr. Dereli’s study could meet certain demands of the English- reading foreign experts interested in various aspects of the industrial relations system and trade unions in Turkey.
The present study has grown out of a Master of Science thesis submitted by the writer to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in June 1964. However, Dr. Dereli has revised and brought his thesis up to date before its publication. Moreover, Chapter VII is a completely new section covering the developments which have taken place since 1964. Thus, in its present form, the study includes all the majör developments untü the end of March 1968.
Chapter I has been devoted to the delineation of an introductory and theoretical framework, but the following chapters try to elaborate on that social science-oriented approach under separate headings, readers who are more interested in the practical aspects of the topic could perhaps skip Chapter I without actually running into difficulty at later stages.
The essential character of the study is historical in the sense that, after a brief sketch of the basic elements of the Turkish social and political system in Chapter II, Chapters III and IV elaborate on the characteristics of Turkish trade unionism during the pre-1960 period while Chapters V, VI, and VII discuss the post- 1960 developments both from a legalistic and socio-political perspective. Readers interested only in the present structure and operation of the industrial relations system and trade unions in Turkey could therefore focus their attention on these latter chapters.
The study does not treat to any extent economic subjects such as the relationship between bargained wages and inflation, trade unionism, and economic development or unemployment in Turkey. Nevertheless, even with its rather legalistic and socio-political approach, the book has been a useful contribution to the literature on Turkish trade unionism and labor-management relations. Furthermore, having been written in a language known as having a large audience, we hope it will prove to be useful for foreign readers interested in the development of trade unionism and |
