Civil Servants’ Trade Union Rights in the Cold War Era: The Western Bloc and Türkiye
İbrahim YılmazThis study is about civil servants’ union rights in Türkiye during the Cold War. The article will also discuss trade union rights the right to organize a union, the right to collective bargaining, and the right to strike. The aim of this study is to compare the developments regarding civil servants’ union rights in Türkiye during the Cold War with the developments in the Western Bloc. The article uses the document analysis method to examine the developments regarding civil servants’ union rights in Türkiye and the Western Bloc and evaluates the changes that occurred in Türkiye primarily through the Turkish Constitution and laws of the period, as well as through the discussions that occurred in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye as these legislations were being formed. The article uses the international documents created by the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, and the Council of Europe to examine the developments in the Western Bloc. Türkiye, which was trying to integrate into the Western Bloc that was led by United States both militarily and ideologically during the Cold War, can be said to have differed from its allies in terms of its civil servants’ union rights, except for the period between 1961-1971. In a broad sense, Türkiye can be argued to have fallen far behind its Western allies during the Cold War in terms of recognizing and securing its civil servants’ union rights at the constitutional and legal levels.
Soğuk Savaş Dönemi Kamu Görevlilerinin Sendikal Hakları: Batı Bloğu ve Türkiye
İbrahim YılmazBu çalışma Türkiye’de Soğuk Savaş döneminde kamu görevlilerinin sendikal hakları hakkındadır. Sendikal haklar, sendika hakkı, toplu iş sözleşmesi hakkı ve grev hakkı üzerinden ele alınacaktır. Çalışmanın amacı, Soğuk Savaş döneminde Türkiye’de kamu görevlilerinin sendikal hakları konusunda yaşanan gelişmeleri Batı Bloğunda yaşanan gelişmelerle mukayese etmektir. Türkiye’de ve Batı Bloğunda kamu görevlilerinin sendikal hakları konusunda yaşanan gelişmeler, doküman incelemesi yöntemi ile incelenmiştir. Türkiye’de yaşanan değişiklikler başta dönemin Anayasa ve yasaları olmak üzere, bu mevzuatın oluşması aşamasında Meclis’te yaşanan tartışmalar üzerinden değerlendirilmiştir. Batı Bloğunda yaşanan gelişmeler ise Birleşmiş Milletler, Uluslararası Çalışma Örgütü ve Avrupa Konseyi tarafından oluşturulan uluslararası belgeler üzerinden incelenmiştir. Soğuk Savaş döneminde hem askeri hem de ideolojik anlamda ABD’nin liderliğindeki Batı bloğuna entegre çabası içerisinde olan Türkiye’nin, kamu görevlilerinin sendikal hakları noktasında ise 1961-1971 arası hariç tutulursa müttefiklerinden ayrıştığı belirtilebilir. Soğuk Savaş döneminde Türkiye geniş anlamda kamu görevlilerinin dar anlamda memurların sendikal haklarının tanınması, anayasal ve yasal düzeyde güvenceye alınması noktasında, Batılı müttefiklerinin oldukça gerisinde kalmış olduğu belirtilebilir.
This study concerns the union rights of civil servants in Türkiye during the Cold War (1946-1991). The article discusses trade union rights through the right to organize a union, the right to collective bargaining, and the right to strike. The study aims to compare the developments regarding civil servants’ union rights in Türkiye during the Cold War with the developments that occurred in the Western bloc by carrying out a document analysis. The study evaluates the changes that were experienced in Türkiye primarily through the Constitution and laws of the period, as well as through the discussions that occurred in the Parliament as these legislations were being formed. The study uses the international documents established by the United Nations (UN), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the Council of Europe to examine the developments that occurred in the Western Bloc . In this context, the study examines the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (established by the UN), the ILO’s Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and the Protection of the Right to Organize, the ILO’s Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining, and the Council of Europe’s European Social Charter.
In terms of civil servants’ union rights in Türkiye during the Cold War, the period of 1961-1971 was when the most important positive developments were experienced. The 1961 Constitution, which had clearly adopted the social state approach, accommodated a more progressive and egalitarian approach compared to the previous Turkish Constitutions. The right to organize a union is among the classical social rights, and the 1961 Constitution guaranteed this right for its civil servants. Although the 1961 Constitution clearly recognized the right of civil servants to organize a union during this period, the same was not the case for the right to collectively bargain or the right to strike. When looking at the international documents containing provisions on civil servants’ union rights in the Western Bloc during this period, the rights to organize a union, collectively bargain, and strike are seen to have been clearly recognized and guaranteed apart from certain exceptions. Although the 1961-1971 period should be noted as the time when Türkiye experienced the most important developments regarding its civil servants’ union rights, Türkiye remained far behind the regulations contained in the international documents the Western Bloc had created at that time.
The 1971-1980 period, also known as the Cold War’s détente period, was when Türkiye abolished civil servants’ limited union rights. With the Constitutional Amendment made in 1971, Article ## that had guaranteed the right of civil servants to organize a union was altered. Not only were civil servants deprived of any guarantee of this right, but the amendments made in Article 119 of the Constitution expressly prohibited civil servants from becoming members of a union. These amendments made to the Turkish Constitution in 1971 can be argued to have abolished civil servants’ right to unionize, as well as to have “returned [conditions] to the pre-1947 period when the concept of unions was intolerable” (Mahiroğulları, 2011, p. 70).
Regarding civil servants’ union rights in Türkiye, the first draft of the 1982 Constitution differed from the first draft of the 1961 Constitutions as well as the version that existed after the amendments that had taken place in 1971. The first draft of the 1982 Constitution had no regulation explicitly recognizing or prohibiting civil servants’ union rights. With regard to civil servants’ union rights during the last decade of the Cold War, no amendments were made to Türkiye’s 1982 Constitution. In terms of the rights to organize a union and bargain collectively, the fact that civil servants didn’t acquire a constitutional guarantee until after the end of the Cold War is important to emphasize.
Türkiye which had been trying to integrate into the Western Bloc both militarily and ideologically during the Cold War, can consequently be argued to have differed from its allies in terms of civil servants’ union rights, even during the 1961-1971 period. During the Cold War, Türkiye can be claimed to have fallen far behind its Western allies in terms of recognizing and securing civil servants’ union rights at the constitutional and legal levels.
