Family Burdens Distract Women from Unionism

Turkey’s Revolutionary Workers Union Confederation (DISK) chairman Suleyman Celebi announces that a decision had been taken to launch a youth union in the country after the recently founded pensioners union.

He added, however, that women themselves were not interested in becoming unionists in Turkey and asked when women would have a union for themselves, said they were already present in existing unions.

“We are a confederation that has shown the greatest effort for women to take part in the union struggle” Celebi explained in an exclusive interview with bianet following a meeting in Istanbul on “the restructuring of the working life in the cinema sector”.

Youth Union on the way

Celebi recalled that they had set up a union specifically for petitioners in Turkey and that this had served to protect the rights of those retiring out of active working life.

During the meeting on the Turkish film sector, the DISK chairman disclosed that the next step would be the creation of a union for youth. "Next in line is our decision to set up a union for the youth. When the youth union is founded, their problems will become visible and solved”.

Celebi gave the following answers to bianet’s questions after the meeting:

In the meeting you mentioned the petitioners union and a union for youth in the future. When will a women’s union be set up?

In every field I mentioned, women are present anyway.

Women can become members but is the number of women executives satisfactory?

We know that the number of unionist women is not enough but women do not want to be unionists. Even though we wanted it so much, we could not increase the number of women unionists.

Is it women not wanting to be unionists or men blocking their way?

Such a thing is not an issue in DISK. Let me give you an example. In the latest general assembly of DISK I proposed a woman friend as candidate. But our woman friend, although she said yes at the beginning, explained later that she did not want to join the executive board because her husband did not allow it. The reason for women not being unionists is not us. It is mainly because of family reasons.

Still, could a quota not be imposed on elections?

Even if a quota was imposed, it is not a solution. Women don’t want to become unionists. We are still continuing our efforts to increase the number of women unionists.

Every year the number of employed women is decreasing. Employers do not want to employ women because of reasons such as birth or child care. You were a co-chairman at the European Union Mixed Advisory Committee. This is emphasized in reports from there too. What do you say?

As you say it is a reality that the employment of women is decreasing. In those meetings we tried to explain the measures that needed to be taken and ways for solutions. But the government and employers behaved hypocritically. Because of this I withdrew from my position as co-chairman. This was one and the most important reason.

Until the required structure and performance is established we will not be present at the Economic and Social Council, until there. We will not participate in the Mixed Advisory Council where we have been co-chairs for about two years until the government takes its decision seriously and puts them in life. With the employers and the government everything, be it social relations, dialogue, is very well. But when it comes to the employment of women, to the measures to be taken, they run off. (AD/TK/II/YE)