WE DEMAND OUR EQUAL RIGHTS AND FUTURE, TODAY NOT TOMORROW CAMPAIGN
March 2006 – May 2007
Campaign Justification:
Women affiliated with KESK (Confederation of Public Employees’ Unions) made the following observations during KESK’s second Women’s Congress:
- Capital is globalizing.
- Neoliberal economic policies deepen inequalities and discrimination among countries, regions, classes, and genders.
- The majority of women become economically impoverished, excluded, and their labor and assets are rendered invisible during this process.
Detailed discussions were held during the congress regarding the issues and discriminatory practices faced by women workers in public sectors in Turkey. To draw attention to these problems and work towards their elimination, a decision was made to launch a campaign.
Campaign Objectives:
- Increase the percentage of female members in unions affiliated with KESK by 20%.
- Expose and raise awareness about economic, social, and political inequalities and gender-discriminatory policies in private and public sectors.
- Foster solidarity among female public workers against gender-discriminatory regulations and practices.
- Conduct union activities such as education, panels, and symposiums to enhance societal awareness with the common and specific demands of women.
Campaign Demands:
- Establish common baby care units and nurseries near workplaces for workplaces with a minimum of 50 employees and those with fewer than 50 employees. (This service should be provided under the Ministry of Family and Social Policies. Nurseries should be free and compliant with the ministry’s regulations. Nurseries in workplaces with night shifts should be open 24 hours, and the government should cover nursery fees in cases where nurseries cannot be established temporarily.)
- Compensation for the periods of free leave taken by female public employees due to childbirth should be paid by the state and counted towards retirement.
- Implement affirmative action policies in hiring, promotions, and advancements to increase female employment.
- Legally define workplace sexual harassment as “verbal, behavioral, or other unwanted and unacceptable actions with sexual content, especially by top executives and colleagues, threatening and damaging personal rights based on gender.” Sexual harassment should be included in professional training; preventive measures should be taken, and the victim’s complaint should be sufficient for legal sanctions.
- Provide regular “Women’s Health” training for all female public workers during working hours.
- Ratify and implement ILO Convention No. 156, “Equal Opportunities and Equal Treatment for Workers with Family Responsibilities.”
- Expand and redefine the constitutional definition of “family” to include divorced women living with their children.
- Mandatory in-service training and seminars on violence against women and children for judiciary, security forces, healthcare professionals, teachers, social workers, psychologists, and legal professionals.
- In accordance with Law No. 5393, which outlines the responsibilities of municipalities, the government should take necessary measures to construct and maintain shelters for women and children in accordance with international standards.
- Female public workers should be granted paid leave on March 8th.
Campaign Activities:
- Publicize campaign demands through press releases.
- Share demands with women’s organizations and other labor unions through visits.
- Submit collected signatures along with women’s demands to the Minister of Family and Social Policies. On November 8, 2006, KESK Central Women’s Secretary Sevgi Göyçe, along with a delegation of KESK women, visited and presented the demands to Minister Nimet Çubukçu. Nimet Çubukçu expressed her support for KESK women’s demands and promised efforts for their implementation.
- Conducted a press release titled “The Minister Promised. We Are the Followers of Our Demands” on November 9, 2006.
- In the campaign framework, ribbons were tied, badges were distributed, and notices were posted in workplaces against violence towards women from November 23 to 27.
- Organized a signature campaign related to the demands, serving both to raise public awareness and garner support.
- Campaign-focused posters, notices, and badges with the slogan “I Want My Equality Rights, Not Tomorrow, But Today” were widely distributed in public sectors through unions affiliated with KESK. Posters, notices, and badges helped create awareness against discrimination and enabled women public workers to organize and be informed about their rights.
- Mailed letters containing campaign demands to women MPs between May and June 2006 through mass press releases organized by KESK women in front of post offices in all cities where KESK is active.
Campaign Achievements:
- Raised awareness about gender discrimination, violence against women, and sexual harassment in public workplaces.
- Enabled female public workers, whether union members or not, to feel more empowered against gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace. KESK member unions were made aware that they could approach union representatives in case of sexual harassment or similar situations and receive support.
- On July 25, 2006, a General Communiqué on Preventing Violence Against Women was published by the Prime Ministry. While the issuance of this Communiqué cannot solely be attributed to the campaign led by KESK women, the influence of the KESK women’s campaign can be acknowledged in its development.
Campaign Press Release
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