The individual application decision of the Constitutional Court numbered 2020/11279 was published in the Official Gazette numbered 32294 dated 29 August 2023. The Constitutional Court ruled that the termination of employment contracts of employees due to their slowdown strike to protect their union rights is a violation of union rights.
Events
In the case at hand, the applicant workers initiated a slowdown strike under the union after the employer tried to prevent union organization in the workplace and assigned a union employee to a distant district to intimidate the employees. The employer dismissed the employees after the strike continued for 3 days.
Decisions
The first instance court ruled that the termination of the applicants’ employment contracts was due to union reasons. The court of appeal rejected the case, deciding that “taking action to slow down work for 3 days” and “decreasing the productivity of the workplace by 50-60%” was not a proportionate action.
Thereupon, the dispute was brought before the Constitutional Court through individual application, and the Constitutional Court decided that the dismissal of the workers violated Article 51 of the Constitution (Right to Form a Union).