Joint Workshop of IndustriALL Global and Europe on 'Just Transition of industrial workers in Turkey'

Together with partners from IndustriALL Global and IndustriALL Europe and with the participation of Turkish trade unionists from Türk-İş, Hak-İş and DİSK, FES Turkey organized a Seminar from the 4th to 5th of October in Ankara on industrial transformation and just energy transition in Turkey. The joint workshop was supported by the FES Regional Office Climate and Social Justice.

The workshop aimed at an evaluation of how a just transition can be achieved in Turkey, which steps need to be taken by the actors to shape this process and which resources are needed to do so. Furthermore, participants exchanged on best practice strategies from different branches in the Turkish context, which also gave insight into the debates within different trade unions.

The topic was discussed in a broader context of several challenges: climate change, geopolitical crisis, war and a skyrocketing inflation and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. 

What is happening in terms of climate and industrial policy in Turkey? What is the economic context in which this is happening? What is the union strategy or policy to anticipate the changes and manage the transition and what are the policy making options in the context of the transition to net-zero? These key concerns and questions were in the focus of the workshop, in which participants reflected together about the specific challenges that the Turkish industrial trade unions are facing.

Just transition is a relatively new concept for Turkish trade unions and policy making structures and was discussed broadly in the workshop. It was highlighted that a transformation of all sectors and regions should aim at the good for workers, produce many high-quality jobs and that it furthermore will redefine trade union work. Just Transition should therefore be understood as a process, where the social and ecological sphere is thought together and the human stands in the center of it. In order to achieve a transition that is just for workers, they and their trade unions need to have a seat at the table when climate and transition strategies are developed.

For further background analysis, information and demands for policymaking on just transition check out IndustiALL Europes ‘Just Transition Manifesto’, also available in Turkish under https://news.industriall-europe.eu/p/justtransition. More information on IndustriALL Europes activity in the region can be found under https://justtransition.industriall-europe.eu/.