US embassy cable - 05ANKARA482

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000482 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DRL/IL PLEASE PASS TO DOL/ILAB BILL BRUMFIELD 
 
ISTANBUL PLS PASS ADANA 
 
E.O.12958: DECL: 01/27/2015 
TAGS: ELAB, PHUM, PGOV, SOCI, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKEY'S EU MEMBERSHIP REQUIRES ADEQUATE 
PROTECTION FOR LABOR UNION RIGHTS AND A LEGAL DEFINITION OF 
BURDEN OF PROOF 
 
 
Classified By: (U) POLITICAL COUNSELOR JOHN KUNSTADTER, 
E.0.12958, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
1.  (C) Summary. European Commission social policy sector 
manager in Ankara Zeynep Aydemir told us EU membership will 
require Turkey to guarantee full rights for trade unions and 
to establish a clear legal definition regarding the burden of 
proof in legal disputes.  Aydemir attaches major significance 
to making all aspects of Turkish labor law conform with EU 
labor law, securing occupational safety and health protection 
for workers and reforming the civil service.  End summary. 
 
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Union Rights and Burden of Proof 
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2.  (C) Aydemir told us January 7 that Turkey could face 
major obstacles to EU accession if it does not draft 
legislation to assure that Turkish trade unions are able to 
exercise the full range of rights guaranteed by various ILO 
Conventions.  Turkey has ratified most conventions, except 
notably the 1981 Convention guaranteeing collective 
bargaining.  At the same time, Turkey will have to establish 
a clear legal definition regarding the burden of proof in 
disputes.  Burden of proof issues are closely intertwined 
with protecting women's rights, as well as affecting 
employee-employer disputes in harassment and discrimination 
cases.  Aydemir asserted that if Turkey does not address 
these two labor-related issues, it might be enough to derail 
Turkish accession. 
 
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Other Issues 
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3.  (C) Aydemir criticized various aspects of the most recent 
Turkish labor law adopted in June 2003 for not conforming to 
EU standards.  She noted 1) Turkey does not grant parental 
leave time to fathers, a common practice in the EU; 2) men 
and women are not treated equally; 3) civil service reform is 
still being discussed, but is no closer to resolution than it 
was two years ago when a forum to discuss reform was first 
held; and 4) occupational safety and health  protections are 
consistent with worldwide standards in large multinational 
industries but do not apply to workers in small (less than 
ten employees) and medium-sized companies.  Despite these 
deficiencies, Aydemir believes that Turkey's labor sector is 
far more advanced in comparison with conditions in the former 
Communist countries which have already received EU admission. 
 
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EU Standards 
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4.  (C) All EU member countries mandate equal treatment under 
law for men and women, assuring equal pay for both men and 
women, and guaranteeing parental leave for mothers and 
fathers.  By comparison, Turkey does not institutionalize 
equal treatment or equal pay for men and women and only 
guarantees maternity leave.  However, Aydemir considered 
these "soft issues" that would not be expected to hinder 
Turkey's accession.  Aydemir is concerned that Turkey's large 
informal economy, which she estimates employs 50 percent of 
the work force, could be adversely affected by these required 
changes, making it politically difficult to bring Turkish 
labor policies into compliance with the EU's.  Currently EU 
countries welcome Turkish workers as a source of cheap labor, 
but this situation could change once the labor force is 
assimilated into European society and is able to command 
higher European wages. 
 
5.  (C) Ibrahim Akcayoglu, World Bank Operations Officer in 
the Human Development Sector Unit concurs with Aydemir, 
asserting there is a wide gap between stated policies and 
workplace practice in Turkey.  Aydemir averred correcting 
actual violations could be difficult for Turkey because the 
country only has 700 labor inspectors when it should have at 
least double that number.  In discussing the constraints 
imposed by having an inadequate number of labor inspectors to 
monitor labor conditions in Turkey, Aydemir compared Turkey 
with Germany, which has 700 inspectors for one province.  She 
added that employers perpetuate labor problems through a 
general lack of awareness of their responsibilities toward 
workers as well as a reluctance to spend money, even on 
legally mandated social security programs, to fund retirement 
and health insurance. Small and medium-sized firms in the 
construction industry are considered to be among the major 
offenders in ignoring employee rights.  Agriculture, which 
accounts for an estimated 40 percent (estimates vary between 
33 and 40 percent of the Turkish economy) is not required to 
provide equal pay or social security benefits for its 
workers, perhaps half of whom are women.  Unfavorable work 
environments also create unhealthy conditions which 
contribute to child labor abuses, a problem that seems best 
overcome by training entire families about the negative 
aspects of working children. 
DEUTSCH