Labour Service
The government’s anti-labour policies, the discomfort felt by the one-man regime towards organisation, and the barrier of disorganisation placed before workers were reflected in the Ministry’s data.
Data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security on the number of members of labour unions was published in the Official Gazette. According to this data, only 2,413,790 of the 16,699,084 workers, equivalent to 14.45%, are members of any labour union. Only 1 in 7 workers in the country is organised in a union.
The number of workers has also declined compared to the previous period for which data was released, July 2025. Six months ago, 14% of the 17,326,143 workers in the country were unionised. Among the labour unions, the union with the most members was Hizmet-İş, with 276,537 members. Hizmet-İş was followed by the Turkish Metal Workers’ Union with 271,600 members and Öz Sağlık-İş with 215,234 members.
RATIOS REMAINED LOW
The sector with the highest number of workers was sector 10, i.e. trade, office, education and fine arts, which includes many occupational groups due to its problematic definition. The number of workers employed in this sector was determined to be 4,375,904. There are 31 different unions in this sector, ranging from teachers to musicians, advertisers to actors. Despite the large number of workers, the unionisation rate in this sector remained at 7.11%.
Among the total of 20 sectors, the second sector with the highest number of workers was metal with 1,918,111 workers, and the third was construction with 1,711,852 workers.
Although it is the third largest sector in terms of workforce, the construction sector has the lowest unionisation rate. Union membership in the construction sector remained at 3.08%. The low rate of unionisation was also influenced by the practice of employing workers without insurance.
The most organised sector was general services (sector 20), with a unionisation rate of 56.32%. This sector, in which more than half of the workers are organised, includes municipal workers, cleaners and domestic workers.
In this sector, according to January data, the Öz Belediye İş union also exceeded the 1 per cent threshold for the first time, granting it the right to negotiate collective bargaining agreements.
SECTOR THRESHOLD A BARRIER
The sector threshold, a legacy of 12 September, continues to stand as a barrier to unionisation for many workers. As a continuation of the 12 September practices, the sector threshold stands in the way of freedom of union choice; it causes workers to turn to larger unions in order to benefit from collective bargaining rights or to stay away from unions because of agreements they cannot benefit from anyway. The threshold stands in the way of the constitutional right to organise. Moreover, unions that pass the sectoral threshold are blocked by games played by employers, who attempt to legitimise their actions by raising ‘authority objections’ if the unions also pass workplace thresholds. On the other hand, in situations such as unfair dismissals and the imposition of low wages through insecurity, workers cannot formally organise, even if they fight together with unions.
THE AKP’S LABOUR RECORD
The low percentage of unionised workers is directly linked to the AKP’s labour-hostile policies, which it has taken over and advanced day by day. By fostering friendships with capital and promoting insecurity as a policy through the state, the AKP government has effectively blocked the path to unionisation. With 23 strike bans in its 23 years in power, the AKP has broken the record for preventing organised workers from using their power derived from production. Of the 53 strikes banned in the country’s history, 23 occurred under this government. In addition to strike bans, workers’ insecurity, the lack of union rights for those employed informally, the practical obstacles to collective bargaining agreements, and the open support for employers’ anti-union pressure have left workers unorganised. The one-man regime, which perpetuates neoliberal policies and imposes austerity measures that burden those who earn their living through labour, continues its close ties with employer organisations. In contrast, workers stand firm with their determined and united struggle, defying bans through their stubborn resistance.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Kurulan setleri mücadele kıracak, published in BirGün newspaper on January 18, 2026.