Workers to launch strike in defiance of Turkish president's ban

The head of the United Metalworkers' Union in Turkey announced on Tuesday that the workers in a steel wire factory in the western province of Kocaeli will go on strike despite a decision by the Turkish president to postpone the strike.

Union leader Adnan Serdaroglu's announcement came right after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decision to postpone the strike in two factories of Belgium-based Bekaert has been published by Turkey's Official Gazette Tuesday morning.

It is said in the decision that the strikes have been assessed to be "damaging to national security," and it is proclaimed that both strikes are to be postponed for 60 days.

Serdaroglu told Cumhuriyet TV:

"This kind of attitude is in violation of the Constitution and international conventions. We declare that this strike ban is not acceptable and that we will carry on with the strike. We will definitely take steps for legal action, but we already have decisions by the Constitutional Court, the conventions ratified in the context of article 90 of the Constitution. So we believe that the recent decision of the president does not reflect a lawful attitude. We will launch the strike."

The union posted a statement on Twitter, saying:

"Our president has once again taken a step in favor of the bosses. He has banned a strike by Bekaert workers in Kocaeli. The workers will defy this unlawful strike ban, exercise their rights secured by the Constitution and international law, and launch the legal strike at 1 PM."