Trade Union and
Collective Labor Law

Although unions may be formed without prior permission, the qualifications of the founders, the place of formation, the industry in which the union will operate, the bylaws and the mandatory documents should be prepared in compliance with the legislation. Deficiencies in the formation file may turn into problems of representation, membership, general assembly or authority at later stages of organizing.

• Determining the formation model of a workers’ or employers’ union
• Assessing the statutory conditions and duties of the founders
• Preparing the founding bylaws, the founders’ declaration and the necessary documents
• Regulating the union’s name, seat, industry, purpose and field of activity
• Establishing the duties, powers, election and working procedures of the mandatory organs
• Planning the structure of union branches, regional representation and workplace organization
• Confederation formation and membership processes
• Notifications to the relevant governorate and to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security
• Administrative or judicial processes concerning deficiencies in the formation documents

When formation procedures are carried out, the industry in which the union will later conclude collective labor agreements, the dues system, the branch structure, preparations for a digital general assembly, personal data flows and signing authorities should be considered together.

Under Law No. 6356, a union requires at least seven workers or employers, and a confederation requires at least five unions in different industries. Submission of the formation documents to the governorate, legal personality and the review of statutory deficiencies are distinct from one another. Preparing documents digitally does not replace the election and meeting procedures in the law.

The bylaws are not merely the founding document of the union; they are the basic legal text of its internal functioning, from membership and financial management to elections and disciplinary processes. General provisions that merely repeat the law do not by themselves resolve the problems of authority and procedure that arise in practice.

• Regulating membership, withdrawal, expulsion and the rights arising from membership
• The structure of the general assembly, executive board, supervisory board and disciplinary board
• Delegate elections, call, agenda, meetings and decision quorums
• Establishing and closing branches and the powers of branch organs
• Representation, signature, expenditure, borrowing and immovable property transactions
• Principles of the dues, solidarity, education, strike and social aid funds
• Provisions on officers’ pay, allowances, travel expenses and return to duty
• Disciplinary offenses, the right of defense, sanctions and the objection mechanism
• General assembly and notification processes for bylaw amendments
• Revising old provisions that conflict with the law or the organization’s needs

The general assembly is the highest decision-making organ of the union with respect to management, supervision, budget, bylaws and relations with the higher organization. Procedural errors, from the call to the delegate list and from the agenda to the election board, may lead to the annulment of the general assembly or of specific decisions.

• Preparing the calendar of ordinary and extraordinary general assemblies
• Delegate election procedure and review of delegate lists
• Checking the call, announcement, agenda, venue and time conditions
• Election board and election procedures under judicial supervision
• Presiding board, attendance list, minutes and decision texts
• Bylaw amendments, budget, release (ibra), immovable property and higher-organization decisions
• Notification of election results and changes of organs
• Actions for annulment of the general assembly and of delegate elections
• Assessing situations in which a curator (kayyım) or interim management is claimed to be necessary
• Extraordinary general assembly requests and routes available when management does not make the call

An objection to the general assembly election is not the same filing as the annulment of a delegate election held outside the general assembly or of a general assembly decision. Judicial supervision, the two-day objection and other special time limits under Law No. 6356 Art. 15–16 are checked according to the type of act.

Union officers should exercise their powers arising from the bylaws, general assembly decisions, the budget and the law in line with the purpose of the organization. Uncertainty in the authority to represent and to spend may give rise to debate on both institutional and personal liability.

• Preparing and legally reviewing executive board decisions
• Arranging the division of duties, representation and signing powers
• Limits of authority between branch and central organs
• Departure of an officer from office, removal from office or end of membership
• Acts contrary to the bylaws and general assembly decisions
• Legal and criminal liability risks of organ members
• Conflicts of interest, related-party transactions and ethical rules
• Internal complaint and dispute resolution mechanisms of the union
• Officers’ safeguards and return-to-workplace processes

The union’s income and expenses, budget, dues, funds, immovable property, aid and expenditures should be managed in a manner consistent with the bylaws and legislation, traceable and based on decisions of the competent organ.

• Arrangements on budget and spending authority
• Recording and collection of membership and solidarity dues
• Principles for using strike and social aid funds
• Movable and immovable property, leasing and investment transactions
• Donations, aid and international fund relations
• Internal audit and supervisory board processes
• Legal review of ledgers, records and documents
• Public oversight, information requests and administrative sanctions
• Officer liability and claims of loss
• Assets and liquidation in the event of dissolution or termination

The review of financial statements, tax, independent audit or accounting is carried out by authorized financial advisers (mali müşavir) and auditors; the legal compliance and liability aspects are assessed by attorneys.

Membership of a workers’ or employers’ union is tied to the relevant legislation and to transactions carried out through the electronic system. The start of membership, the date on which withdrawal takes effect, a change of industry and the expulsion decision matter with respect to dues, representation, delegates and benefit from the collective labor agreement.

• Membership application and determining the date membership is acquired
• Review of electronic membership and withdrawal records
• Problems of the same industry, change of industry and simultaneous membership
• Authority, grounds, defense and objection in an expulsion decision
• Effect of unemployment, retirement, change of industry or change of employer on membership
• Allegations of errors, forged transactions or unauthorized access in membership records
• Disputes concerning member and delegate lists
• Confidentiality of membership information and protection of personal data
• Pressure, discrimination or termination of the employment contract because of membership

Giving the e-Devlet password to third parties or carrying out transactions on behalf of another person in membership procedures creates serious legal and security risks. The intent to join should be free and transaction records should be properly preserved.

Law No. 6356 Art. 17–19 separately regulate the consequence of not rejecting a membership application within thirty days, the rule that withdrawal takes effect one month after notification, and objection to an expulsion decision within thirty days. Membership continues until the general assembly’s expulsion decision becomes final. For public servants, the separate procedure in Law No. 4688 applies.

The amount of dues, the method of collection, the deduction list, the start and end of membership, and the date from which benefit from the collective labor agreement begins by paying solidarity dues should be kept distinct from one another.

• Setting membership dues in the bylaws
• Deduction from wages by the employer and payment to the union
• Resolving differences between the member list and the deduction list
• Claims for missing, late or never transferred dues
• Interest, statute of limitations and the evidentiary weight of records
• Solidarity dues demand and benefit from the collective labor agreement
• Stopping the deduction when membership or coverage by the collective labor agreement ends
• Effect of inter-union membership disputes on dues
• Protecting dues data with regard to the Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK) and confidentiality

Under Law No. 6356 Art. 18, failure to make the dues deduction that is required to be made at the written request of the authorized workers’ union, or failure to transfer the deducted dues within one month, may give rise to the interest liability regulated by the law. The basis of membership dues and of solidarity dues, and the request to benefit, are recorded separately.

Treating a worker differently because the worker joined or did not join a union, left a union, took part in union activity or preferred a particular union impairs freedom of association. In a dispute, the timing of the dismissal, the reason put forward by the employer, comparable employees and the organizing process at the workplace are examined together.

• A condition of union membership or non-membership at hiring
• Discrimination in pay, shifts, duties, promotion and working conditions
• Dismissals during a period of union organizing
• Comparing union members with employees who are not members
• Reviewing a defense based on performance, downsizing, discipline or an operational decision
• Assessing dismissal lists, timing, new hires and witness accounts
• Reinstatement and union-related compensation claims
• Discrimination other than dismissal, and compensation
• Documenting interference with organizing from the union’s perspective
• Establishing lawful decision-making processes and objective criteria from the employer’s perspective

An allegation of a union ground is not deemed proven merely by the worker’s union membership; likewise, the employer’s reason for the dismissal or differential treatment is not accepted on a bare written statement. The evidence, the chronology of events and groups of comparable employees are assessed as a whole.

Law No. 6356 Art. 25 contains a criterion of not less than one year’s wages for union-related compensation (sendikal tazminat); the amount cannot be guaranteed before the file is seen. The rules of proof for dismissal and for discrimination other than dismissal are different. Outside dismissal, where the worker presents a situation that strongly indicates discrimination, this affects the employer’s burden of proving the reason for its conduct.

In a reinstatement claim under the Law No. 4857 Art. 20 route, a time limit of one month to apply to the mediator runs from notification of the dismissal notice; if no agreement is reached, a time limit of two weeks to file the lawsuit runs from the final record. Union-related compensation, compensation for non-reinstatement and claims for pay for the period without work (boşta geçen süre) are separated with regard to double recovery and special conditions.

The safeguards of a workplace union representative and of a union officer may include provisions different from general job security. A representative’s change of workplace or job, dismissal, departure because of holding office, and requests to return to duty should be examined specifically.

• Appointment of the workplace union representative and notification to the employer
• Number of representatives and the term of the representation duty
• A change in the representative’s duty or workplace
• Just cause for dismissal and review of the special procedure
• Reinstatement, pay and other statutory consequences
• Options for an officer to suspend or terminate the employment contract
• Application to return to work when the officer’s term ends
• An officer’s claims for seniority, pay and social rights
• Balancing representation activity with workplace order

A workplace union representative’s workplace cannot be changed, nor can the job be materially altered, without the representative’s written consent; a contrary change is invalid under Law No. 6356 Art. 24/4. For dismissal of a representative, Art. 24 provides a special one-month time limit for bringing an action. This action is not automatically treated as the same as the route for dismissal on trade union grounds under Art. 25 and Law No. 4857 Art. 20; the basis of the claim and the mediation requirement are determined separately.

The union’s internal disciplinary power should be exercised in accordance with the principles of defined offenses in the bylaws, a competent board, the right of defense, reasoning and proportionality.

• Opening a disciplinary investigation and collecting evidence
• Notifying the member of the allegation and the right of defense
• Authority and impartiality of the disciplinary board
• Warning, temporary loss of rights and expulsion from membership
• Reasoning of the decision, its notification and the internal objection route
• Protection of the general assembly’s authority in expulsion from membership under Law No. 6356
• Judicial route against an expulsion decision
• Risks to personality rights, reputation and personal data

At the basis of authority to conclude a collective labor agreement lies the correct determination of the industry and of the collective labor agreement unit. The SGK workplace code or the description of activity in the trade registry may not be sufficient on its own; the main work actually carried out at the workplace, auxiliary work, dependent premises and the organization of the work are assessed together.

• Examining the workplace’s actual activity and organizational structure
• Assessing main work, auxiliary work and unity of technological purpose
• Scope of an enterprise collective labor agreement for workplaces belonging to the same employer
• Analysis of structures involving a group, a subcontracting employer, a shared service or different SGK registries
• Applying to the Ministry for an industry determination and following the process
• Action objecting to the industry determination decision
• Effect of a change of industry on existing membership and authority processes
• Allegations of sham or artificial splitting of a workplace
• Industry consequences of merger, transfer, closure and restructuring

An action to determine the industry and an action objecting to the authority determination are not the same dispute. The timing of the filing and its effect on an existing authority process should be examined separately.

Authority determination is a critical stage for collective bargaining to be able to begin. A workers’ union needs to satisfy the industry threshold together with the workplace or enterprise majority. The assessment based on more than half of the workers employed at the workplace on the date of application, and on forty percent in an enterprise, is open to disputes over records and scope.

• Determining the date of application and the industry statistics in force
• Assessing the one percent requirement in the industry
• Calculating the workplace majority and the enterprise majority separately
• Reviewing the number of workers and members employed on the date of application
• Effect of records on subcontracting employers, temporary agency employment, suspension, unpaid leave and departure
• Workplaces that should be included in or excluded from the enterprise
• Application for a positive or negative authority determination
• Documenting differences between Ministry records and the actual situation
• Obtaining the authority certificate and the subsequent collective bargaining calendar

According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security’s July 2026 data, 2,432,789 of 17,630,475 workers in Türkiye are union members; of the 246 workers’ unions published, 60 have exceeded the one percent industry threshold. Because these data are periodic, the official statistics valid on the date of the transaction should be used in an authority application.

In the authority calculation, the criteria of a one percent industry threshold, more than half of the members at a workplace and forty percent in an enterprise are not confused. Where more than one union reaches forty percent in an enterprise, the highest number of members on the date of application is taken into account. The time limit for objecting to the statistics and the jurisdiction of the Ankara Labor Court are separate from an individual objection to the authority determination.

An objection to a positive or negative authority determination is not limited to the majority calculation. The industry, the workplace and enterprise scope, the employee list, the date of membership, an allegation of sham and the accuracy of Ministry records may affect the outcome of the case.

• Determining the date of notification of the determination letter and the six-business-day period
• Identifying the labor court with subject-matter and territorial jurisdiction
• Identifying the status of the parties and the necessary respondents
• Comparing worker, member, SGK registry and workplace records
• Investigating all workplaces within the enterprise
• Related disputes concerning industry statistics or the industry determination
• Effect of the objection on authority procedures and the collective bargaining calendar
• Following the appeal and Court of Cassation appeal processes
• Procedural requests against delays in proceedings that could render the right to organize ineffective

The Constitutional Court (Anayasa Mahkemesi) emphasizes that the short trial periods provided in Law No. 6356 for authority disputes aim to ensure rapid and effective exercise of the right to organize, and that letting these cases drag on may violate the right to organize. For this reason, not only the outcome of the file but also its being concluded promptly matters for the right to collective bargaining.

With regard to Law No. 6356 Art. 43/2–3, registration of the petition with the competent authority and indicating concrete evidence in the petition or its annexes are critical procedural steps. Under Art. 43/5 of the Law, an objection suspends the authority procedures until the decision becomes final. This effect does not justify a baseless objection made merely to gain time.

Obtaining the authority certificate does not in itself conclude a collective labor agreement. The call, notice of place and time, minutes of meetings, comparison of proposals and observance of the statutory calendar are required.

• The call for collective negotiation after the authority certificate
• Making the call on time and in a provable manner
• Setting the place, day and time of the first meeting
• Collective negotiation delegation and signing powers
• Minutes of meetings and recording of the articles on which agreement is reached
• Proposal, counterproposal and financial impact tables
• Information sharing, confidentiality and personal data limits
• Statutory duration of collective negotiation and the dispute record
• Preventing acts or inaction that could lead to loss of authority

After the authority certificate, fifteen days are provided for the call; after notification of the call, six business days to agree on place, day and time. If the workers’ union does not attend the first meeting or does not begin negotiations within thirty days of the call, it loses its authority. The sixty-day negotiation period starts from the first meeting; these periods are not calculated from a single starting date.

A collective labor agreement is not merely a document that sets wage increases. Besides normative provisions on the formation, content and termination of employment contracts, it may also regulate the parties’ mutual rights and obligations, the application and supervision of the agreement, and dispute resolution.

• Reviewing the existing collective labor agreement, workplace practice and individual contracts
• Provisions on wages, seniority, bonuses, premiums, shifts and social benefits
• Working time, overtime, weekly rest, annual leave and excused leave
• Job classification, titles, wage groups and seniority steps
• Appointment, transfer, change of duty and disciplinary processes
• Job security, dismissal board and defense mechanisms
• Arrangements on subcontracting employers, temporary workers and new workplaces
• Provisions on occupational health and safety, training and social policy
• Union representatives, notice board, workplace access and union leave
• Dues deduction, joint board of the parties and dispute resolution
• Entry into force, term, aftereffect (art etki), transitional articles and preservation of prior rights
• Assessing the enterprise’s financial sustainability and workers’ rights within the legal framework

Collective labor agreements are made in writing and concluded within the statutory time limits. If the scope, entry into force and benefit provisions in the text are unclear, long-running claim disputes may arise between different groups of employees at the same workplace.

Filing the signed agreement with the competent authority and its announcement at the workplace are followed up separately. Transmission to the Ministry is not presented as a general “Ministry approval” requirement for the formation of the agreement. The article text, financial calculation and implementation instruction should be consistent with one another.

Excluding managers, white-collar workers or employees with certain titles from the scope cannot be based solely on the title given by the employer or on an established workplace practice. The employee’s actual duties, status as employer’s representative, the collective labor agreement provision and the effect of the distinction on the right to organize are examined together.

• Legal review of an out-of-scope personnel provision
• The difference between title and the work actually performed
• Distinguishing an employer’s representative or an employee who manages the enterprise as a whole
• Start and end dates of benefit from the collective labor agreement
• Those who are members on the date of signature and later membership
• Benefit through solidarity dues
• Effect of the end of membership or a change of workplace
• Extension (teşmil) and cases with the written consent of the party union
• Wage and fringe-benefit claims arising from exclusion from scope

In its 2025 Hülya Şimşek decision, the Constitutional Court stated that the effect on the right to organize of a judicial assessment about not allowing a white-collar employee to benefit from the collective labor agreement needs to be examined with relevant and sufficient reasoning.

No approval of the party union is required for benefit through solidarity dues. The former sentence providing that a request made before signature takes effect only on the date of signature was annulled by the Constitutional Court (AYM) decision of December 30, 2020, E.2020/57, K.2020/83. The date of the request, entry into force, employment and membership are examined together under the current Art. 39.

Disputes in the application of collective labor agreement provisions may arise from the meaning of a provision, the calculation of wages, the employee to be covered, or the relationship of workplace practice to the agreement.

• Interpreting a collective labor agreement provision by its wording, purpose and the agreement as a whole
• Interpretation disputes between party unions and the interpretation action
• Wage differences, bonuses, premiums, social benefits and other monetary rights
• Disputes on shifts, leave, overtime and the work regime
• The relationship between workplace practice and the collective labor agreement provision
• Debates on the more favorable provision, acquired rights and the hierarchy of norms
• Retroactive effect of the collective labor agreement and the start of its entry into force
• Effect on the collective labor agreement of a change of employer, transfer of the workplace (işyeri devri) and merger
• Effect of provisions of an expired collective labor agreement on employment contracts
• Actions and claims that may be brought by the union, the employer and the worker

Failure to apply an existing right under a statute, an individual employment contract or a collective labor agreement gives rise to a rights dispute. This dispute should be distinguished from a dispute of interests concerning the making of a new collective labor agreement.

• Employee claims arising from the collective labor agreement
• The union’s status as a party and options to apply on behalf of members
• Individual lawsuit and mediation process of a member worker
• Dues claims and contractual obligations between the parties
• Workplace arrangements or disciplinary measures contrary to a collective labor agreement provision
• Claims of equal treatment and discrimination on trade union grounds
• Statute of limitations, interest, accounting period and proof records
• Assessing, in the specific file, the conditions of an action for an undetermined claim or a partial claim

In actions for performance based on a collective labor agreement, the rule in Law No. 6356 Art. 53/2 on the highest interest rate applied to business loans from the date of default is taken into account. The same interest start or type does not apply to all employee claims; whether the claim truly arises from the collective labor agreement, and the default, are determined.

Under Law No. 6356 Art. 35, a collective labor agreement is generally made for at least one and at most three years; the exception for work lasting less than one year is reserved. After signature, the term cannot be extended or shortened, and the agreement cannot be terminated before its term. A new authority application can be made within one hundred twenty days before the end of the existing agreement.

The provisions of an expired collective labor agreement concerning the employment contract continue as terms of the employment contract until a new one enters into force. This “aftereffect” does not mean that all union-related and obligation-creating provisions continue unchanged. In a transfer of the workplace, Art. 38 has different consequences depending on the status of the collective labor agreement of the transferring and acquiring employer; a transfer does not automatically end all collective rights.

A group collective labor agreement is based on an agreement between a workers’ union and an employers’ union covering more than one member employer in the same industry. It is not confused with an enterprise collective labor agreement of a single employer for its workplaces in the same industry. The framework agreement in Law No. 6356 Art. 33 is subject to its own conditions with respect to membership and subject matter.

Extension (teşmil) is the application of certain provisions of a collective labor agreement to other workplaces within the conditions in Art. 40 and by a Presidential decision; it is not the same as benefit through union membership or solidarity dues. The authority process and scope exceptions are checked. Public-sector collective labor agreements, with the regime in Additional Art. 2 of the framework agreement protocol, and these institutions and the collective agreement of public servants are distinguished separately.

Official mediation, which comes into play when no agreement can be reached in collective negotiation, is not the same as mediation as a condition precedent to litigation in individual labor disputes. The mediator’s duty, report and time limits are carried out under the system of Law No. 6356.

• Preparing the dispute record
• The competent authority and the official mediator process
• Representation and proposal strategy in mediator meetings
• Partial settlement and documenting the articles that remain open
• Comparing financial proposals and the outcome record
• Delivering the mediator’s report to the parties and to the competent authority
• Moving to the strike, lockout or High Arbitration Board stage
• Monitoring statutory time limits and preventing loss of authority

The six business days for dispute notification under Law No. 6356 Art. 49 and the mediator’s fifteen-day term of duty under Art. 50 are different stages. By agreement of the parties, the mediator’s term may be extended by at most six business days. The final record of mediation obtained for a worker’s individual claim action does not replace the dispute record of a collective bargaining dispute.

A lawful strike is a collective work stoppage taken and carried out in accordance with the procedure in the law, in order to protect or improve economic and social conditions and working conditions when a dispute arises during the making of a collective labor agreement. Not every work stoppage is a lawful strike; purpose, decision, duration, announcement, bans and implementation conditions are examined together.

• Conditions of a lawful strike and work subject to a strike ban
• Adoption of the strike decision by the competent organ
• Announcing the decision and notifying the other party of the implementation date
• A strike vote request and assessing the voting results
• Legal status of workers who will strike and workers who will work
• Access to the workplace, production safety, protection of goods and facilities
• Strike pickets, announcements and information activities
• Pay, social rights and the status of the employment contract during a strike
• Allegations of an unlawful strike, findings and consequences
• Postponement and end of the strike and the High Arbitration Board stage

The right to strike is under constitutional protection; however, the consequences of actions outside the conditions of a lawful strike should be assessed together with the purpose, duration, peaceful nature and proportionality of the specific event and the current case law.

Law No. 6356 Art. 60 provides for a decision and implementation within sixty days from notification of the dispute record, and a regime of notifying the other party six business days in advance. A strike vote comes onto the agenda at the written request, within six business days, of at least one quarter of the workers employed on the date of announcement. Voting and objection records are examined separately according to the enterprise or group structure.

A lockout is the employer side’s counter-instrument within the statutory collective labor dispute system. Removing workers collectively from work may produce different legal consequences if the statutory conditions of a lockout do not exist.

• Reviewing the lockout decision with regard to the competent organ and time
• The lockout calendar linked to the strike decision
• Announcement, notification and implementation procedures
• Distinction between lawful and unlawful lockouts
• Employment contracts and workplace security during a lockout
• Employees to be kept outside the scope of the lockout
• Return-to-work and compensation claims that may arise from an unlawful lockout
• End of the lockout and continuation of collective bargaining

Work for which strikes and lockouts are prohibited by law, temporary bans, postponement decisions and emergency situations may alter the route of collective bargaining.

• Assessing the strike and lockout ban with respect to the work or workplace
• Scope, term and judicial review of a postponement decision
• Negotiations during the postponement period
• Conditions and time limits for applying to the High Arbitration Board
• The legal and financial proposal file to be submitted to the Board
• The nature of a High Arbitration Board decision as a collective labor agreement
• Constitutional Court and international standards of trade union freedom

The postponement period under Law No. 6356 Art. 63 is sixty days. For the end of the period without agreement, a dispute within the ban, or the result of a strike vote, the six-business-day application under Art. 51 is assessed separately with regard to the triggering event and the applying party. High Arbitration Board decisions are final and have the effect of a collective labor agreement. Concluding a private arbitration agreement may produce different consequences under Art. 52.

Protection of union activity does not mean unlimited freedom of movement at the workplace, just as the employer’s management prerogative cannot be exercised so as to render union activity ineffective.

• Activities of recruiting members, meetings, announcements and information
• The employer’s powers concerning workplace security, production and work order
• Union room, notice board and representative access
• Communication with employees and personal data limits
• Legal nature of work stoppages, slowdowns, protests and press statements
• Proportionality in disciplinary sanctions and dismissal
• Interference with union activity by a public authority or the employer
• Effective remedies and compensation for violations of the right to organize

Unlike workers’ unions, public servants’ unions operate within the framework of Law No. 4688 on Public Servants’ Trade Unions and Collective Agreements. The service branch, membership, authority and collective agreement system should not be confused with the provisions of Law No. 6356.

• Formation of public servants’ unions and confederations
• Service branch and membership disputes
• Assessing restrictions on a public servant’s union membership
• Comparing institutional and union membership records
• Member-count determinations and authorized union processes
• Institutional administrative boards and collective agreement negotiations
• Public Servants Arbitration Board processes
• Safeguards of union representatives, officers and members
• Appointment, place of duty, discipline or other administrative acts because of union activity
• Assessing the annulment action, full remedy action and individual application routes

Working as a worker in a public institution does not by itself bring a person within Law No. 4688. The collective labor agreement of public-sector workers and the collective agreement of public servants are separate systems. A social balance agreement (sosyal denge sözleşmesi) in local administrations is also specially regulated in Law No. 4688 Art. 32; the Public Servants Arbitration Board cannot be applied to for this agreement. The amount, authority and financial conditions are examined according to the current regulation.

Information about union membership is special-category personal data. Member lists, dues, disciplinary, health, legal aid and communication records require a high level of protection.

• Membership and dues data inventory
• Conditions for processing special-category personal data
• Data sharing with the Ministry, employers, banks and service providers
• Member communication, bulk e-mail and messaging systems
• Data minimization in delegate and election lists
• Legal aid files and professional confidentiality
• Transfer of data to a foreign union or cloud service
• Unauthorized access, e-Devlet transactions and data breaches
• Retention, destruction, access authority and incident response plan

The processing conditions of Law No. 6698 Art. 6, as amended in 2024, are taken into account: explicit consent is not the only basis for every transaction; statutory obligation, protection of a right and conditions specific to trade union organizations are examined separately. The existence of one of these bases does not permit opening the membership list to everyone. The conditions of Art. 9 are also assessed for transfer abroad to a cloud service or a union.

For personnel the union employs in its capacity as employer, labor, social security, personal data and occupational health and safety obligations continue.

• Employment contracts of union employees
• Provisions on job description, pay, premiums, confidentiality and intellectual property rights
• Separating employees’ union or political activities from their institutional duty
• Dismissal, reinstatement and employee claims
• SGK, payroll and working-time compliance
• Occupational health and safety obligations
• Contracts with volunteers, consultants and external service providers
• Processes for handing over archives, accounts, documents and personal data

In relations with international federations or confederations, multinational enterprises, cross-border supply chains and global framework agreements, relevant international standards and a foreign-law dimension may arise in addition to Turkish law.

• International union membership and cooperation agreements
• Global framework agreements and codes of conduct
• Information and consultation processes at multinational employers
• ILO Conventions No. 87 and No. 98 and the principles of organizing and collective bargaining
• Freedom of association under the European Convention on Human Rights
• International union funds and data transfer
• Contracts and correspondence in a foreign language
• Coordination with authorized legal practitioners in the relevant country when a foreign-law opinion is needed

• Disputes over suspension of the activity of a union or confederation and over its termination
• Annulment of general assembly, delegate election and organ decisions
• Expulsion from membership and membership determination actions
• Actions objecting to the industry determination
• Actions objecting to a positive or negative authority determination
• Actions on interpretation and application of the collective labor agreement
• Dues and solidarity dues claims
• Actions on dismissal on trade union grounds, reinstatement and union-related compensation
• Actions arising from the safeguards of representatives and officers
• Determination and consequences of an unlawful strike or lockout
• Administrative fines and applications against Ministry acts
• Conditions for individual application to the Constitutional Court and international application routes

A union’s filing an action on behalf of a member does not automatically give unlimited litigation authority in every dispute. Under Law No. 6356 Art. 26, a written application, the scope of representation and, if membership has ended, written approval are assessed. In addition to Art. 79 on the jurisdiction of the labor court, it is separately checked whether the act concerns an administrative sanction or a public servant.

• Updating bylaws, regulations and internal policies
• Legal secretariat for the general assembly and executive board
• Collective bargaining calendar and time-limit monitoring system
• Collective labor agreement article bank and financial–legal impact matrix
• Membership, dues and data protection procedures
• Training for union officers and representatives
• Training on the right to organize for human resources and employer managers
• Periodic reporting of changes in legislation and case law
• Pre-dispute risk and document review