Negotiations with THY’s main aviation workers union collapsed yesterday with the head of the Turkish Civilian Aviation Union, or Hava-Is, stating that the strike against Turkish Airlines would go into effect at 3 a.m. local time today. "All of Turkish Airlines' functions will stop, no passenger flights, no cargo services, no connecting flights," Hava-Is president Atilay Aycin said in a phone interview with CNN. "All sectors starting with the tourism industry who are doing business with Turkish Airlines will be affected," Aycin added. Hava-Is says it represents 14,000 Turkish airlines workers.
THY has urged its employees to disregard the proposed strike and come to work as usual. Hava-Is needs to be faced down and beaten if THY is to keep its global growth from stalling. The management need to take a leave out of the Willie Walsh school of management on this one and dig in for a fight.
Turkish Airlines remains 49% government-owned and as such management at the airline must be very hard on the unions as failure to do so might let the proverbial political beast’s foot in the door on the side of the unions to wreck all the good work to date. Also watch closely for a possible culture war over this issue between Turkey's ruling pious Muslim elite and more secular segments of Turkish society if political involvement becomes a reality which is what Hava-Is is trying to instigate.
THY strike threat still alive
