Turkish lawmaker urges minister to recognize Independent Mine Workers' Union

Deniz Yavuzyılmaz, a lawmaker for the YENİ Party in Zonguldak, has called on the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Vedat Işıkhan, to acknowledge the growing strength of the Independent Mine Workers' Union (Bağımsız Maden-İş). Yavuzyılmaz announced that the union has successfully surpassed the legal threshold for its industry, reaching 2,369 members as of July 27.

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I am warning Minister Vedat Işıkhan. Bağımsız Maden-İş, growing through the will of the workers, has reached 2,369 members as of July 27 and has surpassed the industry threshold previously announced as 1,965 in January.

"I am warning Minister Vedat Işıkhan," Yavuzyılmaz stated via social media. "Bağımsız Maden-İş, growing through the will of the workers, has reached 2,369 members as of July 27 and has surpassed the industry threshold previously announced as 1,965 in January." The process for the union's application to the ministry was completed by 5 p.m. today, Yavuzyılmaz noted.

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The exclusion of union administrators' memberships, the restriction of workers changing unions to a one-month period, or the arbitrary exclusion of members from calculations is unacceptable.

The union itself issued a statement emphasizing its achievement despite facing pressures. "As of 08:30 on July 27, our union has 2,369 members. The mining industry threshold announced by the Ministry of Labor in January was 1,965," the union posted on social media. "Despite the pressures, we have earned the respect and loyalty of miners nationwide and are fighting against the threats and games of established unions."

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The Ministry must be the guarantor of workers' right to choose and organize, not of employers and the established union order.

Yavuzyılmaz stressed that the ministry's duty is not to erect new barriers for an independent union but to fully register the workers' free will. "The exclusion of union administrators' memberships, the restriction of workers changing unions to a one-month period, or the arbitrary exclusion of members from calculations is unacceptable," she declared. "We will not allow the manipulation of membership records or the re-imposition of the industry threshold through legal or administrative excuses. The Ministry must be the guarantor of workers' right to choose and organize, not of employers and the established union order."

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Despite the pressures, we have earned the respect and loyalty of miners nationwide and are fighting against the threats and games of established unions.