KESK Co-president, Ayfer Kocak, and International Relations Coordinator, Dr. Osman Isci, attended the UNISON Annual Delegate Conference in Liverpool.
Kocak addressed the UNISON delegates at two events during the Conference. The first event was the international rally that Kocak covered the current situation about the trade union and labour rights in Türkiye. In addition to Kocak, there were speakers from Colombia, Kenya, and the Philippines. The UNISON General Secretary, Christina McAnea attended the international rally, too. The second event was a panel on the quality public services.
Following the UNISON Conference, Kocak and Isci went to Madrid to attend the CCOO Congress. There were dozens trade union leaders from different parts of the world. Kocak and Isci attended the international event on the ILO Convention No. 87. Kocak updated the delegates about the problems resulted from the ban on the right to strike for public employees in Türkiye. She had bilateral meetings with trade union leaders including the ETUC General Secretary, Esther Lynch.
Kocak raised the following issues in the UNISON and CCOO events:
a) current situation about trade union rights in Türkiye,
b) KESK’s action plans regarding the upcoming CBA negotiations to be held in August 2025,
c) violence against women, femicide cases, harassment at workplaces etc,
d) peace talks within the framework of the Kurdish issue,
e) dismissed KESK members and emergency decree laws (KHK) related problems.
KESK would like to thank UNISON and CCOO for their warm hospitality. As an internationalist confederation, KESK strongly believes in international solidarity.
