At Perfetti van Melle (PvM) Türkiye, local management has threatened, intimidated, and harassed union members – actions which began after IUF-affiliate Tekgıda-İş successfully organized workers across the Mentos and Chupa Chups confectionery maker’s two factory sites in Türkiye. After more than 80 days of protest by workers and their union, local management’s tactics continue; the IUF together with EFFAT-IUF Europe, are calling on PvM corporate management to take action to ensure that the ongoing rights abuses at PvM Türkiye are brought to an end.
On December 26, 2023, Türkiye’s Ministry of Labour confirmed that Tekgıda-İş represented over 40 percent of workers as required by Turkish law. But instead of entering good faith collective bargaining negotiations with Tekgıda-İş, PvM Türkiye opted to appeal the Union’s bargaining unit status on January 5, 2024.
After appealing the union’s collective bargaining certification, local PvM management:
- Forced some eighty union members across the two factories to take one week’s paid leave starting the first week of January 2024. When one week of compulsory leave was not enough to intimidate workers, management opted to impose the same leave for a second week on a total of 120 union members. By the third week of January 2024, there were 240 workers on compulsory leave
- On February 6, 2024, dismissed without compensation one of several shop stewards appointed by Tekgıda-İş at PvM Türkiye’s two factories, has threatened other workers with dismissal and closure of the factories, and has called workers into rooms one-by-one to ask about their union membership by checking their online membership status
Despite workers’ complaints to senior management in Türkiye about the anti-union threats, intimidation, and harassment by local management, little remedial action has been taken to date by PvM senior management. This is despite PvM’s public statements that it respects and supports internationally recognized human rights standards.
IUF General Secretary Sue Longley states, “There is nothing that would keep PvM from doing the right thing. PvM Türkiye must cease and desist from its anti-union actions, withdraw its appeal of Tekgıda-İş’ collective bargaining certification, and enter good faith collective bargaining negotiations with Tekgıda-İş. This would send a clear signal that the company respects trade union rights.”
