From Trade Unions as Major Labour Organisations to Human Resources Departments: What are the Factors behind this Transition?

Abstract

The aim of this study is to understand the reasons for the changes occurring in labour organisations and workmanship in Turkey through a study based on workers’ experiences. The study is based on field research that was conducted during 2004 and 2005 with workers from the electronics and textile sectors in Ankara, Bursa and Istanbul. These sectors were chosen especially for the fact that they have existed in Turkey since before the 1980s and have had significant impacts on the industrialisation and transformation of the three cities. Forty workers who are either still working or are retired from both large and small scale enterprises were interviewed in-depth. Global and national changes in the labour market and new economic policies after the 1980s have affected workers’ organisational capacity in Turkey. In this study, three important responses are determined as an explanation for these changes: i) growing impotence of trade unions as institutions, ii) emergence of human resource management and departments, and iii) increase of small and informal workplaces which have neither trade unions nor human resources departments. Workers’ experiences and perceptions and the factors behind their views are discussed in the paper.