Transport Workers Union of America's President James C. Little sent a letter today to UPS CEO Scott Davies condemning their companies abuses against workers in Turkey. Over 150 UPS workers who have engaged in organizing a union have been fired and many others have faced intimidation and threats. See President Little's letter below:

Dear Mr. Davies:

I am writing to you to express my grave concern over the serious violations of trade union rights at UPS in Turkey.

I have reason to believe that more than 150 workers who work for UPS and its sub-contractors in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir have been dismissed in the recent months because they support the union, TÜMTIS. Other workers are constantly harassed by the management not to join the union. There was a shooting incident in Izmir involving a senior manager of the company's sub-contractor.

These recent events violate the fundamental workers' rights as enshrined in the Core Conventions of the International Labour Organization. It also goes without saying that accession to the European Union will require some fundamental changes to the current climate of industrial relations in Turkey like the one we witness at your company. Actions taken by the UPS Turkish management and its subcontractors are damaging the reputation of your company which enshrines in its Code of Conduct the promotion of a sound relationship between trade unions and the management. We find it very inappropriate that UPS is one of the official sponsors to the 2012 London Olympic Games under the current circumstances.

I urge your immediate intervention to resolve this situation so that (1) all the sacked workers are reinstated unconditionally; (2) steps are taken to ensure that no further victimisation takes place at UPS and its subsidiaries and (3) the local management enters into formal dialogue with TÜMTIS to establish a sound industrial relationship.

Both TÜMTIS and my union are members of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) that represents 4.5 million transport workers worldwide. We fully support the Day of Action that the ITF has called on 1 September 2010 in solidarity with the Turkish UPS workers. We are hoping that you will be able to resolve this dispute most urgently.

Sincerely,

James C. Little
International President

You can download a .pdf of this letter here