Jotun Powder Coatings in Turkey has begun to re-employ workers previously terminated because of the illegal strike and conflict. Workers caught up in the illegal strike have asked for re-employment and have been taken back under the same conditions as established before the strike, according to the company.

Jotun Powder Coatings has also stated that all employees have full freedom to be members of a union in line with Jotun’s general policy.

Jotun Powder Coatings in Turkey will continue with this policy of re-employment of terminated workers. However the offer of re-employment is not extended to include those workers that are publicly charged for criminal acts against Jotun Powder Coatings during the illegal strike. The acts included sabotage to the factory.

Towards the end of 2004, the production unit was reorganized and the management introduced a new level of administration in the factory. Three supervisors were engaged to handle a significant increase in the production to meet the demands of the markets. The local union at the factory protested against the appointment of the supervisors, even if such a decision belongs to the management. These protests ended up in an illegal strike and the 44 union members were terminated.

Lastly, Jotun said it has been accused of union-busting, but such allegations are not valid. The company is supporting full freedom of labor organization in all countries where labor unions are legal.