Employment and Unionisa0on in Municipali0es

Employment in municipalities in Turkey has transformed within the process of the marketisation, subcontracting and precarisation of public services, alongside the neoliberal policies implemented after 1980. Although municipality employees are officially classified into statuses such as civil servant, worker, contract and temporary staff, in practice the most common form of employment is that of worker. This situation is not solely a technical choice but also the outcome of a class antagonistic orientation. The fragmentation of the labour process, the flexibilization of employment, and the dismantling of job security constitute the local-scale projection of capitalist restructuring.

In Turkey, workers employed at the local governments are subject to the Labour Law No. 4857. In contrast, civil servants working in municipalities fall under the scope of the Civil Servants Law No. 657. This creates a division in provision of public services, leading to significant rights-based inequalities between workers doing the same job but with different statuses. The shortage of civil servants in municipalities and the restriction of permanent staffing of them for political reasons has resulted in even essential and regular tasks being assigned to workers.

The lack of job security, low wages, and arduous and irregular working conditions have become structural problems for workers in the municipalities. Workers engaged in physically demanding labour are deprived of adequate occupational health and safety measures, and work-related accidents and occupational diseases have become a common occurrence. Furthermore, repression on unionisation makes it difficult for workers in the municipalities to defend their collective rights.

In addition, the use of personnel recruitment in the municipalities as a political tool has led to the shaping of perceived public services not based on subjective requirements but rather on politicised staffing, favouritism towards supporters, and election-focused populist agendas. Hiring and the promotion of employees based on political preferences disregards competency, and antidemocratic practices such as the appointment of trustees in municipalities jeopardise not only the will of the local community but also the future of workers.