The strike at Novamed was mainly organised and led by women and let to the solidarity actions for the women in different cities such as primarily in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir at the first anniversary of the strike. The foundation of platforms such as the Women's Platform of Solidarity with the Novamed Strike and the realisation of solidarity actions for the women leading the Novamed strike encouraged the workers as well as presented good examples for class solidarity.

01 January 2008 / International Bulletin / Issue 65

Attacks on the working class such as hindering the workers to organise themselves as well as usurping their rights as part of the neo-liberal attacks were answered by different workers` resistances at different sectors. The Telekom and Novamed strikes are two examples for this kind of resistances which give the working class hope, courage and determination.

Telekom strike continued for 44 days

hen no agreement was reached in the negotiations on a collective agreement between the trade union Haber-Is and the company Turkish Telekom; 23,400 workers made use of the means strike. The strike that was started in mid October was continued with the workers` determined stance against the efforts of the union's leadership being influenced by the chauvinist wave spread in Turkey to weaken the strike. The Telekom workers that had started a strike for the first time after 45 years led a great resistance despite the rumor that the strike "will finish within five days", the boss sabotaging, bribing and making outsourced workers working; the anti-propaganda by the bourgeois media; the effort of the police and governor to break the struggle, and facing arrest and detention terror.
The Telekom strike had an impact on all people, from the labourer officials to the student youth, from the workers organised in other sectors to the revolutionaries. The strike that had lasted for 44 days was finished with an agreement on November 29, 2007 that is considered as a victory. According to the agreement reached, wages will be increased and social rights improved. The real victory, however, was that the strike had been a school for the workers. When the workers fought together for their rights, they realised different organisations of the state such as the governor, police and media appearing in front of them what made the workers know the class enemy much better.

Women workers achieved victory in Novamed strike after 447 days

ree Production Zones, that have finally been introduced in Turkey such as it happened in other countries, are these regions where there are no more obstacles for capital and exploitation reaches its peak. When the boss of Novamed Drugs Factory, which is located at Ankara Free Production Zone, had refused to sit down with the union for negotiating on a collective agreement, the workers had started a strike in September 2006. 83 workers, among them 80 women workers, organised at Petrol-Is trade union determinedly led a resistance for 447 days with an example for women solidarity, too.
The strike at Novamed was mainly organised and led by women and let to the solidarity actions for the women in different cities such as primarily in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir at the first anniversary of the strike. The foundation of platforms such as the Women's Platform of Solidarity with the Novamed Strike and the realisation of solidarity actions for the women leading the Novamed strike encouraged the workers as well as presented good examples for class solidarity.
The strike that finished with an agreement reached on December 17, has been an achievement of the women against the ruling patriarchal system and capitalism and showed them the way to be followed.

We as Marxists Leninists Communists tried to organise a solidarity movement for the strike by different groups of the society to ensure the determined continuation of both strikes and achieve victories. Besides our propaganda and agitation, we also organised actions to fight back against the attacks of the boss-state-media collaboration on the strike and to increase the struggle of the workers.