Istanbul electricity workers’ struggle at the crossroads
After 2,000 workers at Boğaziçi Elektrik Dağıtım AŞ (Bedaş), a company distributing electricity to the European side of Istanbul, went on a wildcat strike in defiance of an official ban on strike activity in the electricity sector last Friday, several procapitalist forces are trying to drown their struggle in the dead end of trade unionism.
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World Socialist Web Site explained that the only way forward is building an independent, rank-and-file committee as part of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees and called on workers to “reject union calls to end the strike and wait until Thursday.” As the WSWS had previously warned, the Tes-İş union, affiliated to Türk-İş, completely ended the wildcat strike struggle and work-to-rule action, ordering a return to work in a statement released on Wednesday.