Selecting social partners: Collective bargaining for gender equality in the shadow of political polarisation and ideology in Turkey

Abstract

Although Turkey's legal arrangements stimulated by the EU harmonisation process has empowered the number of NGOs and trade unions and increased women's representation in decision-making institutions, EU gender equality incentives have been weakened by domestic factors, such as political polarisation between unions and the symbiotic relationship between conservative unions and Turkey's ruling party, JDP. Based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with three confederation chairs and novel data from their public discourses between 2009 and 2020, this chapter examines how political polarisation in Turkey inhibits the representation of women's interests in collective bargaining process. In light of neo-corporatist framework, we argue that although women union leaders are in higher executive positions in left-wing trade unions, and they particularly target gender-related issues, such as quotas, equal pay and parental leave, their ideological stances and legal constraints are the most significant determinants for including them in collective bargaining.