Workers and civil servants across Turkey went on a one-day strike Thursday to support workers of the former state alcohol and tobacco monopoly Tekel who have been protesting for 52 days over their employee rights, Turkish media reported.The strike, which began at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) and will end at 5 p.m. (0300 GMT) Thursday, was supported by Turkey's labor organizations, namely the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions ( Turk-Is), Hak-Is, DISK, Memur-Sen, Turkiye Kamu-Sen and KESK, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.Turk-Is President Mustafa Kumlu said the strike was a serious warning and he hopes the government would take it into consideration, according to the report.Workers from Tekel factories have been staging a sit-down demonstration in the Turkish capital of Ankara in the past few weeks, complaining the privatization would force them to quit their jobs or accept positions in another state institution with lower wages and fewer benefits, local media reported.Tekel was acquired by global cigarette giant British American Tobacco PLC for 1.72 billion U.S. dollars in 2008.Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered his ministers to come up with a solution to the issue, but talks between the government and the Turk-Is, which represented the Tekel employees, on Monday failed to satisfy the workers.During Monday's negotiations, the government offered to extend the rights for vacations and introduce a pay scale based on seniority for the workers, according to the newspaper Hurriyet Daily News.
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