Swatch Workers in Turkey Launch Strike Over Pay, Work Conditions
(Bloomberg) — Swatch Group AG store workers across Turkish shopping malls are on strike seeking better pay and improved conditions. The company said their demands were “unrealistic.”
About 100 workers have been participating in the strike in 15 stores and the company’s Turkish headquarters since Nov. 10, Koop-Is labor union chief Eyup Alemdar told Bloomberg on Monday. The union is seeking a wage increase of around 30%, the introduction of bonus payments and better conditions including shorter weekly hours, Alemdar said.
Consumer prices in Turkey rose 33% as of October, down from as high as 85.5% in 2022.
“The union’s demands are unrealistically high and totally exaggerated,” a Swatch Group spokesperson said in an email. According to Alemdar, the union leader, Swatch is offering wage increases of less than 20% while rejecting other demands.
“We work really hard, sometimes 12 hours a day,” said Sinem Yapicilar, a store worker in Istanbul. “We want to work under better conditions and get a proper wage.”
Currently, wages are “slightly higher than the minimum wage” of 22,104 liras ($522) a month, she said. Onur Cakan, another worker, complained that he can only be at home at 11:30 p.m. after closing the store at 10 p.m.
–With assistance from Allegra Catelli.
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
