ABSTRACT

Trade unions compete with employers for the interests of the members they represent, as well as with each other to protect or expand their membership shares. Trade union competition is seen in different forms at the national and international level. Trade unions, which are in competition with each other at the national level, can also show their struggles at the international level. In this study, the international competition of trade unions operating in the transportation, maritime transportation and warehousing sectors in Turkey were discussed. Qualitative method was used in the research. This study, which covers the unions operating in these sectors, is based on in-depth interviews within the framework of the field research conducted in 2019. Trade unions operating in the transportation sector in Turkey, under the umbrella of the International Transport Workers’ Federation ITF , compete intensely on ideological and socioeconomic grounds. The most frequent form of international trade union competition is seen as the behaviour of preventing other unions in the sector from applying for membership to the ITF. Other forms of competition are strategies to gain competitive advantage and policies to prevent rival unions from benefiting from the activities of international organizations and to cause their exclusion. On the other hand, there may be discourses about national representation under the umbrella of the international organization