Important Announcement Regarding Bank Promotion Tenders

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ON BANK PROMOTION TENDERS

To all our artists serving in the State Symphony Orchestras, State Choirs and other art institutions under the General Directorate of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Artists working in public institutions have the right to expect that, in the salary-promotion tenders conducted when salaries are paid through banks, the financial value generated in the employees' name is distributed fairly. To place this process on a legal footing, Prime Ministry Circular No. 2007/21, published on 20 July 2007 in Official Gazette No. 26588, is in force. Under this circular, a three-member committee is formed for the salary-payment protocols to be concluded between public institutions and banks, and where at least ten percent of an institution's employees are union members, a representative of the authorised union must sit on this committee. This arrangement rests not merely on the existence of a union, but on the direct protection of employees' rights.

This circular was updated by Prime Ministry Circular No. 2008/18, which stipulated that promotion payments be transferred to staff equally and directly into their bank accounts. Subsequently, Circular No. 2010/17 introduced the rule that the entire promotion amount be paid to staff, prohibiting any deduction or share set aside for the institution. Employees thus acquired a direct right to the entirety of bank promotions.

Alongside these circulars, Article 19 of Law No. 4688 on Public Servants' Trade Unions and Collective Agreement clearly defines the authorised unions' power to represent their members in financial and social rights. Law No. 657 on Civil Servants likewise guarantees public servants' rights to participate in union activity and to be represented.

Within this legal framework, the union's presence is not merely representation; it is also a legal instrument of oversight over the artist's personnel rights. The union representative on the committee ensures that all offers are evaluated according to the principles of equality and fairness, follows the process on behalf of the institution's artists, and guarantees transparency. Tender processes conducted without a union representative are contrary to the legislation and constitute grounds for legal annulment. Indeed, in past years this issue has been taken to court in various institutions, and rulings have held promotion agreements concluded without the union to be unlawful.

The artists serving in our art institutions are concerned not only with artistic production but also with the protection of their professional rights. Salary-promotion agreements are a process that directly affects employees' material welfare; the presence of union representatives on these committees is therefore both a legal requirement and a guarantee of employees' common interests. In every case where a union representative is absent from a promotion tender, employees and unions have the right to pursue legal remedies against this deficiency.

As the Culture Workers' Union, we wish to state that the most important purpose for which unions are founded is to protect their members' interests. We advise all our members serving in our art institutions to be attentive to their interests and to the legal requirements in this matter, and to request from their institutions' managements — first orally, and of course in writing if necessary — that a union representative be included in the promotion committees.

Remember: union participation is not a mere formality; it is one of the most important instruments protecting the return on the artist's labour. This right is legally guaranteed by the laws of the Republic of Turkey and Prime Ministry Circular No. 2007/21, and its application is mandatory in all art institutions.

Respectfully announced.