Our History

Kültür Emek-Sen — Cultural Workers' Union, founded on 2 January 2019

Born as an independent trade union movement — unaffiliated with any confederation — to fight for, protect, and advance the economic, democratic, social, political, cultural, professional, and personal legal rights of all workers in every sphere of life.

We Embrace Every Colour of Culture: Who Are We, Together?

We embrace everyone who labors in the culture sector, without any distinction, and invite them into this great family. Today, the vast majority of our members are the unseen heroes who keep alive the vast stages where culture and art come to life: technical staff at state theatres, opera and ballet, symphony orchestras, and choirs... those who light the stage, mix the sound, build the sets, sew the costumes, and create that magical atmosphere for us from behind the curtain...

We invite librarians, museum staff, restorers, conservators, archaeologists, and colleagues at every level within the Ministry of Culture and Tourism who serve a society's memory and future into solidarity — shoulder to shoulder, under the same roof as the artists shining on those stages. Because we are each a link in that precious chain that protects a society's memory and carries its cultural heritage into tomorrow.

Our Shared Values and Principles

• —We act with a fully independent and democratic approach that amplifies the voice of culture workers.
• —We embrace a determined, legitimate, and unifying approach to the struggle for workers' rights and dignity.
• —We are stronger together — as of June 2026, we are part of the Birleşik Kamu-İş Confederation family.
• —We draw our representative power from the will of our members, taking a seat at the collective bargaining table by obtaining authority in our sector.
• —We believe in the direct will of the member, not a delegate system, when it comes to having a say in our union's governance. Every member's right to vote, stand for election, and speak is guaranteed by our statute.
• —We see our differences as our richness. We stand against every form of othering and division with love, respect, and inclusiveness.
• —We don't let go of any issue involving personal, financial, democratic, or social rights — we stay with you until it's resolved.
• —We consider it our duty to address legal, institutional, and merit-based matters through direct, face-to-face communication with our members.
• —We work shoulder to shoulder for a secular, democratic, social, contemporary Turkey grounded in the rule of law.

A Growing Family, A Stronger Voice

On this journey we began in 2019 with just over a hundred members, we gained real momentum together, especially from 2022 onward. Today our membership has grown four and a half times since our founding year, passing 500. This growth is more than a number — it is the clearest, most beautiful proof of the need for fully independent, inclusive, democratic unionism in the culture sector, and of the trust we've built in one another.