A large number of journalists working for the Doğan Media Group, which was sold to a government-friendly businessman two weeks ago, have signed up to become members of the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS), the independent daily Evrensel reported on 3 April.
According to Evrensel and other reports, the employees, who are now worried that they might lose their jobs without being paid severance pay or other legal compensation, have started joining the union through the Turkish online government services network e-Devlet, or e-Government.
According to the reports, the highest number of applications came from the Doğan News Agency, Hürriyet, Posta and Fanatik daily newspapers.
The TGS, which was established in 1952, was organized at Hürriyet until 1994 and was involved in 12 collective bargaining talks until that time. The TGS lost its hold on the newspaper after union membership was discouraged by a combination of the newspaper's own approach after its sale to Aydın Doğan and state policies.
