n An unexpected wave of strikes occurred in the main industrial centres of the Turkish automotive industry. Over 20.000 metal workers at Renault, Fiat, Ford, Türk Traktor and some supplier companies laid down work in anger over the recent round of collective bargaining in the industry. n Very unusually, workers did not protest against their companies, but against the dominating trade union in the au- tomotive sector, Türk Metal, and the Metal Employers’ Association MESS. The main criticism is that workers do not see their interests represented by Türk Metal, but instead accuse the union of being allied rather to MESS. n The protests might mark the end of the 35-year-old labour relations model in the automotive industry. In fact, the direct negotiations between workers’ representatives and company representatives already undermined the power- ful positions of Türk Metal and MESS as the dominant actors in the sector. UNEXPECTED WAVE OF STRIKES IN TURKISH AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY EMRE EREN KORKMAZ June 2015