Closing Event of the Project on Achieving Work-Life Balance of Health and Social Service Workers held

Closing Event of the Project on Raising Awareness of Health and Social Service Workers on Achieving Work-Life Balance and Creating Policy Recommendations for the Protection of Worker Rights in Achieving Work-Life Balance was held on March 30, 2026 in Ankara, capital city of Türkiye.

Closing programme of the said project which was funded by the European Union and managed by the the International Labour Organisation (ILO) was held at the meeting hall placed at the Öz Sağlık-İş Trade Union head office by participation of Mr. Devlet Sert, President of our union of ÖZ SAĞLIK-İŞ and Vice-President of the HAK-İŞ Trade Union Confederation that is beneficiary and conductor of the project, Mr. Yasser Ahmed Hassan, Director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Türkiye Office, Mr. Mahmut Arslan, President of HAK-İŞ Trade Union Confederation and Prof. Dr. Vedat IŞIKHAN, the Turkish Labour and Social Security Minister, plus our executive board members who are Mr. İsmail Öztürk, Mr. Adv. Muhammet Esat Eyvaz, Mr. Emre Kocaman, Mr. Fehmi Azboy, Mr. Fadlı Erdem who is General Secretary and Mr. Yavuz Aksanoğlu who is Deputy General Secretary and the Project Coordinator of our union together with around 200 participants from various ministries, universities, trade unions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and our union members that are health and social services workers.

The program began with a moment of silence (salutation) and the singing of the Turkish National Anthem in memory of our revered martyrs. Then, Mr. Devlet Sert, President of the ÖZ SAĞLIK-İŞ Trade Union and Vice-President of the HAK-İŞ Trade Union Confederation addressed the audience in the opening and protocol speeches session of the programme by underlining that the health and social services sector is an extremely vital field that is in direct contact with the most vulnerable, most defenseless, and most attentive segments of society. The health and social services sector is not just a service sector; it is also a battleground where stories of heroism of labour and affectionate by being present at the most critical moments of life and directly touching human lives.

Mr. Sert emphasized that the health and social services sector not only fulfilled a profession but also demonstrated the strongest example of social solidarity that sustained the society. The sustainability of those efforts was of vital importance both for our citizens’ access to quality public services and for the protection of the rights of our employees (members) who worked tirelessly day and night.

Mr. Sert stated that, as the Öz Sağlık-İş Trade Union, in addition to the struggle for labour and union rights that we proudly carried out, our labour organisation aimed to contribute to working life with projects that addressed the problems of health and social services workers. In this context, we were very pleased to add a new project in our knowledge, accumulation and experience, that was funded by the European Union and managed with the ILO (and implemented by our union). In 2025, Our union also successfully implemented another grant project whose title was Project on Combating Work Life-Centered Risks by Improving the Safety Culture of the Health and Social Services Sector Workers in close cooperation and coordination with the Turkish Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

Mr. Sert conclued his speech by expressing that a significant step as well as an important process has been completed successfully, that was to aim at improving the quality of life for healthcare and social service workers: “This activity we have undertaken was shaped by real data obtained from the field, and was the product of a concrete effort that centered on the needs of our employees by focusing on producing realistic solutions. As ÖZ SAĞLIK-İŞ Union, we believed that the policy recommendations developed within the scope of this project would contribute to building a more just, balanced, and sustainable structure in the working life. As the Öz Sağlık-İş Union, we were determined to keep on our path with compromising our understanding of protecting the value of labour, improving the rights of employees, and advocating for such a working life worthy of human dignity.”

MR. ARSLAN EXTENDED HIS THANKS TO OUR UNION AND OUR PRESIDENT

Mr. Mahmut Arslan, President of the HAK-İŞ Trade Union Confederation, extended his thanks to our union of ÖZ SAĞLIK-İŞ and its President Mr. Devlet Sert by congratulatin both our union and our President Mr. Devlet Sert by underlining that “The successful completion of an important project and the announcement of a new beginning with this closing meeting is extremely valuable, precious, and important to us. I would like to thank our esteemed ILO Türkiye Office Director who is Mr. Yasser Ahmed Hassan, for his unwavering support in the realisation of this project and to the European Union for the financial support.”

MR. ARSLAN: WORK-FAMILY LIFE BALANCE IS VITAL FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICE WORKERS

Mr. Arslan stated that we want our country to benefit from the International Labour Organization’s long-standing knowledge and experience, particularly in its conventions and recommendations. The ILO’s solutions, its work, goals, and discussions regarding Türkiye are different from the solutions presented.”

He noted that workers in the health and social services sector worked under difficult and stressful conditions and (he) emphasized the need to strengthen work-family-life balance. By highlighting the importance of childcare and nursery services in this sector where women were predominantly employed, Mr. Arslan added that policies that fortified work-family-life balance were needed so that our female employees could continue to produce without leaving the workforce/employment. That is why childcare and nursery services were the most important aspects of this process.”

MR. HASSAN, ILO TÜRKİYE OFFICE DIRECTOR: ÖZ SAĞLIK-İŞ UNION IS AN IMPORTANT COLLABORATOR FOR THE ILO WITH ITS STRONG INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE

Mr. Yasser Ahmed Hassan who is the ILO Türkiye Office Director expressed his satisfaction, in his welcoming speech at the project closing programme, with the successful completion of the said project which was implemented in 3 provinces from 3 different geophraphical regions of Türkiye by the Öz Sağlık-İş Union under the ILO grant support program which was funded by the European Union.

Mr. Yasser Ahmed Hassan, the ILO Türkiye Office Director, stated that the Öz Sağlık-İş Union, with its strong institutional structure, presented an important collaboration opportunity for the ILO by underlining that health and social service workers definitely needed to have their own health and safety protected while they were continuing their duties to ensure everyone’s access to health and caring rights.

By drawing attention to the fact that night work and emotionally demanding jobs in sectors such as health and social services could create serious challenges in achieving work-life balance, Mr. Hassan said that the sustainability of health and social services depended on the well-being and peace of mind of these workers.

MR. IŞIKHAN, TURKISH LABOUR AND SOCIAL SECURITY MINISTER THANKED THE ÖZ SAĞLIK-İŞ UNION FOR ITS EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN THE ORGANISED POWER OF THE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICE WORKERS AND ITS SUPPORTS THE GROWTH OF HAK-İŞ CONFEDERATION.”

Prof. Dr. Vedat Işıkhan, Turkish Minister of Labour and Social Security, stated that as an academician, he personally attached great importance to this project, expressing in his speech at the closing meeting of our EU-funded and ILO-managed grant project:

“I thank the Öz Sağlık-İş Union and the International Labour Organization for their efforts in the preparation and implementation of the project. The Öz Sağlık-İş Union is one of the most important stakeholders due to its unwavering efforts to convey the academic work of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to the field. The successful work and study of the Öz Sağlık-İş Union in this area is commendable. Therefore, I extend my special thanks to the Öz Sağlık-İş Union and its President Mr. Devlet Sert, that have not only increased the organised labour power of health and social service workers, but also contributed to the growth of HAK-İŞ Trade Union Confederation.”

Mr. Işıkhan stated that he believed the EU-funded and ILO-supported project would raise significant awareness among workers in the health and social services sector, institutions operating in this sector, and all members of the workforce in general by adding, “This project has also brought a very productive process to working life in terms of creating new trade union strategies, developing new policies when needed, strengthening social dialogue, and identifying and proposing solutions to problems related to work-life balance.”

EVALUATION SESSION OF THE PROJECT UNDER THE MODERATION OF MR. DEVLET SERT

In the second session of the project closing event, outputs and outcomes (results) of the project was evaluated in various perceptives by 3 academicians, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Merve Özaydın that is also chair of the ÖZ-SAM (the Öz Sağlık-İş Trade Union Strategic Research Centre), Opr. Dr. Orhan Koç and Assoc. Professor Mr. Ömer Can Çevik, who were trainers of the project training programme. Mr. Devlet Sert, Vice President of the HAK-İŞ Confederation and President of our union of ÖZ SAĞLIK-İŞ moderated the discussions during this evaluation session.

Closing Event of the Project on Raising Awareness of Health and Social Service Workers on Achieving Work-Life Balance and Creating Policy Recommendations for the Protection of Worker Rights in Achieving Work-Life Balance was concluded by taking family photos at March 30, 2026 at 05:00 PM in Ankara, capital city of Türkiye.

Brief information about the project:

Title: Project on Raising Awareness of Health and Social Service Workers on Achieving Work-Life Balance and Creating Policy Recommendations for the Protection of Worker Rights in Achieving Work-Life Balance

Dates of the Project Acceptance and Kick-Off: 01 April 2025 – 31 March 2026

Implementation Period: 12 Months, 01 March 2025-31 March 2026

Location: 3 provinces of Türkiye: Muğla, Balıkesir and Batman.

Grant source: European Union

Contracting Authority: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Türkiye Office

The Applicant and the Beneficiary: Öz Sağlık-İş Trade Union

Target group and direct beneficiaries: Health and social services workers from Türkiye.