Civil Servants Union referendum on national security law repressed

On 20 June 2020, the Union of New Civil Servants joined 23 other trade unions to organise a referendum to collect opinions from members about the legislation of the national security law (NSL), the freeze on civil service pay, and the new requirement on oath of allegiance for civil servants, and to decide on what further actions to take, including industrial action. Already on 12 June, the government issued a statement condemning “the union for planning to use radical means by staging a political strike” in a bid to intimidate civil servants and prevent them from joining the Union of New Civil Servants and participating in the referendum.