Two important processes that took place at the global level have yielded contradictory and unintended consequences in Turkey for the development of labor rights in the post-1980 period. On the one hand, neoliberal policies aimed at implementing a business friendly agenda which prioritized economic freedoms, such as property rights and mobility, over labor rights; and flexible labor (temporary or subcontracted work, often with no benefits or welfare safety nets) over labor security (including workplace safety, job security and social security). On the other hand, courts started taking a more proactive role in settling important policy decisions, specifically those regarding individual rights, and taking up an increasing role in law making as well. Specifically at a time when states relinquish their duty to protect labor rights, and labor movements give up on their socialistic ideals, the new position of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) raises interesting questions about addressing labor rights as human rights in Turkey. What is the role of judicial activism and human rights framework in addressing precarious labor conditions and in mobilizing activism around labor issues in Turkey during the post-1980 era? This research aims to explore the complex ways in which law— including but not limited to changing rights discourses, as well as organizational opportunities and institutional resources for social movements—can be mobilized for social change by analyzing the legal mobilization of labor activists from Turkey at the ECtHR. My analysis will be twofold: from above and from below. First, I will conceptualize the ECtHR’s approach to labor rights by specifically by analyzing the case law on labor. Second, I will analyze the local dynamics of legal mobilization in Turkey. The results of this research will contribute to understanding the precarious labor conditions in Turkey as well as the new opportunities and constraints for claiming labor rights as human rights.