HepsiJet, a delivery company operating under Hepsiburada, one of Turkey’s largest e-commerce brands, has come under fire for imposing slave-like working conditions and humiliating practices on its employees. In a depot where even washing water is withheld, 28 workers subcontracted to TWR terminated their contracts for just cause in response to these violations and launched a strike under the leadership of the Bread and Dignity Workers’ Association. Now on the 16th day of their resistance, the workers spoke to ANF about the exploitative conditions and inhumane practices inside the depot.
Heavy loads forced on workers
Fatih Çörekçi, who has worked for two years in the loading and unloading section of the HepsiJet depot in Esenyurt, said they are forced to carry heavy loads continuously for eight hours a day. Explaining that all incoming goods to the depot pass through their hands, Çörekçi stated: “We especially struggle when loading and unloading white goods. Vehicles are of little help; the entire weight falls on our bodies. We carry the load of two washing machines stacked on top of each other. Because of this, many workers have developed herniated discs.”
The last straw…
Çörekçi said they work in unhygienic conditions, with insects frequently found in their meals and constant water cuts in the depot. However, for him, the last straw was the humiliating behavior of the depot’s management. Describing what happened, he said: “The manager of our depot, Mr. Tolga, was on annual leave, and his deputy, Kazım Semerci, was in charge. Together with two colleagues, I went to his office to request annual leave. When we asked from whom we should request it since Mr. Tolga was absent, Kazım Semerci exposed his genitals and said, ‘You will ask this for it.’ We were stunned. We froze on the spot at this act. After this incident, I lost all desire to request annual leave.”
They are literally treating us like slaves, and we refused to accept it
Çörekçi said they will file a criminal complaint against deputy manager Kazım Semerci for his humiliating act: “They are trying to deprive us of our annual leave through degrading actions. The depot environment is already terrible, you can find everything there. Rats, spider-like tarantulas, cockroaches, grasshoppers, they are everywhere. There is no running water in the toilets. We cannot even wash our hands. Insects and hairs are found in the meals, so I do not eat the food served in the depot. We already earn only a meager salary, and no one can endure such conditions. That is why we exercised our right to terminate our contracts for just cause. They are literally treating us like slaves, and we refused to accept it.”
No meals for those forced into overtime
Welat Çakır, who has worked for three and a half years at the HepsiJet European Transfer Center, said he was subjected to workplace harassment and removed from his position as head of the cargo tracking unit in February after showing solidarity with female workers who had joined the strike. He explained that while the depot generally operates on an eight-hour shift system, workers are arbitrarily forced to work an additional two to three hours when the day’s tasks are not completed. Highlighting that no meals are provided during this compulsory overtime, Çakır said: “On rare occasions they bring pastries or bagels, but most of the time during these overtime hours we are left hungry. After all, some of us are lifting heavy loads, yet they do not provide proper meals, sometimes they just hand out a single pastry.”
Injured workers are neither taken to hospital nor paid their daily wage
Çakır said that occupational health and safety measures are completely disregarded in the depot. When a worker is injured on the job, they are not taken to the hospital, and both their daily wage and monthly bonus are arbitrarily cut. He noted that some employees who have worked there for two years have even been denied their annual leave. Most recently, he added, the water supply was cut off, and workers were forced to eat without washing their hands despite the presence of various foreign substances, including chemicals, in the cargo. Çakır explained that they had reported these problems to the management numerous times, but their concerns were ignored: “On the contrary, we were the ones threatened and subjected to harassment. They also obstruct union activities. Finally, as 28 workers, we rightfully terminated our contracts to protest these slave-like conditions, but the management did not recognize any of the rights violations we experienced as grounds for just cause. Hepsiburada even said, ‘You are not our employees,’ shifting the responsibility to the subcontractor. We have exchanged formal notices with each other, and our resistance will continue until we reclaim our stolen rights.”