At the Esenyurt warehouse of HepsiJET, a subsidiary of Hepsiburada recently acquired with a 65 percent share by Kazakhstani businessman Mikheil Lomtadze, 28 workers who terminated their contracts in protest of the imposed conditions of exploitation and humiliating practices continue their resistance with determination under the leadership of the Bread and Dignity Association.
On the 21st day of their resistance, on 12 August, the workers raised their voices at the podium of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), where they were received by the headquarters of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and DEM Party Member of Parliament Perihan Koca, before returning to Istanbul.
The women workers, who have been at the forefront of the resistance, spoke to ANF about the conditions in which they worked. The women workers emphasized that they will not give up until they receive their severance rights and said: “No one should wait for their turn. No worker should allow the usurpation of rights or humiliating practices.”
The last thing we found in the meals was a snail!
Tuğba Isteyici, who has been working for four years at the transfer center of the HepsiJet Esenyurt warehouse, said that they have constantly faced problems, whether with food or annual leave. She stated that the meals served in the cafeteria were unhygienic: “There were hairs and dead flies in the food. The last thing we found was a snail, and by then we simply could not stomach it anymore. We work all day carrying heavy packages on the conveyor belt, so we get hungry and are forced to eat. Despite raising this issue with the management many times, nothing changed. They even dismissed it by saying, ‘You can also find hair in meals cooked at your home.’”
In the cold of winter we work wrapped in sacks, in the heat of summer we suffocate
Isteyici described the conveyor belt area as extremely cold in winter and said not even a heater was provided, and they were forced to wrap sacks around their bodies to stay warm. In the summer, she explained, the heat was unbearable, yet no fans were installed: “Only after we started our resistance did they put up fans. Otherwise, during the extreme summer heat we were practically suffocating; it was very difficult to work. And in the Hadımköy warehouse, where we were sent, even the water was cut off. We could not even wash our hands and faces. Yet we constantly carry and load various chemical products such as Domestos and detergents. For five days we were forced to eat without even being able to wash our hands. Normally, I perform prayers, but I had to give that up because there was no water. What else can I say, the sin is on their shoulders. They did not care about our health in any way.”
Instead of being taken to a hospital, I was put on a truck like a refugee and sent to another area
Tuğba Isteyici emphasized that they were not even taken to hospitals after workplace accidents and said: “One day I collapsed while lifting heavy loads. I could no longer breathe. Very heavy materials arrive, and we take them from the conveyor belt and throw them into crates. We have to work very quickly, because if the materials slip from the belt, they come back again. I strained myself so much that I collapsed. Instead of taking me to a hospital, they put me on a truck like a refugee and drove me to another part of the warehouse so that no one would see my condition. There, they just waited for me to recover.”
No annual leave: Even a robot would make errors
Isteyici explained that their leave was arbitrarily denied and said they were only able to use their annual leave after begging and pleading. She said, “We also need to rest; even a robot would give an error,” and continued: “Annual leave is normally our most natural right. But here, even when we want to use this right, we have to think many times over. Because even when we fall ill and get a doctor’s note, they deduct our bonuses. That is why before asking for annual leave, we think about it for a month. I have three children. Because we are in debt, I am forced to work and cannot spend any time with them.
Overtime is also compulsory. For example, we start work at midnight, and normally we should leave at 08:00, but they do not let us leave until the work is finished. Sometimes we are kept until 10:00 or 11:00. On top of that, they sometimes pay overtime wages incompletely or not at all. We only get our pay when we press them.’’
She also said, ‘‘Most recently, they sent us to the Hadımköy warehouse, a place like a desert. The conditions there were even worse. I believe this was done deliberately, to force us to resign and give up our severance rights. Earlier this year, those whose severance pay had accumulated were dismissed under the excuse of ‘poor performance.’ That is why we carried out rightful termination. This time, however, Hepsiburada and HepsiJet tried to evade responsibility by saying, ‘You are not our employees, you are employees of TWR.’ If I am not an employee of Hepsiburada or HepsiJet, then why do our uniforms say HepsiJet? We will not fall for any of these tricks, and we will continue to resist until we receive our severance pay.”
They hire us saying the limit is 15 kilos, but we carry up to 50–60 kilos
Amine Yaşa, a 21-year-old who worked at the HepsiJet warehouse for nine months, said that two people were made to cover conveyor belts that should have been handled by four, leaving them completely exhausted by the end of the day.
She explained that before starting work, the subcontractor company TWR told them that the packages they would carry would be limited to 15 kilos, but over time this limit was exceeded. Amine Yaşa said: “Shipments weighing 50–60 kilos arrive, including treadmill machines and cookware sets. They load them onto our backs without distinguishing between men and women. During campaign periods, it was especially difficult. We had to load so quickly that one day, while watching the conveyor, my foot got tangled in the boxes behind me and I fell flat on my back. I seriously injured my waist, but they did not take me to the hospital. They just sent me inside, saying, ‘Rest a little.’ I went to the hospital on my own. The doctor gave me a one-day medical report, but I still lost both my bonus and my pay for that day. My wage was cut.
In that work tempo, even going to the bathroom required permission. One day a friend of mine went without asking, and the assistant manager immediately warned her, saying, ‘You must ask for permission before going to the toilet.’ The meals were also terrible. Worms, dead flies, and insects were found inside. And there was absolutely no hygiene.”
They bring in day laborers and make them search us with bare hands under the name of security
Amine Yaşa said that especially in the last warehouse they worked in, Hadımköy, no workplace rules were observed. She explained: “They call in day laborers from TWR or Metropol companies and say, ‘You are security.’ They put them at the door and make them search us with their bare hands. None of these people are actual security; they are workers like us. But they put security vests on them and assign them by saying, ‘You will check the entrances and exits.’ In the previous workplace, for example, at least people with security cards were working.”
Amine Yaşa also noted that she had frequent problems with both male and female supervisors in the warehouse. After working in one section for three days, she was suddenly transferred to another. When she asked the supervisor why, she was told, “Because I felt like it.”
She recounted that she also had trouble with a male supervisor over phone use: “The man told me, ‘You talk on the phone too much.’ When I reminded him that everyone used their phones, he threatened me with filing a report.”
On the issue of annual leave, Amine Yaşa said the warehouse director, Tolga Ziya, created major obstacles: “Whenever I asked for leave, the warehouse director Tolga Ziya would say, ‘This is your last right to leave, you will not be able to get leave from me again.’ I fell ill, my throat was very sore, but in order not to lose my bonus and daily wage I still came to work. I asked Tolga Ziya for permission to go to the hospital, and he said he would not allow it, forcing me to work while sick.”
No one should wait for their turn, they must claim their rights
Amine Yaşa emphasized that she never wants to work in this warehouse again and that she is resisting for her severance rights, underlining that she will not give up until she secures them.
She recalled that previously, four women workers had carried out rightful termination and started a resistance against poor conditions in another warehouse, but at that time she and others did not support them out of fear of losing their jobs. She said, “Now it is our turn.”
Amine Yaşa highlighted that no one should wait for their turn and stated: “We are not obliged to carry heavy loads. Neither working with sacks in the cold nor collapsing from the heat should be our destiny. No worker should allow the usurpation of rights or humiliating practices. They must claim their rights.”