The resistance of 223 workers, launched under the slogan “We will take back our jobs” under the leadership of the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey (DISK) and the DISK Genel-Iş Van (Wan) Branch, continued on its 80th day. Gathering on Art Street, the workers carried a banner reading “The unlawful and unjust dismissal of 223 workers is unacceptable. We want our jobs back. We will resist and win,” and frequently chanted slogans such as “Your barricades mean nothing to us,” “Berxwedan jiyan e (Resistance is life), kayyım talan e (trusteeship is plunder)” and “Rights, law, justice.” Representatives of political parties in the city, district co-mayors, civil society organizations and many citizens attended the statement made at the entrance of the street.
One of the dismissed workers, Atakan Aşkan, stated that their resistance, which has continued for months, grows stronger each day and finds greater response in the conscience of society. He said that instead of producing a solution in the face of their strong will, the trustee-appointed administration has surrounded their protest area with police shields. Aşkan continued: “In the center of the city, the workers who are pursuing their struggle for rights have been surrounded by police shields, and their right to march and make statements has been restricted. However, despite all these obstructions, the workers have not withdrawn their determination, even under the shadow of police shields, and continue their struggle for bread and dignity with faith.” Aşkan added: “We know very well that our dismissal is unlawful and stems from arbitrary and personal approaches as part of the games being played over us. We are 223 workers who worked at the Van Metropolitan Municipality with our labor and sweat yet were unjustly and unlawfully dismissed by the trustee administration, deprived of both our labor and our livelihood. We know that our dismissal is unlawful and based on individual calculations that aim to manipulate us. Just as on the first day, today, on the 79th day, we continue to demand our rights with the slogan ‘Rights, law, justice,’ and we continue to expose the games being played against us.”
The usurpation of will is as clear as day
Aşkan stated that they do not accept the perception operations and false accusations fabricated against them and said: “Each one of us was hired after going through interviews conducted by a commission that included a representative of the governor’s office, and only after completing all legal procedures. Each one of us has at least five years of labor in the Wan Metropolitan Municipality. After the 31 March 2024 elections, every one of our fellow workers, who were rightfully employed, hoped to build a new future and repair the economic devastation of previous years. Our families believed that this would be a period of recovery.” Aşkan continued: “The trustee policy and the current secretary general’s approach are obvious. It is as clear as day that this is hostility toward labor, the people, and the working class, and that it represents the usurpation of the people’s will. This policy, which provides no benefit whatsoever to society, must end immediately. Our jobs, our labor, and the future of our children must be returned to us.”
We will make our voice heard: rights, law, justice
Aşkan said the mentality has trampled the law and that the killing of Rojin Kabaiş has exposed this problem of mindset. He added: “It increases our anxieties about life. Until Rojin’s killers are found, held to account and punished as an example to others, neither we nor our children will be safe. The killers must be tried; human life should not be treated so cheaply. Today is our 79th day. We will continue every day in the streets to demand the rights taken from us until we return to our jobs. We will continue to ask questions until the current municipality administration answers them. By shouting ‘rights, law, justice’ we will make our voice heard in every corner of the country and lodge our complaints.”