Migros warehouse workers, who were dismissed for demanding solutions to long working hours, pay rises, forced overtime and mobbing, said they will continue their struggle until their demands are met as they mark the 12th day of protests led by the Warehouse, Port, Shipyard and Maritime Workers’ Union (DGS-SEN). The workers, who continue their protests in front of the Migros warehouse in the Akçaburgaz neighborhood of Esenyurt district in Istanbul, spoke to Mezopotamya Agency (MA) about the problems they face, their proposed solutions, and the struggle they are sustaining.
Mehmet Çelik (48), one of the workers who said they will not step back from their struggle, stated that he has worked as a Migros warehouse worker for eight years. Noting that official working hours are nine hours but that they are generally required to work overtime, Çelik said the reason is that they cannot make a living if they do not work overtime. Çelik said, “I am educating four children. I am really struggling to support their education. That is why we asked for a pay rise, and they told us, ‘You cannot ask for a raise; you will make do with whatever we give you.’ We are asking for a pay rise simply to be able to live. In response to our demand for a raise, the employer dismissed many people under Social Security Institution Code 49 (deliberately failing to carry out the duties assigned to the worker). And right now, they are not recognizing anyone as an interlocutor.”
Bread is our only demand, we have no other aim
Çelik said that despite repeatedly demanding the severance pay he is legally entitled to over his eight years of service, it was never paid. Çelik also said, “We were constantly threatened with being dismissed. In the end, they fired us. We are struggling only for our bread; we have no other aim. Migros management must find a way to resolve this. Politics needs to step in. I am the father of four children and the only breadwinner in my household. I gave eight years of my life here. Without listening to us at all, they accuse me of inciting people and manipulating them, using Code 49 as a pretext. Is asking for bread incitement? I did not incite anyone, and no one incited me.”
They offered us a wage that condemns us to poverty
Gülbahar Sağban, who works as a warehouse worker in the Migros Dispatch and Transfer Department, said she has been employed for two and a half years and stressed that the workload is heavy. Sağban said: “At times, I must load and transfer 20 to 30 kg boxes of sugar, salt and legumes on my own. We work eight hours a day, six days a week. They force us to work overtime. They tell us that we will be compelled to stay for overtime three days a week. This is mobbing. Our overtime and wages are subject to tax deductions, and as if that were not enough, the subcontractor also makes deductions. We did not have a clear net wage. As the months passed, the deductions increased. More of our money was cut. We were working under very harsh conditions. They offered us a wage that condemns us to poverty, and we do not accept this. We are demanding our rights.”
We are demanding our rights
Sağban said they want to be employed as permanent staff. She also said: “We are demanding a 50 percent wage increase and that the workplace covers the deductions taken by the state in taxes. Migros is imposing that we must first become members of the Tezkop Iş Trade Union and then be hired onto the company’s own staff. They told us, ‘Without joining the union, you will not have any fringe benefits. If you join the union, you can become a Migros employee.’ But we do not want the Tezkop Iş Trade Union; we want a 50 percent wage increase. We do not want to be subjected to mobbing. I am calling on Migros management: you will not get anywhere by trying to wear us down and dismissing us; we are demanding our rights.”
We are being forced into overtime
Cihan Kaşgar said he has been working at Migros for four years and continued: “Our daily working hours run from 7:00 in the morning to 17:00 in the evening, and we are forced into overtime. When you look at the daily wages for those hours, they are low. We were paid on a gross basis, and there is no clear net salary anyway. Our demands are known both to the employers and to the public. We will have these demands accepted. We were dismissed after the protests. We were subjected to pressure, mobbing, and threats. If Migros management meets our demands, then we will end our actions. If our bank promotions are paid and tax deductions are no longer imposed on us, our actions will receive a response. I am calling on all of Turkey: workers will always exist as a fortress of resistance, and they will continue to do so in the period ahead.”
They pay the promised wage only for the first six months
Yusuf Berlik, 20, said he has been working for two and a half years and went on: “Our daily working hours run from 8:00 in the morning to 21:00 at night. We are also forced to work overtime. They pay the wages they promise only for the first six months. After six months, the wages gradually decreased. The wages are not enough for us; they do not meet any of our needs. Some of our friends are struggling even to pay their rent because we joined the protest. We were dismissed. We have five demands. Our demands include tax deductions, a wage increase, and the payment of our bank promotions. These must be met. We demand that the employer cover the taxes and that wages be increased by 50 percent.”
Threats of dismissal continue
Muhammed Erçek, 24, said he has been working for two years and added: “We went on strike because of our legitimate demands and our demand for a pay rise. We have been here for 12 days and we will continue; we will not go back, and I want them to know this. Officially, it appears to be eight hours a day, but they make us work 10 hours. Overtime is imposed by force. Normally there is a three-shift system, and we are supposed to start at 8 in the morning and leave at 5 in the evening, but they make us start at 6. Our demand for a pay rise was always postponed; they did not treat us as counterparts and said they had unilaterally imposed a 28 percent raise. We do not accept working under these conditions; this rate of increase does not correspond to our working conditions. When we started the strike, Migros management informed us by text message that we had been dismissed. Nearly 100 workers were dismissed. They also tried to evict our colleagues who were staying in company dormitories, but they resisted and did not leave. And now, threats of dismissal are being directed at those who are still actively working. Our demands are not excessive. A company like Migros, which has announced an annual profit of 9 billion Turkish lira, should not begrudge us a 50 percent raise. We want our promotion rights to be granted, and we are suffering greatly due to the tax bracket; we want management to cover half of this tax burden.”
We want dismissed workers to be reinstated
Bilal Çelik, who has worked as a Migros warehouse worker for two and a half years, said: “We work nine hours a day, and excluding breaks and mealtime, we work eight hours. We are doing physically very heavy work. Because women are employed, the work is not classified as heavy industry. They employ women so that it will not be labeled as heavy industry. The 28 percent raise implemented by Migros is not even enough to cover a person’s rent. It does not even meet our kitchen expenses. Workers were dismissed by text message after the protest, and they did not allow us back inside. We were therefore forced to continue our actions outside. We have four demands: a 50 percent wage increase, uninterrupted payment of promotions, and the reinstatement of dismissed workers.”