The resistance launched by Migros warehouse workers against the imposition of a “28 percent poverty wage increase,” exploitative subcontracted labor conditions, and the obstruction of their right to choose a union, under the leadership of the Distribution Workers’ Union (DGD-Sen), has entered its 17th day with unwavering determination. Unable to find any interlocutor for weeks, the workers were subjected to violence and taken into custody in front of the Beykoz villa of Migros owner Tuncay Özilhan, where they carried their protest for the third time. Sevda Kırca, one of the former Migros warehouse resistance activists who has been among the strongest supporters of the workers’ struggle, spoke to ANF, stating that the workers remain determined not to step back until their demands are met.
Sevda Kırca was among the 257 workers dismissed during the resistance at the Migros Esenyurt warehouse in 2022, after they demanded a 4 Turkish lira increase in their hourly wages on 3 February in response to the imposition of an “8 percent poverty wage increase” and poor working conditions. Expressing her sense of joy at seeing the resistance they ignited four years ago to grow and spread today, Kırca said that the struggle they wove together under the leadership of the Distribution Workers’ Union a few years ago is now bearing fruit.
Former Migros warehouse striker became subcontractor boss by betraying workers
Kırca linked the failure to break the cycle of exploitation in Migros warehouses to the absence of genuinely honest and principled trade unions in Turkey. She said that existing unions stand with employers rather than with workers, adding that independent unions that stand with workers, such as the Distribution Workers’ Union, are blocked by state thresholds and prevented signing protocols.
Kırca said that subcontracted labor under insecure conditions remains the prevailing reality in the warehouses and added: “Four years ago, the Us-Group subcontracting company was operating in the warehouse, and the same is true today. What is striking and troubling here is that Veysel Cingöz, one of the owners of Us-Group, is both a former Migros warehouse worker and a former deputy chair of Tez Koop-Iş, the union imposed on Migros warehouse workers. In other words, he climbed to these positions by betraying workers and became wealthy. One cannot reach such positions through an honest and principled stance. Indeed, Cingöz, a former Migros warehouse striker, later became a subcontractor for Migros and began to suppress striking workers. Today, around 6,000 warehouse workers, through their resistance, have forced Us-Group out, but this time workers to be taken onto Migros staff are being compelled to join the yellow union Tez Koop-Iş.”
Tax deductions push wages below the minimum wage
Sevda Kırca stressed that one of the most urgent demands of warehouse workers, alongside a 50 percent pay rise, is the removal of tax deductions from their wages. Kırca said, “Once tax deductions are applied, wages automatically fall below the minimum wage. When the salary is 30,000, it drops to 24,000. Under those conditions, why should workers endure such harsh working environments?”
Kırca said that workers are forced to work in warehouses kept at minus one to minus two degrees Celsius. She said, “It makes no difference whether the worker is a woman or a man; everyone is forced to carry extremely heavy loads. These people work under extremely harsh conditions, and on top of that they are paid only the minimum wage. Moreover, they are made to work an additional 150 to 160 hours of overtime on minimum wage pay. The workers here are all young, and before a year has passed, all of them develop herniated discs in their backs and necks. No one would want to work under these conditions. If we are to work, workers say, it should be under dignified conditions.”
Workers carry the memory of resistance further as employers forget
Sevda Kırca recalled that the resistance they waged in 2022 under the leadership of the Distribution Workers’ Union brought significant gains, yet these gains allowed workers to breathe more easily for only about a year before problems resurfaced. She said the previous Migros management had been forced out through resistance, but the new management that followed imposed the same conditions of exploitation.
Kırca also said: “Employers did not learn their lesson and never will. They forgot our resistance. Workers did not forget the memory of resistance. By carrying that memory further, they launched work stoppages not only at the Esenyurt warehouse but across 12 warehouses nationwide against the imposition of poverty wages. Every step we wove stitch with stitch has now spread to every corner of the country, from Izmir to Adana, from Diyarbakır (Amed) to Van (Wan). At this point, I do not believe any of the workers will step back. As I said earlier, they are exposed to extremely harsh working conditions. They carry very heavy boxes and load in the freezing cold of the warehouses, and women workers face mobbing, verbal abuse, and harassment. The Esenyurt industrial zone offers no alternative workplaces for women. The work is extremely demanding for women, yet I know from personal experience that people endure these conditions out of sheer necessity to earn a living. During this latest resistance, a physically disabled cleaning worker who joined the work stoppage was humiliated by Human Resources Manager Kezban Erol, who told her, ‘You are hunched over; who would ever hire you again?’ Workers in the warehouse are subjected to appalling humiliation. Because the human resources manager is a white-collar employee, she shows particular contempt for blue-collar workers. Workers say that despite being a woman herself, she treats women workers with particular harshness.”
Migros Esenyurt warehouse stands as resistance stronghold
Kırca said that Migros warehouse workers have, for the first time, united against the usurpation of their rights, adding that workers in all warehouses are closely following the resistance led by the Migros Esenyurt warehouse. The Esenyurt warehouse, she stressed, has become a stronghold of resistance. She said, “Warehouses linked to chains such as BIM, A101, and Şok are watching the Migros Esenyurt warehouse. They are waiting for us to win here. All of them carry great hope. Our call to the public is to show the same solidarity as four years ago and to boycott Migros.”