Municipal workers revolt, calling it a 'punishment policy': 'If we cannot receive our salaries, let them know that the streets of İzmir will turn red'

Members of the DİSK Genel İş union's İzmir branches 1, 2, 3, and 9 held a protest after 1.5 billion liras were deducted from the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, citing social security (SGK) debts, which prevented the municipality from making certain payments. Speaking at the protest, DİSK Aegean Regional Representative Memiş Sarı stated that they would take to the streets if the deductions continue, and noted the following:

SARI: WE WILL STOP WORK AND TAKE TO THE STREETS

"We were actually going to come together on the last day of the year to wish for a good year for workers and laborers. The head of the ruling power, AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said something to the Minister of Labor two weeks ago: 'Shake up the municipalities.' Fine. If you are fair and impartial, if you are going to shake up all municipalities, then do it. But if you are only doing this to CHP-run municipalities, this is discrimination. Are you doing this 'shaking' movement in Konya, Kayseri, Malatya, or Gaziantep? Are you seizing the taxes and social security payments of the most indebted municipalities? Are you forgiving the taxes of the 'gang of five' and making the laborers pay the bill? Then let the DİSK members have a word for you. Districts near January 10 also have shares from the Iller Bank from the municipalities. After the new year, we will come together with all our branch presidents and representatives. If these deductions turn the lives of workers and laborers into a living hell, the streets are ours. We will stop work in all municipalities, take to the streets, and hold you accountable for this. You will be holding New Year's parties in your palaces, castles, and mansions. That won't be enough; you will board your private jets and go abroad. But we have nowhere to go. We have our sweat, we have a workplace, and we have our street. We will be on those streets until we get our rights. Know this. We are an organization that keeps its word. If the deductions continue like this and we cannot receive our salaries, let them know that the streets of İzmir will turn red."

"DO NOT JUST ENGAGE IN A 'WE ARE SEEKING RIGHTS' STRUGGLE FROM THE CORNER"

Emphasizing that the 'shake-up' instruction affects approximately 5 million citizens across the country, Sarı also addressed the Türk-İş Union, stating the following:

“There are approximately 1 million 200 thousand municipal workers in Turkey. With their families, this number approaches 5 million. You have already taken a blow from the retirees, and you have lost local governments one by one. Now it is the turn of the workers and civil servants who work with the sweat of their brows and have nothing to sell but their labor. I am calling out here to the other unions organized in the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. To the places where Türk-İş is organized. Do not just engage in a 'we are seeking rights' struggle from the corner. Come, let us make this struggle a joint one. Let us fight side by side against those who have their eyes on our pockets. We will succeed together, we will win together.”

GÜL: DELAYING WORKERS' WAGES IS A PUNISHMENT POLICY

On behalf of the municipal employees, the union's press statement was read by Genel İş Branch No. 2 President Ercan Gül. In the statement, which expressed that the government's attitude is a 'punishment policy,' the following was noted:

“Our members working at the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality have become direct victims of the government's systematic pressure on opposition municipalities. The blockades placed on municipal accounts have hit not only the municipalities but, most severely, the laborers. Today, workers who are members of Genel-İş at the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality have been left to face livelihood difficulties on the coldest days of winter due to these unjust and politically motivated practices. In a period where inflation has reached record levels and food and energy prices have skyrocketed, delaying workers' wages is a punishment policy. With this policy, the AKP government aims both to discredit opposition municipalities and to shake the public's trust in municipalities by making them financially unable to function. However, this approach drags not only the municipalities but also the working laborers and their families into economic crises.

“IF WE ALLOW THIS TODAY, IT WILL REFLECT ON OUR SALARIES TOMORROW”

"The sweat and labor of workers cannot be a tool for any political settling of scores! Laborers must receive the wages they deserve and have humane working conditions on time. Remove the blockades on municipal accounts immediately! Ensure that workers' receivables are paid on time and in full! Put an end to sacrificing laborers to political infighting! We will continue to fight for the rights of workers and laborers, and for labor and democracy. We will continue to raise our voices against these unjust practices. If the funds are not returned to the municipalities, we will hold a mass protest in the municipalities and companies where we are organized. We have to do this. If we allow this today, it will reflect on our salaries tomorrow. Our struggle will grow again as of the new year.”