Workers' protest continues for 195 days

The strike, which began on March 7 at the Abalıoğlu Lezita Gıda Sanayi AŞ. facility operating in Kemalpaşa, İzmir, continues due to the company's refusal to recognize the authorized union, Öz Gıda-İş, its rejection of collective bargaining agreement (TİS) negotiations, and the dismissal of workers. In the strike, which involves approximately 200 workers, employees continue to keep watch in a container set up in front of the factory. It has been learned that 60 people have been dismissed for the same reason since 2021, and the employees are waiting to return to their jobs through a collective bargaining agreement.

THANKS TO THE WORKERS

Hüseyin Zorlu, an Organization Department Specialist for the Öz Gıda İş Union, made a statement at the strike site, noting that they want collective bargaining negotiations to be brought to the table as soon as possible and for peace and tranquility to be established between the employer and the workers. Zorlu stated, "Today is our 195th day. We have been continuing our resistance together with our workers for 195 days as a result of the bargaining process at the collective agreement stage of our strike. There has been no contact or communication from the employer in any way. Regarding the next steps, there is a hearing on the 24th of this month that the employer is waiting for. There is a lawsuit filed by the employer to break the strike. We believe that this case will also be postponed. The struggle we are waging in this strike area will be an example to the entire Turkish working class and all laborers. We hope that it will end in victory. Because these people are workers who have given decades of labor and worked here. We want the Abalıoğlu employer and management to sit down for collective bargaining negotiations with our union as soon as possible. The only wish of our friends is for our union to enter our factory and for conditions to be established where our workers can freely engage in union activities and attain their social rights. We want the reinstatement of nearly 60 of our brothers and sisters who have been dismissed since 2021. That was our demand. Our other demands were already reasonable. But unfortunately, the employer did not take a single step toward us. They didn't even think we were worth a cup of tea. These workers did them no harm. If this workplace has grown, if it has produced until today, and if it has added value to the Lezita brand, it has been thanks to these workers of ours. We believe that bringing this collective bargaining agreement to the table as soon as possible will be important for establishing peace and tranquility between the employer and the workers."

Following the statement, the workers chanted slogans in front of the workplace and then dispersed peacefully, returning to the area where they are keeping their strike watch.