Workers at ÇAYKUR’s 100th Year Tea Packaging Factory protest shift schedules

Seasonal workers at the Tea Enterprises General Directorate (ÇAYKUR) 100th Year Tea Packaging Factory have protested being employed during the same period of the year. Workers who start in June hand over their positions to their shift colleagues in January. The same workers return to work in June, which causes grievances among the staff. Workers who start at the same time every year are demanding that this situation be corrected as soon as possible, arguing that a worker who works during the winter season should subsequently work during the summer period.

Noting that it is difficult to find work in Rize after their 6-month employment period, seasonal worker Togay Muratoğlu argued that they have made all necessary applications and that work must be done to resolve their grievances as soon as possible, stating: "As hardworking ÇAYKUR employees, we were hired at this factory last year through a lottery. A summer-winter debate emerged. We worked in the summer, but in reality, we should have been rotating on and off the lists. Unfortunately, that did not happen. We hoped it would happen this year, but it did not. As you know, it is not easy to find work in Rize. We have friends coming from the districts. We tried to use all our legal rights, and we did. We applied to CİMER, but it didn't work. We wrote a petition to the factory. We did not receive an answer. Some of our friends spoke with the General Directorate. Some spoke with politicians. Unfortunately, we did not get any results. We have absolutely no problem with the friends who are currently outside the 100th Year Packaging Factory. They are laborers just like us. We are asking, on what basis is the summer-winter adjustment made? Is there not an injustice here? We are asking both the authorities and the public. Why do we always work in the summer? Why do they always work in the winter? We request that this problem be solved. We are laborers just like them. ÇAYKUR is our pride and joy. There must be fairness there. We request that they reconsider the decision they have made."
Pointing out that there are workers who come from the districts to work at the packaging factory, Muratoğlu said, "As laborers, we talked to them. Maybe they didn't understand us. We are not saying let us work more. We are requesting that they make the summer-winter arrangement with fairness. That is why we gathered here. Our only goal is the implementation of fairness. Just as our friends who come from Ardeşen, Hemşin, Fındıklı, and Pazar to work in these factories expect an arrangement, they also have the right to work in the winter. We insistently want this arrangement. We will continue to pursue it. It seems that it will not happen this year either. We are only here as the 3rd shift. This problem is also the problem of the 1st and 2nd shifts. I hope this problem is solved. There are 374 workers in total who will be laid off. The exit lists have already been posted, but strangely, the entry lists have not been posted. Perhaps it is so there is no loss of morale, but the motivation of many friends has dropped. We just want the injustice to be corrected. Whoever is in charge should think about it and make the summer-winter arrangement," he said.

Noting that applications have been made to resolve the issue, another seasonal worker, Cengiz Çelik, said, "We have made a great effort to fix this problem. We have applied to many places. We expressed our problems. We also made an effort to have them solved. I see that our effort has turned into complete frustration. I stand behind many of the things that have been expressed," he said.

Oğuzhan Demir, a seasonal worker at the 100th Year Packaging Factory, said, "We are in favor of equality. We do not want the group that starts in the winter to be aggrieved either. It was even suggested to us that there should be a lottery. When I win the lottery, the friend who is there in the winter becomes aggrieved. We don't want that either. Let them work one winter, and let us work one winter. Inevitably, a year passes for this to happen. This is a factory that operates for 12 months. It is not a situation that can be solved with 6-month workers. It will sound like we are asking for permanent staff, but one needs to work 8-10 months or be given permanent status. When you hire a worker for 6 months, inevitably the other worker becomes aggrieved," he said.