Polonez workers' hunger strike enters 7th day: 'If I don't produce, what will you eat?'
The hunger strike launched by workers at the Polonez Food Factory in Çatalca, Istanbul, who have been resisting for months, has entered its seventh day after their march to Ankara was blocked. For days, the workers have been sleeping on cold concrete while continuing their hunger strike. Their demand is to make their voices heard in Ankara.
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The struggle of Polonez workers, who joined the Tekgıda-İş Union in response to harsh working conditions, humiliation, and low wages imposed by the Jordanian Polonez employer, and were subsequently fired—leading to 146 workers going on strike—has been ongoing for weeks.
On December 6, workers who went from the Polonez factory in Çatalca to the Çatalca Courthouse wanted to move their resistance to Ankara to make their voices heard by the authorities. However, security forces did not allow the workers to march to Ankara.
Prevented from moving forward from in front of the Çatalca Courthouse, the workers decided to protest the situation by starting a hunger strike on December 6. At this point, the workers have been on a hunger strike and sleeping on the cold concrete in front of the courthouse for exactly 7 days.
Polonez workers, who were forced to work for wages even below the minimum wage for years under the pretext that 'the state deducts taxes,' continued their resistance in front of the factory for 141 days. However, feeling that they could not make their voices heard sufficiently, they decided to move their resistance to Ankara on December 6.
Some of the workers, who also spend their nights in the resistance area in front of the Çatalca Courthouse, occasionally suffer nervous breakdowns due to both the injustice they are experiencing and the health problems brought on by the hunger strike. The workers' only demand is for the road to be opened and to be able to march to Ankara to make their voices heard by the competent authorities.