The company where Arda had his work accident! They tried to make him sign a petition saying, 'It's not the company's fault, it's Arda's negligence'

Ercan KÜÇÜK - 12punto.com.tr

14-year-old Arda Tonbul, who was interning at a metal factory owned by Özkanlar Metal Demir Çelik Endüstrisi AŞ in Hadımköy, Istanbul, as part of the Vocational Training Center (MESEM) program, became a victim of negligence. Despite the law, Arda was left alone at a sheet metal bending machine without a master instructor present, and his head became trapped in the machine. Arda, who fought for his life for a week in the hospital where he was taken, passed away. It was alleged that the company gave 100,000 TL to Arda's family as compensation. Arda's father, Raşit Tonbul, spoke to 12punto.

The United Metal Workers' Union (Birleşik Metal-İş), affiliated with DİSK, held a press conference regarding 14-year-old Arda Tonbul, who lost his life due to negligence while being made to work for free in the industry under the guise of an internship as part of the MESEM project, and against MESEM itself. Speaking at the meeting, General President Özkan Atar emphasized that MESEM is a legal cover for child labor. Pointing out that 8 children have lost their lives in just the last six months due to the MESEM practice, Atar said:

“Arda was unfortunately neither the first nor the last MESEM student to lose his life as a result of a work-related homicide. In just the last six months, 8 children between the ages of 14 and 17 have lost their lives due to the MESEM practice, which provides a legal cover for child labor and the exploitation of child labor under the name of internships.”

MESEM: A LEGAL COVER FOR CHILD LABOR

'Vocational training', the use of students as cheap labor under the name of 'vocational training', increased significantly with two legislative changes made in 2016 and 2021. With these legal regulations, the way was paved for students in vocational high schools, which form the most important pillar of vocational training, to effectively leave school and work as child laborers.

Nearly 300,000 of the students registered with MESEM are under the age of 18. These students are made to work in conditions unsuitable for children, without supervision or follow-up. According to Article 71 of the Labor Law, it is forbidden for children under the age of 15 to work in heavy labor. However, these children, whose ages go down to 14, are forced to work even in dangerous and very dangerous workplaces such as metal factories without having completed their physical, mental, and psychological development, under the names of apprentices or interns.”

Explaining the working conditions of MESEM students, Atar also revealed that children are made to work more than the program requires:

“Children, who are marketed to capital as workers through educational institutions affiliated with the Ministry of National Education, are torn from their schools and pushed into the industry starting from the first grade. The system is structured in such a way that children spend 4 days a week in the factory and 1 day at school. However, information from the field indicates that children are made to work for much longer periods. There are children who are made to work late into the night in violation of the law and are called to work on weekends. While children in formal education go on vacation during periods when schools are closed, these children continue to work as laborers in the factory. This situation leads to children who are very tired from work and mentally distanced from education losing their connection with school completely.”

CHILDREN TURNED INTO CHEAP LABOR FOR COMPANIES

Stating that with MESEM, vocational and technical high schools have turned into child labor recruitment agencies and that children are sent to factories as cheap labor, Atar summarized the following:

• The MESEM project must be abandoned immediately. Public resources should not be used for MESEMs, which provide a legal cover for child labor in line with the interests of capital, but to strengthen vocational high schools for real and qualified vocational training.

• An age limit must be introduced for students who will do internships. Internship areas must be suitable for the physical, mental, and academic development of children, and must be systematically audited and monitored. Additional measures must be taken and protective regulations must be made in dangerous and very dangerous jobs, keeping the best interests of the child in mind.

• Investments should be made in school workshops and studios within vocational high schools; children should do their first practical training in these workshops and studios. After students have established their foundations with basic vocational courses, they should be introduced to the factory environment for limited periods in their final year, under conditions where occupational health and safety measures are fully taken and supervision and monitoring are ensured.

• Criteria for the selection of workplaces where students will do internships should be clearly defined, and students should not be sent to workplaces that do not meet these criteria. Effective sanctions should be applied to businesses if they do not comply with the rules and engage in illegal transactions. Appropriate personal protective equipment should be provided to intern students.

• The conditions for obtaining a master instructor certificate should be made more difficult, and master instructors should undergo face-to-face and practical pedagogical training.

• The 4+4+4 education system, which was implemented in place of 12 years of uninterrupted compulsory education and became law in 2012, is a system that feeds child labor. Therefore, the tiered education system should be abandoned, and a return to 12 years of compulsory basic education should be made.

• Child labor is a result of poverty. Necessary social policies should be implemented as part of the fight against poverty. Economic support should be provided to vocational high school students and their families against child labor and the risk of children being torn from formal education.

THE COMPANY DEPOSITED THE MONEY ITSELF, THE COMPANY LEAKED IT TO THE MEDIA

After the meeting, Arda's father, Raşit Tonbul, spoke to 12punto. When we asked about the receipt regarding the company depositing 100,000 TL in compensation to him after Arda's death, Tonbul reacted to the company. Emphasizing that he himself had worked with the same bosses years ago and that the owner of the company where Arda worked was his own boss during the time his father worked, Tonbul stated that he did not ask for money from the company, on the contrary, the company was very insistent, and that the company itself gave the receipt to the media. Father Tonbul, who claimed that he was also a creditor of the company from the period he worked in the past, said:

“They were very insistent with me. Even though I said I didn't have a financial need, that we were a family that gets by on its own, and that the hospital was free while my child was in intensive care, and when he was moved from intensive care to the paid section, I said 'I will make a sacrifice for you, I will request a transfer to a state hospital, this amount won't come out of your pocket,' they were very insistent with me. They said, 'We want to deposit some money for you.' They took my account number from me. Even if I didn't give it, they could get it from the bank. I haven't touched that money either, it's still in the account.

Since you gave it to the media. I had a receivable from them from 7 years ago, before my military service. I don't want to stoop to their level. I said from the beginning, don't involve the child. But a note was made saying 'Arda's compensation'. That offended us a lot. They said, 'We have a family friendship from the past. Even if Arda had had an accident at another factory, we would give you this amount.'”

'THE ONE AT FAULT IS NOT THE COMPANY BUT ARDA' PETITION

Tonbul also shared with 12punto the petition that the company wanted him to sign. Regarding the petition prepared on January 11th concerning the accident that occurred on January 9th, which included the statements, "When I saw the workplace video recording of the incident, I sadly saw that my son went to the machine without permission and unfortunately fiddled with the machine himself, and the accident occurred. Since I saw that my son was careless in the accident, I am withdrawing my complaint against the company officials," Tonbul said:

“I was going to get their son out of the situation. Because we were hoping that our child would regain his health. It was written as if I had written it, as if I had seen the scene of the work accident, stemming from my good intentions. They told me, 'We needed to write it this way to get our son out, you can edit it however you want.' I did not accept.”

News Source: 12punto