Kadıköy Municipality workers react to 1-minute strike: 'We will resign from the union en masse'

The collective bargaining process for Kadıköy Municipality workers, which had been ongoing for 6 months, concluded with an agreement signed while ignoring the workers' demands. Workers reacted sharply to the news of the settlement, which came just minutes after the strike banner was hung. Kadıköy Municipality workers spoke to 12punto about both the union's stance and their living conditions.

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Kadıköy Municipality workers react to 1-minute strike: 'We will resign from the union en masse'

Hazal Güven - 12punto.com.tr

The collective bargaining process at Kadıköy Municipality, which had been ongoing for 6 months, concluded with an agreement signed just minutes after the strike banner was hung, with almost none of the workers' demands being accepted. Despite the union management's promise until the final minutes of the legal deadline that “We will not leave that table until all your demands are met,” the agreement was signed with terms far below the workers' demands.

Workers had been waiting for months for the outcome from the table. Municipal workers who are members of the DİSK-affiliated Genel-İş Union are reacting due to the union reneging on its word. Workers speaking to 12punto are considering resigning from the union en masse. Some workers who heard that the agreement had been signed burned their union vests.

A worker who has been working as cleaning staff at Kadıköy Municipality for a long time said, “Workers are thinking about resigning from the union en masse. I have 3 children. I am putting 2 of them through school. Red meat only enters my house every few months, if at all.”

‘OUR MONEY IS ALREADY MELTING AWAY WITH THE PRICE HIKES COMING AT THE NEW YEAR’

The cleaning worker explained the following:

“Our contract is a 2-year contract. However, it should be renewed every 6 months. Our money is already melting away before even a year passes. Now the new year is coming. New year means price hikes on everything. I live in a rented house. I am the only one working. I am putting 2 children through school. One is only 2 and a half years old. Red meat enters the house every few months, if at all. I haven't even counted the children's school and stationery expenses yet.”

Regarding the union signing the agreement at the last minute with clauses against the workers' interests, the cleaning worker said, “I think there was interference from the headquarters in the branch management.”

The workers' demands from the Kadıköy Municipality management were as follows:

Transportation allowance 140 TL

Meal allowance 400 TL

Bonus 100 TL

Child allowance 435 TL

Social care 3800 TL

Fuel allowance 845 TL

Daily wage 1965 TL

Seniority 3.45 TL.

'IT IS ALWAYS LIKE THIS, THE WORKER'S WILL IS BROKEN AT THE LAST MINUTE'

Another worker who has been working at the municipality for only 1 year expressed the following regarding what happened: “It was my first strike. But this has become a tradition now. There was a sense of hopelessness in everyone. Because it is always like this. The worker's will is broken at the last minute. And it happened just as they said it would.”

Stating that “Not everything said here is done,” the municipal worker spoke as follows:

“The current mayor had promised an additional protocol before taking office. He did not implement it. The branch management called yesterday, but no one could reach him. Kadıköy Municipality is the second municipality with the highest revenue after Esenyurt. We demanded improvements based on this. But in its current state, we remained below most municipalities.”

Stating that the current number of personnel is insufficient for a large district like Kadıköy, the worker said, “They are neither hiring personnel nor improving our conditions,” and added:

“We want to take our leave on the weekend. It is imposed on weekdays. Maybe 10 out of 100 people take leave on the weekend. They don't even let us take annual leave due to the lack of staff. They don't hire staff either. We collect an average of 2 to 2.5 tons of trash a day. We throw these into a truck that is taller than us. It has been said for years that this should be a 2-person job, but the municipality has not taken any steps.”

'WE ARE WORKING UNDER THE THREAT OF CANCER'

One of the biggest problems for workers at Kadıköy Municipality, especially those working as cleaning staff, stems from the fact that Kadıköy has been hosting a crowd far beyond what it can handle in recent years. The crowd, which was previously only seen on weekends, is now present on weekdays as well. This situation has naturally multiplied the workload of the cleaning workers. In Kadıköy, where an average of 2.5 tons of trash is collected daily, the number of cleaning personnel experiencing health problems due to the workload is increasing. A worker describes this situation as follows:

“We are working under the threat of cancer from the start. There are also those among us who are struggling. Just recently, a colleague of ours injured his back from lifting trash alone and throwing it into the truck, and he cannot walk. A mass the size of a fist formed on another friend's back. We learned that this was also due to lifting heavy loads for long hours.”

The young worker used the following expressions while describing his living conditions:

“I used to be a waiter and I earned better. I have 60 thousand lira in credit debt. Sometimes I work two jobs at once. We are a family of 6. My 2 siblings are studying. 3 people are working at home, but we are just making ends meet. We might be saving today, but we don't know about a month from now.”

News Source: Hazal Güven