Özgür Özel announces his support and warns strike-breakers: We stand with the workers

Regarding the ongoing strike at the Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations, Özel stated, "I am clearly warning those who are strike-breaking; what you are doing is a crime! Those who commit crimes today will not be able to escape being held accountable before the law tomorrow. An attack on the right to strike is an attack on democracy. We stand with the workers against this lawlessness."

The message published by Özgür Özel on his social media account is as follows:

"This government has even made those who bring aid to the nation in need of aid themselves! The workers serving in the Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations have stood by the people during the country's most difficult times for years. They extended the state's compassionate hand to the nation during earthquakes, fires, floods, and the pandemic. At this point, the Erdoğan administration has made these 10 thousand workers, who bring aid to the nation, needy themselves.

The 2025 Public Sector Collective Bargaining Framework Agreement Protocol, covering over 600 thousand public workers, was signed with a ceremony on August 2, 2025. A month has passed. The Ministry of Family and Social Services has turned its back on its own workers. Instead of the 24 percent raise that is their earned right, workers were forced to accept the 11 percent misery raise deemed appropriate for millions of civil servants.

Faced with this approach, 10 thousand workers have been on strike since August 29 for their most basic rights, for their sweat, and for a humane wage. I hear that some governors and district governors are pressuring workers exercising their right to strike with threats of dismissal. I am clearly warning those who are strike-breaking; what you are doing is a crime! Those who commit crimes today will not be able to escape being held accountable before the law tomorrow. An attack on the right to strike is an attack on democracy. We stand with the workers against this lawlessness. There is no salvation alone; either all together or none of us."

News Source: 12punto