Türk Harb-İş Union holds 'we cannot work for low wages' protest

Protest actions by the Türk Harb-İş Union continue, citing low wages for employees working in military factories and shipyards affiliated with the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Interior. The union's Istanbul Branch management, which marched from Istanbul to Ankara last week, held another protest today at Kartal Square with the participation of hundreds of workers.

During the protest, where banners reading "Notice to those in power: Hopes for the future are dead. The inflation monster is alive," "Rents have become unaffordable," and "Defense workers cannot make ends meet" were displayed, placards reading "We don't want charity, we want the value of our labor" and "We are not unskilled, we are expert workers" were carried. Additionally, slogans such as "Harb-İş worker is the guardian of the homeland," "We will win by resisting," and "Break the hands that reach for labor" were frequently chanted throughout the demonstration.

"WE VISITED THE AKP AND MHP AND PRESENTED OUR DEMANDS"

Reading the joint statement, Türk Harb-İş Istanbul Branch President Murat Yalçınkaya pointed out that they have been explaining their problems for a long time and said:

"For a long time, we have been voicing the economic situation our colleagues are in everywhere, and we are trying to explain our plight to everyone. To this end, we held a wide-ranging workshop with Ankara representatives of our press, columnists, and academics working on the defense industry. Subsequently, we visited the Deputy Chairmen of the People's Alliance stakeholders, the AK Party and the Nationalist Movement Party. We did not stop there; we shared the difficult process we are in with all its details with our Minister of National Defense and our Minister of Labor and Social Security. We voiced it every time at the Türk-İş Presidential Board. Finally, at the Türk-İş General Assembly, we expressed ourselves at the highest level in front of all national media. What we demanded was quite clear and explicit. It is about the future of our country and the survival of our state. I would like to share the visits we made and the issues you know very well once again from here. Considering the current conditions in Turkey, we stated that the wages received by our more than 26 thousand members remain very low and have even created an unlivable situation in the face of the cost of living, and we demanded an improvement in their personal rights."

"OUR COLLEAGUES ARE UNABLE TO MEET EVEN THEIR MOST BASIC NEEDS"

"We did not stop there; we explained that our members, who support our developing and growing country, work hard for the 100 percent nationalization of our country's defense industry, and work with all their might to end our country's foreign dependency in the defense industry, have reached a point where they can no longer make ends meet. We even expressed that, so to speak, the knife has reached the bone, that our colleagues have reached a point where they cannot even meet their most basic needs, and that they are being crushed by constantly rising house rents, shelves that are constantly being hiked, and fuel prices that cannot be curbed. We also underlined that our colleagues work as tailors in underground textile workshops after their shifts, and work extra jobs as motorcycle couriers in various restaurants and waiters in wedding halls to withstand harsh living conditions. In addition to these, we stated that our precious, trained, talented, and experienced colleagues working in our military workplaces are either resigning and moving to private companies or are reluctantly retiring due to the livelihood difficulties they face."

"THIS IS THE REAL SECURITY ISSUE"

"We emphasized repeatedly that this situation will endanger the future of our military factories and shipyards and will make them almost dysfunctional. We even stated many times that this is the real security issue. While managing these processes, we explained that with the enactment of the EYT (Retirement Age) law, 2,705 of our colleagues retired in 2023, and nearly 2,000 of our colleagues will retire at the beginning of 2024. Because our colleagues, who are crushed under economic conditions, who operate this country's tanks, fly its planes, sail its ships and submarines, produce its storm howitzers, ensure the security of our strategic workplaces, and most importantly, are the reason we can say 'We may come suddenly one night,' are receiving lower pay for the same work compared to workers in the private sector and foundation companies, and are therefore leaving our workplaces. Besides these, we stated that another security issue of ours, which is unfortunately growing day by day and will lead to even bigger problems if precautions are not taken, is that our highly qualified colleagues are receiving offers from abroad through various intermediaries, and therefore new ones are being added to the brain drain that is increasing in our line of work every day. We warned that this is not a sustainable situation."

"INDUSTRIAL PEACE IS NEGATIVELY AFFECTED"

"In addition to what I have described, we explained that with the latest public framework protocol signed on May 9, 2023, even those working in jobs that do not require any qualifications in the public sector have come to receive the same salary as our workers and engineers who have high knowledge and experience and add value to our country by doing the jobs I have listed. I will go one step further. Those who sit at desks and develop the art of origami, and those who make and fly paper airplanes to pass their spare time, have come to earn 1.5-2 times the salary of those who fly F-16s. Furthermore, we stated that the wage difference between collective bargaining agreements that start in January and those that start in March, due to the differences in the effective dates of public collective bargaining agreements, causes another loss of rights and injustice, and in this case, causes a distinction among public workers, and that the process will negatively affect industrial peace in a way we never want."

"WE HAVE KNOCKED ON EVERY DOOR THAT COULD BE KNOCKED"

"Moreover, we have knocked on every door that could be knocked and said every word that could be said to eliminate the injustice in income tax, which we have been emphasizing for years. As the Türk-İş Union, we have been walking our path for 53 years without stopping or pausing, with an understanding that defends rights by taking our place by the side of labor and the laborer, and we are taking the steps we will take with this understanding one by one. Our only concern is to ensure that no harm comes to these sacred lands, that our great and powerful state does not fall into difficulty, and of course, to ensure that our colleagues, who are the true children of this country, live a comfortable life in their own homeland. In this sense, I say the country is ours, the state is ours, the labor is ours, and I greet all the members of our Türk Harb-İş Union with respect."

News Source: 12punto