February 25, 2006 Drivers of the municipal buses belonging to Tüm-Tis (Union of Motor Vehicle Drivers of the Turkish Workers Confederation) in the southern city of Gaziantep rallied against the decision to rent buses. They marched, carrying placards and chanting slogans against the municipal government whose decision they consider a step towards privatization. Speaking on […]
February 25, 2006
Drivers of the municipal buses belonging to Tüm-Tis (Union of Motor Vehicle Drivers of the Turkish Workers Confederation) in the southern city of Gaziantep rallied against the decision to rent buses. They marched, carrying placards and chanting slogans against the municipal government whose decision they consider a step towards privatization.
Speaking on behalf of the workers Gürel Yılmaz, Education Secretary of the Union, explained that renting private buses to run the municipal bus lines for 10 years meant privatizing public services.
Yılmaz said public services should not be conducted on profit/loss bases and this decision would not contribute anything positive to the city but would affect the public negatively.
He continued, “The Mayor attempted to sell the bus services a year and half ago but was prevented from doing so when 35 thousand signatures were collected to oppose the sale. At that time Mayor Güzelbey said, ‘The public prefers public buses, I won’t privatize the services. Instead I will buy new buses to improve the services’.
As Tüm-Tis Union, we consider the Mayor’s recent decision to outsource the services, in spite of the opposition of the public, the city council and popular organizations, an attempt to meet the demands of for-profit business interests. We demand the reconsideration and withdrawal of this decision.” Yılmaz said this decision which will cause job losses for 250 bus drivers could not be permitted.
Various political parties and unions joined the rally in support of the drivers where a campaign to collect signatures was initiated.