August 26, 2006

The neighborhood officers (elected) of Uzunçiftlik local government where workers of AL-CO kitchenware factory are resisting firings due to unionization, paid a visit to the workers who have refused to leave the gates of the plant for the last 18 days.

The officials also demanded a meeting with the factory management and demanded an investigation on the scabs being bused in from outside of the region.

No Safety for workers inside the factory

The branch manager of United Metal Workers’ Union said the support they received from the neighborhood officials was appreciated. He said no present worker was being prevented from work by the unionized workers, but it was wrong to bring outsiders when unemployment was high in the region. He said, “There is no safety for the unionized workers inside the factory. There are 120 people brought by the management who live and reside inside the factory. We don’t know who these people are. They are not even allowed to leave the factory.”

The representatives of the neighborhood officials said the problems in the factory involved the neighborhoods, and that was the reason why they came to give support to the workers. Also, for safety, we have requested for the governor to investigate these strangers who are in the factory for safety reasons. The workers who were fired had families to look after. We all need to find a solution to this problem. There are 120 strangers residing inside the factory. This is illegal. If someone gets murdered here, how will we be able to investigate with so many unknown strangers hiding here? We are calling on the security to investigate and find out who is residing in the factory.”

MB.