August 30, 2006 The workers of the SCT filter factory in the industrial southern city of Tarsus organized a 22Km. march on the 166th day of their strike. Tarsus is one of the hottest spots in Turkey, especially in summer where temperatures soar beyond 100F. But this did not deter the workers from marching to […]
August 30, 2006
The workers of the SCT filter factory in the industrial southern city of Tarsus organized a 22Km. march on the 166th day of their strike.
Tarsus is one of the hottest spots in Turkey, especially in summer where temperatures soar beyond 100F. But this did not deter the workers from marching to be heard.
More than 200 workers were able to complete the 22 Km (14 Miles).
Adnan Serdaroğlu, the president of the United Metal Workers’ union, Birleşik Metal İş, was among those who marched with the workers. He said, “This struggle is owned by the working class. All we are trying to do is to make it visible to the rest of the world. We are trying to broaden the struggle from being confined to only the local region. We are marching on asphalt under more than 104(F) degrees. We are sending a message to the management showing to what extend we are prepared to go. We want those who have a wrong view of the union struggles in Turkey to see us.”
Adnan Serdaroğlu also said, “The bosses at SCT Filter plant do not want the union. They are not willing to negotiate, and we can not even find them. The owner is German, and because they did not find favorable conditions in Turkey and they did not want unionization, they took this approach. But anybody could see that 166 workers are as energetic as ever in this struggle. We were able to negotiate with the management only once or twice during the strike. But nothing came out of it. The times to discipline the workers with their daily bread or hunger have passed. The management needs to understand this. Labor has learned that they need to struggle with their honor. We feel all unions need to support this strike.”
MB.