Construction Workers Yusuf, Emre: Contractor Acts Like There Exists No Such Disease

* Photo: Nadire Mater / bianet

Click to read the article in Turkish

Yusuf and Emre are two construction workers in İstanbul. They have come to the city from Diyarbakır and Ağrı. Their paths crossed when they started working at the construction of a school. They do the same job at the same construction and share the same room in the construction site.

Amid Covid-19 pandemic, there are serious concerns over the conditions of workers at the construction sector, among many others. We have talked to Yusuf and Emre about the construction sector.

Yusuf is 28 years old. He is from Diyarbakır. He is the fifth child of a 10-child family. He started working as the apprentice of an electrician at the age of 11 due to the economic conditions of his family.

His work life that he began as a child worker has continued without interruption after he dropped off high school. Yusuf worked at construction sites for a long time. There was a period when he did not work at constructions. At that time, he engaged in music.

After doing some part-time jobs, he has returned to construction. Meanwhile, he received open education and got his high school diploma. As required by the nature of construction work, he worked in several cities. The majority of his 28 years have thus passed away from his family.

He has been living in İstanbul in the last three years. He is currently working at the construction of a school-dormitory project in Kartal district. The state has the school built, but Yusuf works for the contracting firm.

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'We said 'let's not work', they didn't accept'

Yusuf has told bianet the following about his days of coronavirus in the construction sector, where 1 million 200 thousand workers are employed and a worker named Hasan Oğuz died of the virus last week:

"I am working as an electrician at the construction of a school-dormitory. We used to work with 80-90 people, but as they have finished their work and gone, there are now 60 of us working here.

"In the first days of the virus, we said to boss, 'There is the disease, let's not work, too'. But we couldn't persuade him. 'This work will be finished,' they told us. Even when they let us go, they won't give us money, we cannot go anyway. I mean, working or not working... Neither of them would do.

'I cannot find a job again if I leave'

"Everyone is told to stay home, but if we don't go out, how will we make ends meet? What will we eat and drink? I am single, my father is a pensioner, I am making contribution to my family. But, there are people whose children will starve if they do not bring bread to their homes. I don't have such responsibility, but I cannot abandon it, because if I leave now, I cannot find a job after these days are over. I am working as I don't have a choice.

"The problem is that there are no measures at the construction. The contractor acts like there is no such disease at our construction site. They have given us a black mask. One of those that you can wash... As gloves, we wear our construction gloves. They have only put liquid soap at the washbasin, nothing else... No one wears the black mask there because it gets dirty amid all this dirt and dust. If we wear it while working, there is no mask left to wear on our way back home. That mask can protect us from neither the dust nor the virus anyway. But, it is better than nothing.

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'We have several friends like Hasan Oğuz'

"The state sometimes sends electrical engineers as controllers. They scold the contractor: 'Why don't you give them masks?' But no one takes it into consideration. No one has tested positive in our construction so far, but we have lost our friend Hasan Oğuz from the construction sector.

"We have several young friends like Hasan Oğuz. So, the virus doesn't only kill the aged, we are also at risk. But no one cares. If measures had been taken, he would perhaps be alive now. But, as I have said, our contractor acts like there exists no such disease. He is closing his ears to what we say.

'Everyone is afraid'

"People have children, they have their old parents at home. Everyone is afraid, but they come and work as they have no other choice. My family lives in Diyarbakır, I stay in the construction site. We share the same room with a friend. We are afraid, too, but there is nothing that we can do about it. We get on a vehicle to get from the site where we stay to the one that we work. We, six people, jam into the same vehicle.

"We try to be careful at the construction site, but it doesn't work out. 8-10 people eat in the same container. To top it all, we work overtime, we cannot even have rest. We are working in desperation, because we have no other choice. Most of us are guest workers, everyone is sustaining their families. We don't want too much. Pay us minimum wage until the outbreak is over, let us stay home. If we get sick, our families cannot even come here and we will die away from our families. We don't want to die."

Emre: If I don't work, my family will starve

Emre is 19. He is the roommate of Yusuf. In fact, a curfew has been imposed on the ones aged 20 and younger. However, the next day, the Ministry of Interior announced that the workers in the 18-20 age group could continue working by getting a permission from the sub-governor's office.

Emre has got the permission from the office and continued working. He says that he has no other alternative, because he sustains his family:

"My family lives in Ağrı. We are three siblings, I am the eldest one. My father had six surgical operations at a young age, he cannot work now. I dropped off high school and started working because of my father's illness. I am working as an electrician at the construction. I get 1,600 TRY wage and 700 TRY food allowance. As I am the only one working in my family, I send them money. I have no money left for my own spending anyway.

'If I am in risk group, then why am I working?'

"It was said that those younger than 20 couldn't work. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if they would give me money if I didn't work. Then, I learned that I could work by getting a paper. I have got the permission.

"In fact, if I am in the risk group, I shouldn't be working. It is a discriminatory decision. It is not fair to say that the ones who work should continue working. If I am in risk group, why am I still working? Isn't the state supposed to protect me? Isn't it supposed to give me my wage? As the state gives no guarantees, I have to work. Otherwise, my family and I will starve." (RT/SD)