70 percent increase in the number of workers dismissed with ‘Code 29’

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Upon the call of the Health and Safety Labor Watch İstanbul Branch, labor organizations held a press conference at the Progressive Tourism Laborers Union (Dev Turizm-İş) office in İstanbul yesterday (March 15).

The main issue on their agenda was the "Code 29", a legal way used by employers to dismiss workers despite the layoff ban amid the pandemic.

The labor organizations have raised concerns that the number of workers who have been dismissed with this code has increased by 70 percent over the past year and 80 percent of the ongoing lawsuits for reinstatement stem for the use of this code by employers.

'80 percent of suits due to Code 29'

Addressing the reporters within this context, Dev Turizm-İş Union's Marmara Branch Chair Turgay Özdemir read out the press statement on behalf of the İstanbul Health and Safety Labor Watch.

The statement of the organizations stressed that while statements are made regarding the layoff ban amid the pandemic, the use of Code 29 has paved the way for dismissal without compensation.

"As the dismissals as per the Article 25/2 of the Labor Law is 'legal', several workers have been labeled with the Code 29 and dismissed without any compensation in an unlawful and unfair manner," Özdemir said, noting that 'the behaviours that do not comply with the rules of ethics and goodwill' as listed in the related article have been exempted from the layoff ban."

"That being the case, a way has been made for dismissals without compensation while saying that layoffs have been banned. During the one-year pandemic period, the number of workers dismissed with Code 29 has increased by 70 percent. As for the lawsuits for reinstatement, 80 percent of them stem from the Code 29," reiterated Özdemir.

'A tragicomic fine'

According to the joint statement of the labor organizations, if an employer dismisses a worker in defiance of the layoff ban during the COVID-19 outbreak, he or she is obligated to pay an administrative fine, namely the gross minimum wage in effect at the time of dismissal.

Reminding the audience that the gross minimum wage and, thus, the fine have been raised from 2,943 lira in 2020 to 3,557 lira in 2021, Özdemir said that "it is a tragicomic situation that has no deterrent effect."

Elaborating further on the dismissals with Code 29, Özdemir said that the employer has no obligation to prove his or her allegations; the worker can be dismissed on the sole basis of the employer's statement.

Noting that the Article 25/2 of the Labor Law is open to interpretation, Özdemir raised concerns that it paves the way for arbitrary lay-offs.

'Workers profiled'

Since the Code 29 means that workers are dismissed due to "behaviours that do not comply with the rules of ethics and goodwill", they are profiled after their dismissal and it becomes impossible for them to find a job later on, Özdemir underlined further, adding that "workers who have objected to their employment to death during the pandemic, demanded their rights and unionized for this reason have also been dismissed based on Code 29."

"In other words, Code 29 is an arbitrariness of the capital and it basically means that the rights of workers are brought under pressure and workers are prevented from getting organized," he noted.

"While workers are employed to death and pressed between unemployment and hunger, Code 29 has become the main tool of this pressure."

Concluding the statement, Dev Turizm-İş Union's Marmara Branch Chair Turgay Özdemir expressed the shared demand for the repeal of Code 29 and underlined the importance of a joint struggle.

The undersigned

Baldur/Ekmekçioğlu/Cem Bialetti, Migros Depo, Sinbo, PTT, Mapfre Sigorta Tur Assist and SML Etiket resisters; Dev Tekstil, DGD-Sen, Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) Press Union, DİSK United Metal Workers Union, DİSK Dev Turizm-İş Marmara Branch, DİSK Progressive Construction Workers Union, DİSK Enerji-Sen, DİSK Limter-İş, Education and Science Laborers Union (Eğitim-Sen) İstanbul No.6 Universities' Şubesi, Construction Workers Union (İnşaat İş), İTK-Labor Force Association, Cafe-Bar Employees Solidarity, PTT-Sen and TOMİS.

(AÖ/SD)