The tenure of the newly elected mayor of İstanbul’s Şişli district, Resul Emrah Şahan's tenure in İstanbul began with dismissals, as 48 workers were terminated from their positions on the grounds that they were hired "prior to the elections."
Of the 48 dismissed workers, 18 have been staging a sit-in protest and hunger strike in front of the municipal building since April 15, which concluded today with positive outcomes.
Following discussions between Zeynel Yiğit, the President of the General Services Workers' Union (Genel-İş) affiliated with DİSK, and municipal authorities today, a decision was made to reinstate the workers.
Zeynel Yiğit told bianet that the 18 workers would be gradually reinstated over the course of a month.
One of the workers, who was dismissed while working in the Transportation Services Directorate of Şişli Municipality, expressed, "For four days, we resisted, and today our union president brought us good news. He said we would be reinstated. We are happy. We are experiencing the rightful pride of winning through resistance. We are waiting, hopeful. We will return to our jobs with our 18 colleagues." (AD/VK)