Workers employed by various subsidiaries of the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality staged a protest, including a barefoot march, after receiving incomplete November wages and not receiving supplementary social rights payments for four months.
The workers gathered outside the DİSK General Workers' Union (Genel-İş) İzmir branches building. They carried a banner stating, "We are walking barefoot against a bare wage."
The protestors removed their shoes and marched from Mürselpaşa Boulevard to Kültürpark’s 9 Eylül Gate. During the march, workers chanted slogans and waved their shoes in the air.
The Metropolitan Municipality of İzmir, Turkey's third-largest city, is controlled by the main oppostion Republican People's Party (CHP).
Only bare wages paid
Ercan Gül, head of the Genel-İş İzmir Branch No. 2, told reporters at the 9 Eylül Gate that 23,000 workers had received incomplete wages and social benefits. He described this situation as their rights being "usurped."
Gül said that despite months of negotiations with the municipality administration, no concrete payment schedule had been announced.
"For days, municipality bureaucrats were saying, 'there is no problem with the wages,' but on the day before the wage payment, news appeared in some media outlets that 'the laborers' wages will be paid as bare wages'," Gül stated. "When we called, we were informed that this news was true."
"With this attack on our wages, we have become unable to pay our rent, loans, and bills. This attitude has exhausted our patience and deliberately pushed the worker onto the streets."
İzmir Municipality workers stage protest march amid ongoing strike
He affirmed that their actions were "legal and legitimate," adding, "We want it to be known that the action we have started is not only for our wages but also for our social rights, which have not been paid on time for four months."
"If a concrete payment is not made regarding our social rights, our actions will continue," Gül said. "We will not obtain our rights by waiting but by fighting. Today, we are raising our voices by stopping work for half a day at all our workplaces since the morning hours."
He concluded with a warning: "Unless the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality takes us seriously, makes a payment plan for our rights, and secures our job security, we will resolutely escalate our de facto and legitimate struggle."
Engin Topal, the head of Genel-İş İzmir Branch No. 1, announced that the protests would continue for a week, noting a five-day action plan.
"The buses did not stop today. Some of our critical jobs also did not stop. We did not disrupt our work or the public," Topal said. "However, we have a five-day action plan." (HA/VK)
