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"We are about 150 workers and office staff working for a Turkish company named Kayı Construction in the Sahara Desert, Algeria. The company has not paid the salaries of workers for 13 months and office staff for 15 months. We decided for a strike on November 28."
Civil engineer Melih Aldem, who has not been receiving his salary for 15 months, told bianet that they stopped working after not achieving a result in talks with the company's owner.
There are 150 workers from Turkey, 100 workers from Vietnam and 80 workers from Pakistan working at the construction site of a military hospital prject and none of them are receiving their salaries, Aldem said, adding that they will continue the strike until they get paid.
bianet was not able to reach an official from Kayı Construction by the company's telephone numbers.
The company is running a construction project named "Djanet Military Hotel" in a 10-thousand sqaure-meter area on the Sahara Desert, according to its website.
The website also says that the company is included in the ENR magazine's world's largest contractors list and awarded a prize for the ninth time for its success in the sector. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave them the award.
"Promises were not kept"
Aldem said that the company asked the workers for "flexible payments" after during the currency crisis that began in 2018. "We all accepted it but we didn't think that it would take this long."
The company also failed to pay the salaries in 2016 for five or six months in 2016 but made the payments later, he said. "This time, promises are not kept."
"Today is the 22th day of the strike. Office and white collar employees have not received a salary for 15 months and the workers have not received a salary for 13 months. We are trying to make our voices heard.
"Even parliamentary questions were submitted to the ministries of foreign affairs and labor but there was no response."
They are under pressure from the employer to end the strike and the project manager has left the construction site, Aldem noted.
The employees also spoke with the Kayı Construction's owner via teleconference at Turkey's embassy, Aldem said. "The boss says, 'Don't leave your jobs.' He offers to pay our salaries by installments but we have been hearing these for one-and-a-half years. Their promises are not persuasive anymore."
The employees have not filed a lawsuit yet, Aldem said, adding that legal cases take about two years. "There were ones who could not receive their salaries and filed a lawsuit but cases take too long. There are people who maintain their families with the salaries they receive here. It is difficult for them to wait for such a long time."
"This is the Sahara Desert"
Speaking about their working conditions, Aldem said it is "not bad."
"This is the Sahara Desert. [The temperatures] reach 50 degrees in summer but we accepted that coming here. In the construction sites abroad, there is usually one off-day in two weeks. Apart from that, workers have 30 days and office employees have 45 days of annual leave."
About Kayı Construction
In 1991, Kayı company started constructing industrial buildings. It operates with 6 thousand employees from different nationalities in 30 countries. Kayı Construction, Kayı International Investments and Bilyap Construction are the affiliates of Kayı Holding.
In 1994, the company's international activities started in Turkmenistan and extended to Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Ukraine, Lithuania, UAE, Bulgaria, Iraq and Libya.
It ranks consistently among one of the Top 250 International Contractors list from 2007 onwards. (AS/VK)
