Nearly 2,000 miners laid off after privatization of Manisa coal mine
The privatization process of the Işıklar coal mine in the Soma district of Manisa has been completed, resulting in the dismissal of nearly 2,000 miners, daily Evrensel reported. The workers have been officially notified that their contracts would have been terminated as of Jul 9.
The state-owned Turkish Coal Operations (TKİ) received an initial payment of 48.6 million liras (~1.04 million US dollars) from Soma Kartal Kömür İşletmeleri AŞ, the buying company, for the transaction.
The Yeni Anadolu AŞ company, where the TKİ is a majority stakeholder, was operating the mine under a royalty contract. The company's board stated that the legal rights of the dismissed workers will be paid in full, and all entitlements will be paid in a single cash installment at the end of the mediation meetings.
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The authorized union at the mine, the Mine Workers Union of Turkey (Türkiye Maden-İş), affiliated with the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş), has not yet issued a statement regarding the layoffs.
During the privatization process in 2026, the union had stated that they would defend the jobs, livelihoods, and social rights of the workers, and that they would take action in case of any grievance. (AEK/VK)