Police detained 110 miners and union officials today outside the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry in Ankara, where mine workers were protesting for unpaid wages and severance pay, according to the Independent Mine Workers’ Union (Bağımsız Maden İş).
The workers, employed by the Doruk Madencilik mining company, a subsidiary of Yıldızlar SSS Holding, had set out on foot from the adjacent province of Eskişehir on Apr 12 and reached the ministry yesterday, on the ninth day of their march.
The union says the workers were owed two to eight months of pay.
The miners are demanding payment of unpaid wages and compensation. They are also calling for an end to enforced unpaid leave, working conditions that comply with occupational health and safety rules, and the reinstatement of workers dismissed over union activity.
“While we were waiting to find a counterpart in front of the Energy Ministry, the response was to detain our 110 friends,” the union said. “We are miners, we are not intimidated by detentions, and we will continue from where we left off when we get out. As we said before, we came to Ankara with our shrouds, and we are here.”
One protester, who began shivering severely during the detention, was admitted to a hospital, said the union.
After the workers arrived in Ankara the yesterday, police had used pepper spray against them, although a limited group had been allowed to walk to the ministry.
'The owner was on his yacht'
Umut Akdoğan, an MP from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was with the workers yesterday and criticized the company’s management.
“When I visited the mine, the owner was on his yacht in Bodrum. This is unacceptable,” Akdoğan said, adding that the problem of irregular payments had continued for nearly 10 years and that the workers’ patience had run out after months without any pay.
Mert Batur, a lawyer for the union, told Evrensel newspaper that the workers wanted a platform for negotiations with ministries and parliament. Batur alleged that political and administrative authorities had long protected Yıldızlar SSS Holding owner Sebahattin Yıldız despite knowing of the workers’ grievances.
“They have developed a slave-like working regime unique to themselves,” Batur said. “The Labor Ministry cannot function while ignoring this, and the Energy Ministry cannot function without seeing this situation.”
Doruk Madencilik was seized by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) in 2016 and was later purchased by Yıldızlar SSS Holding in 2022. (VC/VK)
