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Dismissed from their jobs without any severance pay or put on unpaid leave on the grounds that they became the members of United Metal Workers' Union, the workers of Systemair HSK, Özer Electricity and Baldur factories wanted to hold a protest march from Gebze, an industrial town in Kocaeli, to the capital city of Ankara today (November 24).
Police attacked the march, detaining 99 people, including the workers and union executives as well as the members and representatives of other unions and political parties who were there to support the workers.
Making a statement after the police intervention, the United Metal Workers' Union has announced that they will once again meet in front of the Gebze Branch of the union at 10 in the morning tomorrow, expressing their determination to march to the capital city of Ankara.
#Ankarayürüyüşü için Gebze'de toplanan #metal işçilerini polis darp ederek gözaltına aldı. Polis, basının görüntü almasını da engelledi. pic.twitter.com/ebBztvYDPs
— BİRLESİK METAL-İŞ (@BirlesikMetal) November 24, 2020
Police intervened when workers wanted to march
In morning hours today, workers gathered in front of the Gebze Branch of the union and wanted to march from Gebze to Ankara in protest. However, referring to the pandemic measures of the Governor's Office, the police surrounded the workers who had gathered there.
While workers opened a banner that read, "We want the right to unionize", they were attacked by the police when they attempted to march.
In the ensuing commotion, eight people, including workers and union executives, were taken into custody first.
Ankara’ya yürümek isteyen metal işçileri, genel merkez, şube yöneticilerimiz ve dayanışma için yanımızda olan emek dostları gözaltında. pic.twitter.com/5YvpSFJmw5
— BİRLESİK METAL-İŞ (@BirlesikMetal) November 24, 2020
'You are obligated to implement the laws'
United Metal Workers' Union Chair Adnan Serdaroğlu made a statement. "Our problem is not with fellow police officers. We are trying to claim our dismissed friends, we are trying to raise awareness against employers," said Serdaroğlu, adding that "they rightly wanted to march." He also said that "it was not them, but the police officers who were violating the pandemic rules."
Further in his statement, Serdaroğlu said, "A shame is unfolding in the largest and most developed industrial site of Turkey and the ones who are now turning a blind eye to it will answer for this."
Serdaroğlu added, "They say, 'Wheels must turn, workers must work despite COVID. If workers catch the disease in a factory, they must keep working in quarantine.' Workers have a much higher risk of catching COVID than all other segments of the society. These workers are condemned to low wages, put on unpaid leave or dismissed because they use their Constitutional rights and become members of a union."
Calling on the Minister of Labor, the union chair said that "the minister was obliged to implement the laws," underlining that "workers were faced with all types of pressure because they became union members."
Fehmi Elmacı, the Secretary of the union's Gebze Branch, also said that "unpaid leave was now used as a stick against workers."
They were taken in municipality busses
In the ensuing commotion between the police and protesters, workers staged a sit-in protest in front of the union's building. While the sit-in was still ongoing, busses of Gebze Municipality arrived in the area.
Afterwards, the police detained the group by force and took them to the Gebze District Security Directorate in municipality's busses.
Aralarında genel başkanımız ve merkez yöneticilerimizin de bulunduğu 60/70 metal işçisi gözaltına alındı pic.twitter.com/Zm9vOFRjV7
— BİRLESİK METAL-İŞ (@BirlesikMetal) November 24, 2020
Governor's Office has banned events, demonstrations
On the other side, before the workers' protest today, the Governor's Office of Kocali released a statement and banned meetings, demonstrations and marches to take place in Kocaeli for 30 days by referring to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as the reason for the ban.
Accordingly, citing the Article 17 of the Law no. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations, the Governor's Office of Kocaeli has banned protest demonstrations and open-air meetings from 12 a.m. on November 22 to 12 a.m. on December 21 "with the aim of curbing the spread of the disease." (HA/SD)
