The Shipyard Workers’ Union Association (TIB DER) announced yesterday (12 February) that yet another shipyard worker has lost his life.
After the death of Metin Turan at the Sahin steal shipyard on 4 February, there were accidents at the Sedef and Dearsan shipyards on 9 February. The workers were seriously injured and are still being treated.
Cevat Toy, the latest victim, was in his 20s and from Batman in the southeast of Turkey. After lunch yesterday (12 February), his colleagues at the Dearsan shipyard told the administration that they could not contact him. According to TIB DER, the authorities said, “Don’t worry” and brushed aside the issue.
After relatives searched for him for hours, Toy was found to have fallen into a ship’s boiler room. Iron sheets had become lodged in his body. When a medical unit arrived at the site, Toy was still living. However, his heart failed later.
Toy had been working on a repair ship called Sakarya. The TIB DER association alleges that shipyard guards tried to prevent their members from viewing the boiler room. Only after a long stand-off where they allowed in.
On Sunday (10 February), shipyard workers had organised a protest at Taksim Square to demand work safety and humane working conditions. They had also threatened with a strike.
The Turkish shipbuilding industry has become very successful internationally, but there has been a shocking record of accidents and lives lost.
According to TIB DER, around 100 workers have died on shipyards since 1985, fifty alone since 2001.
The workers demand the following: