Migros workers taken into custody
* Photo: DGD-Sen
Click to read the article in Turkish
A group of workers working at the warehouse of Migros, one of the biggest chains of supermarkets in Turkey, in Kocaeli joined the Warehouse Harbor Shipyard and Maritime Workers Union (DGD-Sen).
In response to this, they were first put on unpaid leave, then laid off with Code 29*, a legal way used by employers to dismiss workers despite the layoff ban amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
CLICK - 70 percent increase in dismissals with 'Code 29'
Protesting for their rights for 84 days since then, the workers gathered in front of the house of Tuncay Özilhan, the Chair of the Executive Board of Anadolu Group, which owns Migros supermarkets.
Attempting to make a statement for the press in front of his house in İstanbul's Beykoz district, 16 of the 24 workers have been detained.
Direnişimizin 86. gününde, Tuncay Özilhan'ın evinin önünde mahalleye özel çıkarılan eylem yasağı kararı gerekçe gösterilerek 16 Migros Direnişçisi gözaltına alındık.
— DGD-SEN (@DGDSEN) March 31, 2021
Kamuoyunu patronların karşısında, biz işçilerin yanında olmaya çağırıyoruz.#ÖzilhanaHuzurYok#MigrosDirenişi pic.twitter.com/oBn1icwZd8
The Sub-Governor's Office of Beykoz has recently imposed a ban on demonstrations, protest marches and press statements for 15 days in the Çubuklu Neighborhood, where Özilhan's house is located.
The workers protested in front of Tuncay Özilhan's house on March 29 as well. They were also taken into custody on that day.
*What is 'Code 29'?In an article on daily Evrensel, Sevda Karaca explains the "Code 29" in following words: "'Code 29', the legal 'exception' of the ban on dismissing workers during the pandemic has become the nightmare for the workers in Turkey. "What is this Code 29? "Employers have to give notice to the Social Security Institution within 10 days of the dismissal of a worker. The dismissed worker is given a code for the reason for dismissal on this notice. Code 29 shows that the employment contract had been terminated on the grounds that the employee exhibited 'behaviours that do not comply with the rules of ethics and goodwill' as listed in the second paragraph of Article 25 of the Labour Law. "This article, which bosses used extensively during the ban to dismiss workers [during Covid] is also an obstacle to benefiting from unemployment benefits. İŞKUR (Turkish Employment Agency) looks at the code when an application for unemployment benefit is made; if code 29 is entered benefits are not paid. Those dismissed under the code 29 also cannot receive short-time work allowance. "Code 29 is a brutal type of dismissal where the worker is not entitled to severance pay, notice pay and unemployment benefits." |
(HA/SD)