TEKEL workers' strike is on its 36th day

[Blackice]

Tekel Workers Crack Heads of Union Confederation for General Strike

19 January 2010

Thousands of Tekel workers called for a general strike in Ankara after another protest march on Suday. The workers occupied the Türk-İş building after the unions federation executives had not made the expected announcement regarding a full scale strike.

Tekel workers, struggling for their rights since middle of December, surged to the platform and called for a full-scale strike after the speech of Kumlu, Chairman of the Turkish Confederation of Labour Unions (Türk-İş), who had remained silent on the topic of a general strike. The workers occupied the Türk-İş building after a demonstration on Sunday (17 January) and demanded chairman Kumlu either to resign or to declare a general strike.

The workers of Tekel, former monopoly holder of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, met for a protest march to carry on with their struggle against the loss of personal employers rights due to privatization in Ankara on Sunday morning. About 30,000 people came from other places of the country in order to support the protest. Several unions, business and special organizations, left-wing parties and groups participated as well in the demonstration.

Kumlu from Türk-İş referred to the government in his speech: “We come together at this place, we stand up united and remind you of what we are. Let’s say it did not work out, what else can we do? We will show you the red cart when the elections come”.

While Kumlu talked on the platform, the workers shouted the slogan “General strike, general resistance”. Tekel workers rushed to the platform subsequent the speech and demanded Kumlu to return, shouting “Türk-İş on duty for general strike”. After this, a confederation executive came to the podium and declared that all confederations apart from the Hak-İş Workers Union Confederation and the Public Workers Unions Confederation of Turkey (Kamu-Sen) will call for a full scale strike and a general resistance as soon as possible.

Future of 12,000 workers still uncertain

The 12,000 workers that will be made redundant in the course of privatization struggle against the loss of their personal employers rights and being transferred to 4-C staff, which would mean the abdication of social security. The government did not take any steps against privatization so far.

Türk-İş supports the workers by interrupting work for one hour every Friday. The protest march entitled “Democracy and Rights for Labour, Peace and Freedom” on Sunday was part of this struggle. Additionally, Tekel workers had initiated a three days sit-down strike from Friday till the demonstration on Sunday.

The protest march was furthermore supported by the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK), the Confederation of Trade Unions of Public Employees (KESK), the Turkish Doctors Association (TBB), and the Turkey Union of Chambers of Architects and Engineers (TMMOB).

The privatization process in Tekel was initiated in 2001. Later on, the sections of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes were demerged. The privatization process for alcoholic beverages was completed in 2008 and sold to Mey Beverages.

8 out of 17 factories for alcoholic beverages were closed down in the course of the privatization. 1,700 workers out of a total of 3,631 were transferred to Mey, the other ones left the company. In 2009, the number of workers decreased to 323 people, less than 10 percent of the original number of staff.

The cigarette section was bought by British American Tobacco (BAT) in 2008. There were 477,000 tobacco manufacturers in 2001. By 2008, the number had decrease by 3 fifth to 194,000. Currently, the sections of tobacco leaves and salt processing are being privatized. Tekel employs 12,000 workers now, compared to 31,000 employees in 2001. (EÜ/VK Bianet)
Erhan ÜSTÜNDAĞ ([email protected])
AHM-ATİK News Center



by the way here is a message from Stockholm to tekel workers:
""Carry on the struggle! You have thousands and thousands of fellow working class brothers and sisters all around the world who stand by your side. Your victory will be ours too. Keep it up comrades.

Left Students Union of Stockholm / Vänsterns studentförbund Stockholm"


and it is said that you can send messages to striking workers via marxist.com, with mailing your message to "[email protected]"

[Devrim]

You can find further information on the TEKEL struggle in this article on our website:
http://en.internationalism.org/icconline/2010/01/tekel-turkey

For those who can read Turkish you can find more detailed coverage here on our Turkish page:
http://tr.internationalism.org/

Devrim

[cyu]

You can find further information on the TEKEL struggle in this article on our website:
http://en.internationalism.org/icconline/2010/01/tekel-turkey

Thanks for the info, and nice pic:

http://en.internationalism.org/files/en/images/2010TekelTurkey.jpg

[Die Neue Zeit]

Turkish-German MP impressed by Tekel workers' strike (http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkish-german-mp-impressed-by-tekel-workers-strike-2010-02-03)

A member of the German Bundestag for two consecutive terms, Sevim Dağdelen, says she never dreamed of becoming a career parliamentarian. She says there is racism and policies of isolation in every society and admits she is not an exception as a daughter of an immigrant family with roots in Turkey. 'I am here not because of easy conditions but despite the difficulties. Isn't life full of challenges?' she says

The determined strike of workers at Tekel, the former state-owned alcohol and tobacco monopoly, and the closure of a pro-Kurdish party by a top Constitutional Court have drawn a female German politician to Turkey this week in a show of solidarity.

Sevim Dağdelen of the German Left Party (Die Linke), who has family roots in Turkey and has secured a seat in the Bundestag for a second consecutive term, first visited striking workers in Ankara. The Tekel workers have been staying in tents there for more than a month and a half despite the cold and snow as they fight to defend their jobs and wages.

“This is an extraordinary struggle; very big, very determined. Despite the snow and winter, this protest is ongoing on Ankara’s streets,” Dağdelen told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in an interview.

“For me, it is very impressive. I have never seen such a fight. The opening of a tent city in the heart of Ankara and the show of solidarity by the locals are both magnificent,” she said.

‘Remarkable fight’

The German parliamentarian spent up to four hours Monday with the striking workers at their tents, listening to their concerns and their expectations from the government. As part of its privatization policy, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, sold the Tekel company to the multinational firm British American Tobacco, or BAT, in 2008. Some 12,000 workers are at risk of having their wages cut and ending up in a temporary job.

A daughter of an immigrant worker family in Germany, Dağdelen welcomed the Tekel workers’ resistance as a “remarkable fight at the European level against privatization.” Asked if such large-scale protests are common in Europe, she said, “There are, of course, demonstrations and protest marches in Europe, but I haven’t witnessed such a strike.”

Her encounter with one of the striking workers, a man from the southeastern city of Batman, deeply affected the German deputy.

“I met with Hüseyin Bey in the tent of the strikers from Batman. He told me that while he was here in Ankara to protest, he was informed of his child’s debilitating health condition. He traveled to Batman to visit his 14-year-old daughter, who later died. He buried her and then joined the strike again. That is really impressive,” Dağdelen said.

MP criticizes AKP’s privatization policies

Commenting on the Turkish government’s approach, the deputy said governments are usually ignorant or indifferent.

“Now, of course, the [government officials] try to see the dimension of the struggle. They might have thought at the beginning that it would be like 2008, but they had to show interest as the protest lasted longer this time,” she said. “In fact, even this is an accomplishment. The situation of Tekel workers occupies not only the government’s agenda but the agenda of the entire nation now.”

Noting that even the taxi driver who brought her from the airport was talking about the Tekel workers, Dağdelen said, “This means the protest has been heard by large masses and a public opinion has been created.”

The German politician expressed her hope that the AKP government would take the necessary steps to provide the workers with decent education, decent wages and insurance.

“The whole world is living through the biggest economic slump of the last 80 years. This is the crisis of capitalism. The current crisis has clearly shown privatization policies are extremely wrong,” said Dağdelen. “The privatization policies rapidly pursued by the AKP government here in recent years are striking. Thus, I see the struggle of the Tekel workers against privatization as a fight that will shed a light for workers in Germany and [elsewhere in] Europe.”

‘Party closure a heavy penalty’

In Ankara, Dağdelen also participated in the party congress of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, which drew many former members of the Democratic Society Party, or DTP, after that party was banned by the top Constitutional Court for links to terrorism.

“After the DTP’s closure in December, the [German] Left Party parliamentary group made a statement that condemned the ban in a show of solidarity with the democratic Kurds,” Dağdelen said. “A political party’s closure is not a first in Turkey’s history; dozens of parties have been banned and this is really a heavy penalty. There aren’t that many bans in Europe. It is not that simple. There is a need for a deep-rooted correction in Turkey. The law on political parties should be amended.”

After the DTP’s closure, the Left Party’s parliamentary group made a demand to the German government that Turkey change its law on political parties, and that the country’s EU negotiations be halted unless the law is changed.

Link between party closure, EU talks

Dağdelen said her party had expressed similar concerns during the AKP’s closure case in 2008. “Not only the Left Party, but all of European governments followed that case,” she said, complaining that while top EU officials warned that that Turkey’s accession talks could be suspended if the AKP was closed down, they refrained from criticizing the DTP closure.

“There are international agreements to improve minority rights in Turkey. The Copenhagen criteria are among them and they should be fulfilled,” she said. “That is not only for Turkey’s membership in the EU, but because Turkey needs to make progress in democracy and human rights. Turkey itself should feel such a need and change its law on parties.”

Dağdelen added, “The court ruling [on the DTP’s closure] is upsetting also because Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had launched a democratic initiative to resolve the Kurdish problem and the decision could cause a delay in that move.”

‘DTP closure ruling includes contradictions’

The German politician criticized the court verdict and said it was “missing” evidence in proving the DTP’s links with violence and terror and “contradictory.”

“For example, Ahmet Türk followed a more moderate, more open pro-dialogue policy and was banned from politics by the court,” she said. “When we have a look at the intra-party powers fighting in the DTP, those in favor of dialogue and seeking political solutions were banned. That is a contradiction.”

‘Life is not in parliaments but on streets’

The deputy added that she has never seen her service as a member of parliament as a career, but as a responsibility. “I never dreamed or wished to become a deputy,” she told the Daily News. “On the contrary, I always say life is not in parliaments or political parties but on the streets, at work and in schools and universities.”

“Decisions are made there,” she added. “Life never changes based on decisions made in parliaments; life changes with actions. Where is the action? It is not in parliament but at work, at schools. Workers, students are all in action. I come from among them.”

Being a deputy despite challenges

Born in Duisburg in 1975, Dağdelen is from a family with six children. Her father moved to Germany from Turkey in 1973, followed by her mother in 1974. As her father was the family’s only provider of income, she had to start working as a cleaner at a German airport on the weekends when she was 16 years old.

Dağdelen studied law first at the University of Marburg, then at Adelaide University and later at the University of Cologne. After joining the Left Party, she became a member of the regional-level party council of North Rhine-Westphalia and the federal student agency from 1996 to 1998. From 1993 to 2001, she was a member of the federal youth commission. She has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2005 and is also a member of the Democratic Workers’ Clubs Federation.

Asked if she faced any difficulty in German politics because of her immigrant background, Dağdelen said there is racism and policies of isolation toward immigrants in every society. “Thus my family and I faced such difficulties, but my position as a deputy in parliament is not because of the presence of easy conditions but despite the difficulties,” she said. “Isn’t every walk of life full of challenges? We need to overcome them.”

[ls]

There was a solidarity protest yesterday, outside the London Turkish embassy, organised by several UK Turkish and Kurdish community centres along with the SWP and CWI:

http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/8777
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=20136

Also, alpinists pronounced support for TEKEL workers on top of Mt. Ararat, on the Turkish-Armenian border: http://i.news.am/i/b/f/f6c857d34b6da7d74bb94e453339b422.jpg (http://news.am/en/news/13661.html)

[cyu]

I'm getting the impression that this is more significant that I had previously thought, based on my (probably faulty) reading of the earlier articles. Can someone provide more info on just how significant this is and the level of political transformation that has already happened and may happen?

[Devrim]

I am going to write on it in English tonight. I will post later.

Devrim

[Kayser_Soso]

This is very serious. I was with the TEKEL workers on New Year's Eve. Despite what's going on, their morale was high. This seems to have a major cultural significance as well because according to my comrades, many of these workers are Kurdish, and the strike is bringing all these groups together.

[Devrim]

This is very serious. I was with the TEKEL workers on New Year's Eve.

Really, I was there too. Did you see the simitci dancing with his table on his head?

Devrim

[Kayser_Soso]

Really, I was there too. Did you see the simitci dancing with his table on his head?

Devrim

I saw a lot of people dancing to the halay, but I didn't notice anyone with a table on his head. I took a couple short videos but I doubt I could pick that out.

[Blackice]

This is very serious. I was with the TEKEL workers on New Year's Eve. Despite what's going on, their morale was high. This seems to have a major cultural significance as well because according to my comrades, many of these workers are Kurdish, and the strike is bringing all these groups together.

Yes, the strike is really serious, but it is kept underrated by the media. I think that they are fearing the strike getting more powerful. Also some strategies were used to divide Turkish and Kurdish workers by not letting workers from Kurdish cities to Ankara, the capital city. Of course they had to let Kurdish workers in, with the help of the Turkish workers and the dream of dividing workers by using ethnic difference shattered.

[Saorsa]

Is there some bank account or adress that people can send money to in solidarity with the strike? I don't know how the financial situation is for you guys, but from all my experience there's never enough money and it always helps.