10000s join nationwide strike in Turkey

Tens of thousands of Turkish workers and civil servants have held a one-day nationwide strike in support of protesting Tekel workers.

On Thursday, six major labor unions, opposition party members, and activists throughout the country spilled out into the streets to back the workers from Tekel, in central Ankara, who have been protesting changes to their working statuses for almost two months, but to no avail.

There were disruptions of public services, especially in transport, in practically every town. The largest crowds were in Izmir, with 20,000 and Ankara, with 15,000.

Union members from the state-run Anatolia news agency held a one-hour strike. Municipal buses operated by union members were also brought to a halt as the drivers joined the strike.

Mustafa Kumlu, the chairman of the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions, held a press conference in front of the Union headquarters in Ankara where Tekel workers have been protesting against the government’s refusal to meet their demands for 53 days.

Addressing the workers, Kumlu said the action was not political nor against the government and urged Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other ministers to visit Tekel workers so they can get an understanding of their problems.

Erdogan responded by saying that the Tekel workers’ action was ideological and illegal.

According to Turkish law, workers are not allowed to hold a general strike or organize a strike in solidarity with others workers.

“We plan to use police intervention when the time frame we granted them to accept the 4/C status runs out next month,” the Turkish prime minister told reporters in Ankara on Thursday.

Tekel workers officially became unemployed as of January 31 when the government closed the state-owned Tekel units that were not privatized. The government paid workers their severance pay and gave them a month to accept work at other public institutions under Article 4/C of law no. 657, which regulates the working conditions of public employees.