Due to privatization and contracting 35 food workers have been laid off from University hospitals in Ankara, Turkey
Due to privatization and contracting 35 food workers have been laid off from University hospitals in Ankara, Turkey.
The contracting firm has singled out the union member and union representatives for the layoff.
The union workers who have worked in their field ranging from 5 to 17 years were let go due to a presidential decree which allows contracting forms to supply food services to the hospitals.
The effected workers are from Ibni Sina and the Cebeci Research and Practice Hospitals.
The union, Dev Turizm İş, organized a press conference on the steps of the hospital where the workers demanded their jobs back. The banners read, “Contractors Kill the Workers, We will Win only by Unity.” The workers chanted, “We are not slaves, we are workers. We get powerful when we unite!”
Speaking at the event, Tayfun Görgün, the representative from Ankara of DISK, the Confederation of Progressive Labor Unions, said, “You cannot go on business as usual. This is a worker sacrifice. This is immoral, this is an attack. I am repeating again, if there is no work, there is no peace. I want all to know that we will continue our protests here and everywhere else.”
Speaking next, the manager of the Department of Organizing in the Dev Turizm İş, the union representing the workers, Tahir Ozan, expressed that the presidential decree allowing contracting in public hospitals has proven to give freedom to contracting forms to lay off workers at will.
None of the laid off workers have been cited for any wrongdoing or dereliction of duty. However, this move is seen as an attack on unionizing permitted with the presidential decree that goes beyond any labor law.
Sendika.Org News (M.B.)
