Shipyard workers: Enough is enough!*
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Tuzla is the biggest shipyard of Istanbul. It consists of private firms who exploit the workers very intensively. The shipyard workers have no social rights, no social security, even no life security. Tens of thousands of workers work in the yard but not more than one thousand are registered and have social insurance. Every month several workers get injured or die as a result of "work accidents". In fact, rather than 'accidents', these are inevitable results of the flexible and lean production which is applied ruthlessly in the yard. The bosses make no spending on job security which is a fatal situation for a work branch like shipyards. The workers in the yard are divided into hundreds of small sub-contracting firms, even which give parts of the work to individual sub-contractors.

On the 14th of June, another "job accident" occured in which one worker died and five heavily injured.

This thursday (16th June6) early in the morning, thousands of shipyard workers laid their work off and marched towards the main street of the shipyard with the call of their labour union, Limter-Is . Their number grew bigger and bigger as they marched beneath shipyards, and when they reached the Torgem shipyard, where the "accident" occured, their quantity was more than 4 thousands.

The shipyards street was closed by the workers for three hours, which also semi- paralized the main highway of Istanbul, E-5. The road cuts are a form of struggle our working class is proggressively using in its fight against exploitation, privatization and neoliberal assault. This form of struggle raised from Latin American jobless workers movement, and transferred to our country mainly by vanguard, revolutionary forces.

Also, the production in the yard stopped for three hours.

Thousands of shipyard workers joined their silent anger in a big, angry march: Ya Basta, Enough is enough! The workers demanded work security, reduction of the working hours, improvement of the harsh working conditions, and the recognition of the Limter Is union by the shipyard bosses, in their slogans.

The Presindent of the union, Cem Dinc, made a statement in front of the shipyard where the 'accident' occured. Dinc criticised the exploitation system of the bosses which results in dead and wounded workers and said "We don't want to die while working. We want humanitarian working conditions. We want a just, humane life. We want the right for organizing to all of the workers. We want social insurance. The bosses are repressing the right of organizing. Tuzla is a heaven for the bosses, but a hell for the workers."

The Deputy president of the Revolutionary Workers' Confe-deration DISK , Adnan Serdar-oglu and president of Leather Workers Union Tuzla branch Hasan Sonkaya made speeches addressing the workers.

"We reject the old, bureaucratic type of labor unionism"

Limter Is (Dock and Shipyard Workers Union) is a revolutionary labour union which had been subject to many attacks of the bosses and the state. They are trying to organize in the yard since more than 10 years. But still they couldn't gain the right to sign collective contract with the bosses. Whenever they get organised in one company, immedeately the bosses throw the workers out. Against the strike of the workers, the bosses receive a lot of material support from the State. The conditions of the shipyard is another major obstacle because very few workers are registered, while nearly 85-90 per cent are working unregistered.

The union's education specialist, and a well-known political workersB4 leader Suleiman Yeter was killed by the police under custody in the 7th of March 1999. In his trial, only one policemen got a strange punishment.

The president of the union, Cem Dinc, told that, "The story of the workers in Tuzla shipyards are also the history of millions of workers all around the world. The imperialist globalization process destroyed social rights and securities of the workers. Divided the workplaces into micro-pieces. But I also now that every where around the world, our worker comrades are organizing. They are trying to rip off this capitalist blockade and organize in a new and class strugglist manner.

"Our union rejects the old, bureaucratic type of labor unionism. Our union depends on the initiative of the base. Our struggle depends not on legality but legitimacy. We do not limit ourselves by the laws that the ruling class put. Our struggle depends not on workplace-type organization but workyard-type organization. We organize not only in the shipyard but also the neighbourhoods in which the workers live.

"We learn from our comrades in Argentina and Bolivia the method of road cutting and apply it. We also learn from the Spanish shipyard workers' militant struggle. I want to send our shipyard workers' salute to Spanish and Latin American workers. Adelante compaF1eros, we will win!"

* This article is taken from www.atilim.org
 

 

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Shipyard workers: Enough is enough!*
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Tuzla is the biggest shipyard of Istanbul. It consists of private firms who exploit the workers very intensively. The shipyard workers have no social rights, no social security, even no life security. Tens of thousands of workers work in the yard but not more than one thousand are registered and have social insurance. Every month several workers get injured or die as a result of "work accidents". In fact, rather than 'accidents', these are inevitable results of the flexible and lean production which is applied ruthlessly in the yard. The bosses make no spending on job security which is a fatal situation for a work branch like shipyards. The workers in the yard are divided into hundreds of small sub-contracting firms, even which give parts of the work to individual sub-contractors.

On the 14th of June, another "job accident" occured in which one worker died and five heavily injured.

This thursday (16th June6) early in the morning, thousands of shipyard workers laid their work off and marched towards the main street of the shipyard with the call of their labour union, Limter-Is . Their number grew bigger and bigger as they marched beneath shipyards, and when they reached the Torgem shipyard, where the "accident" occured, their quantity was more than 4 thousands.

The shipyards street was closed by the workers for three hours, which also semi- paralized the main highway of Istanbul, E-5. The road cuts are a form of struggle our working class is proggressively using in its fight against exploitation, privatization and neoliberal assault. This form of struggle raised from Latin American jobless workers movement, and transferred to our country mainly by vanguard, revolutionary forces.

Also, the production in the yard stopped for three hours.

Thousands of shipyard workers joined their silent anger in a big, angry march: Ya Basta, Enough is enough! The workers demanded work security, reduction of the working hours, improvement of the harsh working conditions, and the recognition of the Limter Is union by the shipyard bosses, in their slogans.

The Presindent of the union, Cem Dinc, made a statement in front of the shipyard where the 'accident' occured. Dinc criticised the exploitation system of the bosses which results in dead and wounded workers and said "We don't want to die while working. We want humanitarian working conditions. We want a just, humane life. We want the right for organizing to all of the workers. We want social insurance. The bosses are repressing the right of organizing. Tuzla is a heaven for the bosses, but a hell for the workers."

The Deputy president of the Revolutionary Workers' Confe-deration DISK , Adnan Serdar-oglu and president of Leather Workers Union Tuzla branch Hasan Sonkaya made speeches addressing the workers.

"We reject the old, bureaucratic type of labor unionism"

Limter Is (Dock and Shipyard Workers Union) is a revolutionary labour union which had been subject to many attacks of the bosses and the state. They are trying to organize in the yard since more than 10 years. But still they couldn't gain the right to sign collective contract with the bosses. Whenever they get organised in one company, immedeately the bosses throw the workers out. Against the strike of the workers, the bosses receive a lot of material support from the State. The conditions of the shipyard is another major obstacle because very few workers are registered, while nearly 85-90 per cent are working unregistered.

The union's education specialist, and a well-known political workersB4 leader Suleiman Yeter was killed by the police under custody in the 7th of March 1999. In his trial, only one policemen got a strange punishment.

The president of the union, Cem Dinc, told that, "The story of the workers in Tuzla shipyards are also the history of millions of workers all around the world. The imperialist globalization process destroyed social rights and securities of the workers. Divided the workplaces into micro-pieces. But I also now that every where around the world, our worker comrades are organizing. They are trying to rip off this capitalist blockade and organize in a new and class strugglist manner.

"Our union rejects the old, bureaucratic type of labor unionism. Our union depends on the initiative of the base. Our struggle depends not on legality but legitimacy. We do not limit ourselves by the laws that the ruling class put. Our struggle depends not on workplace-type organization but workyard-type organization. We organize not only in the shipyard but also the neighbourhoods in which the workers live.

"We learn from our comrades in Argentina and Bolivia the method of road cutting and apply it. We also learn from the Spanish shipyard workers' militant struggle. I want to send our shipyard workers' salute to Spanish and Latin American workers. Adelante compaF1eros, we will win!"

* This article is taken from www.atilim.org