Solidarity grows with striking Baldur workers
Solidarity with Baldur workers in Kocaeli is growing in many parts of the country. There is also meaningful solidarity with striking workers from abroad.
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Fotoğraf: Evrensel
Solidarity with Baldur workers in Kocaeli is growing in many parts of the country. There is also meaningful solidarity with striking workers from abroad. Stating that they are in solidarity with Baldur workers, Mercedes workers from Germany collected financial aid for the workers and delivered it with the help of the Labour Party (EMEP).
Labour Party Istanbul Provincial Chairman Arzu Erkan said, "Our party, which is part of the world's working class and the struggle for liberation is responsible for organising Baldur’s solidarity and fighting together for the strike. In a neighbourhood in Kocaeli, a factory in Gebze, or any county in Turkey, as well as being responsible for organising internationally for unity and struggle.”
DEMONSTRATION BY MERCEDES WORKERS
With the call of the Democratic Workers' Associations Federation (DIDF) in Germany, a group of metalworkers working in Mercedes Sindelfingen took action in solidarity with Baldur workers who had already been on strike for a month. The financial support collected by the workers among themselves was delivered to the workers by the Labour Party (EMEP) Kocaeli Provincial Organisation.
In Stuttgart, workers handed out leaflets explaining the situation of the Baldur workers who produce products for the Mercedes factory, in front of the Mercedes Mettingen and Untertürkheim factories during their noon shift. Workers who made statements here also carried a banner saying "Solidarity is our power" and the remittances where the demands of the workers were written. Dozens of workers asked questions and were informed about the obstacles to unionization in Turkey.
SOLIDARITY MESSAGE FROM SPAIN
The Spanish Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (PCE m-l), a member of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations (CIPOML), sent a message of solidarity to the Spanish-owned Baldur Suspension workers who were on strike for their rights.
The message of the PCE m-l included the following statements:
“As the Spanish Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (PCE m-l), we fully support the struggle of the struggling workers of Baldur Suspension against layoffs and anti-union practices.
“The Spanish capital has been trying to incur the costs of its competition in the international market on the workers for years. Today, they are doing this very thing to the Turkish workers who no doubt have the determination and tenacity to fight it.
“As you have in many other events, we know that you will be victorious from this struggle and that even the collaborators of the Erdogan regime will not break your will.
"We, like the rest of the Spanish working class, are with you in this struggle for our rights as a class at the international level, so as not to allow the capitalists to destroy our organisations and our rights."
ARTIST SOLIDARITY
The Baldur workers were visited by Hakkı Özdal, Editor of "Yeni e" Magazine and Artist Haluk Tolga İlhan. The workers, who danced with İlhan's folk songs, shouted solidarity slogans. Özdal and İlhan later visited Migros Depo workers in the resistance and gave them strength for their struggle.
Welcomed in Baldur with the slogans "We are workers, we are right, we will win" and "Long live our Baldur strike", Yeni e Magazine Editor Hakkı Özdal and Artist Haluk Tolga İlhan drank tea and chatted with the workers in the strike tent.
“WE ARTISTS ALSO HAVE A DUTY”
Addressing the workers before the folk songs he sang, Haluk Tolga İlhan said, "We were greeted with a very nice feeling. I am also a workplace representative at the State Opera myself. We are a member of KESK Cultur Sanat-Sen. We wanted to offer you our support. It has given us great strength to see the working class in solidarity and supporting each other. It is important to see this strike to the end. We, the artists, have a duty here as well. We have to tell your story. We will try to make your voice heard. Solidarity with you is something us artists should be doing.”
LAWYERS CAME TO SUPPORT
Lawyers for Democracy (DİH) visited Baldur workers on the 27th day of their strike and Migros Depo workers who were on the 16th day of their resistance.
Speaking on behalf of DİH during his Baldur strike visit, Lawyer Ahmet Ergin said, "Lawyers for Democracy, is an attorney, a law group. We act together with our colleagues from different provinces of Turkey. We wanted to visit you, offer our support, and to inform you that we are with you. This visit had to be a symbolic one due to the pandemic conditions, and we bring greetings from all our friends who could not come. We wanted to make a small contribution to your strike fund.
THE LABOUR PARTY DID NOT LEAVE THE WORKERS ALONE
Labour Party Chairman Ercument Akdeniz, who did not leave the workers alone since the first day of the strike, visited the workers on the first day of their strike. Akdeniz, who later visited the workers again, emphasized that “with solidarity, we will win the struggle even with these pandemic conditions”, emphasizing that it is important for the Baldur workers to win.
Labour Party Kocaeli Provincial Chairman Arzu Erkan also stood by the workers in all solidarity visits. (EVRENSEL DAILY)
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