24 April 2021 20:10
As Gebze Association of Trade Unions, we said that if we cannot celebrate 1 May in the squares, then we will turn every factory in which we are organized into a May Day rally.
Serpil İLGÜN
ISTANBUL
The pandemic, which did not pose an obstacle at cult leader funerals and ruling party congresses attended by the Interior Minister, who is in charge of the implementation of the Covid restrictions, with thousands of people, has been remembered when it came to celebrating May 1st, the day of international unity, solidarity and struggle for workers. Not only its celebration but also its preparation is banned. Nevertheless May Day preparations are underway for widespread and mass celebration this year, as they were last year.
We discussed the situation in the factory, preparations and demands of May 1st with Ferdi Gülkırmızı, the chief shop steward at Nedex Factory, where the trade union Petrol-İş is organized in Gebze.
Emphasizing that as Gebze Association of Trade Unions (GATU), they will celebrate May 1st in all organized factories, Gülkırmızı said, “A wave at the base also changes the attitude on the top level. It's all about the worker at the base. The workers are not aware of their power. The workers can change the union, the presidents and even the government. As long as we can raise this awareness.”
Let's get to know you first.
I'm 28 years old. I've been working for 12 years. I'm not married, I live with my parents.
When did you get into Nedex?
I got in it in 2016. We produce a chemical that prevents the passing of cold and heat from inside and outside. Since 2015, our factory workers have been organized in Petrol-Iş. In 2018, I was elected as the chief shop steward.
Can you tell us about your working conditions?
It was bad before the union came in. There are senior workers who have been employed here for 18 to 19 years, they say that the previous conditions were difficult, that they always worked manually, and when it came to wages or social rights, that they were suffering a lot. Our pioneering colleagues from the shifts got together, lowered the switches for eight hours to get the union into the factory, fought back, and finally managed to bring the union.
How do you survive the coronavirus in your factory? Has Corona changed the way you work?
During the Covid period, we divided the meal breaks into three. In the episodes, we changed the tea breaks, the rest breaks. Still, 20 of our friends, myself included, was infected with Corona. At one point, the factory closure was on the table, but when the cases fell, it was taken off the agenda.
If you listed the most basic problems of workers and labourers, what would you say?
The corona era mostly wore us workers down. During this period, the bosses received support from the funds, the unemployment fund, while we received no support. For example, if I were married, had children, rented an apartment, I couldn't get by. We talk to friends who are married with children, they can’t get by. They say that even if we're organized, even if we have social rights, they can’t get by. As workers, we feel the economic crisis to the core. What we hear from the factories around us, our neighbors, our friends, which are unorganized, is not encouraging. There are people who can't pay their rent, who blow up their credit card (called blasting among workers)... People can't get along, they are in constant debt, so they get depressed and resort to suicide, five citizens committed suicide in one day due to economic problems in Kocaeli. So we workers saw the most blows, while the bosses profited more and more. What I'm most upset about is that when you're under so many problems, there's no outrage.
Why do you think there’s no outrage?
There's fear in the workers and the public. There's a fear of arrest, there's a fear of lack of freedom of expression, even when you're talking in a group of friends, you choose your words wisely. The main cause of this fear is the government. They've already polarized the people, they've divided right-wing, left-wing, conservative by saying they're right-wing. No one can get together with anyone. We're ruled by a divide-and-rule tactic.
How is it on the front line of coming together for widespread celebrations, forming committees, in line with the meaning of May 1st?
As Petrol-İş Gebze Branch and GATU, we said “we will turn every factory into a May 1st area!” If we can't celebrate in the squares, we can't bring the masses together, then we will turn every factory we organize into a May Day square. So on April 30th, it could be before, we will read press releases in every factory, we will shout our demands in the factories with our slogans and our applause. That's how we prepare.
Is it also on your agenda to go to the surrounding unorganized factories, distribute the notices to the workers there and call for participation in May 1st?
I don't know if there are preparations in this direction, but we are debating whether it can be done as a march. We want the unorganized factory next door to at least see how being organized makes workers free, that they can celebrate May 1st in their factory, if not in the squares. That's what we're thinking to encourage unorganized factories.
How is the banning of May 1st on corona grounds discussed?
The government is turning the corona into an opportunity to ban May 1st. Even a worker at the grassroots who voted for the AKP can say that. When they have their own congress, there is no corona, when the worker comes to celebrate May 1st, there is corona, it is forbidden! There was a funeral of a religious sect leader this week, and the Interior Minister, who imposed the bans, was leading the way with thousands. When it comes to the working class, even posters are banned. Strikes are banned, as is the case with the Baldur strike. Likewise, he imposes a curfew because there is corona, but factories continue to produce. The workers are being overworked. Thousands of workers died from corona.
The government feeds on the capital, so it uses it for backing and does what it says. We've seen it in the short-term work allowance. The workers say the practice should continue, but it takes for TOBB (Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey) President Rifat Hisarciklıoglu to say that it is for their own benefits to extend the allowance. We take it this way: “I am not the government of the people of workers, I am the government of employers”!
What do the workers at the factory and the surrounding area think of May 1st?
No feelings of supporting it, no excitement. Economic problems, epidemics, we're stuck in our homes all the time, I'll tell you for myself, I haven't been out of Gebze in six months. I can walk around because I'm a shop steward, but my colleagues say they are having psychological breakdowns. Meanwhile, the May Day euphoria faded. But they're reacting to the fact that May 1st isn't in the squares.
We can turn the banning of workers from the squares into opportunities. I think they will start returning to the squares when the pandemic is over.
In this context, how do you evaluate the attitude of unions, confederations?
We need to do a self-criticism, all the unions need to do a self-criticism. I think they've fed the union bureaucracy, with a few days to go until May 1st, there's no reaction from the three confederations. Turk-Is thanks the President and Hisarciklıoglu for extending the Hak-Is short work allowance. They act as if the payment of the money raised from the workers is a blessing. As unions, we need to question ourselves. I mean, why don't we stand up to this government, why can't we make a counterattack? Behind the three confederations are millions of workers, workers looking after them. There's no unionism by constantly coming out and saying two sentences in the media, placating the workers and then stepping aside.
As workers and as a people, we have to think about how did we end up being in need of those potatoes that are distributed, and when people question it, they will win. We start winning when we think about who made us being in need of those potatoes, as we'd be happy to have them.
Can't progressive workers do it when unions and confederations don't lead?
We can work to raise awareness of the workers! To tell the workers at the grassroots about May 1st, to explain the attitude of the unions, the confederations... My opinion is that a wave at the grassroots would also change the attitude at the top. It's all about the worker at the base. Workers are unaware of their power. The workers can change the union, the presidents, the government. As long as we can raise that awareness.
Why isn’t it being done?
Because there's prejudice in people. There's polarization. If you are a leftist, or worse if you are Kurdish or Turkish.... So because there is a constant separation, for example, I tell the other person, I tell them, I say our interests are the same, our issue is to grow our gains, I say labour, the other person supports me, he says it is true, you expect results, but again he does it his own way. Because he sees the other person in a different way. He can't get past that ideological wall. The system creates it, of course. If we could do it from all four arms, there'd be a ripple.
The pandemic aggravated the problems and revealed who was in power. Shouldn't that make it easier to raise awareness?
We can't get together, we try to get together, we come back to the economy again, when money comes out of their pocket, people understand...
Money is coming out of their pockets, too?
The only reason people don't react, that they can't come together, is because they can't get together. It's about establishing a culture of organization. If we can grow union organizing, we'll be able to get the public to question things.
What are the important demands this year?
This year, all the demands will be about the pandemic. We've been worn out for two years. Universal vaccination; calling taxes and deductions on the minimum wage; removal of barriers to organization and collective bargaining agreement and unpaid leave, Code 29. We'll have demands like this.
Do you observe the reflections of the ruling bloc’s loss of votes, which have been reflected in the polls, in the factory, around you?
We are seeing reactions to the government that have never been seen before. The government has made mistakes, made bad decisions, made mistakes in foreign policy, for example, the CHP's $128 billion banners were taken down with cranes, HDP MP Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu was detained while performing ablution, sparking a backlash among conservatives. Every step of the government takes is being discussed, but because of the polarization, too many people think like, “OK, I'm not going to vote for the AKP, but who am I going to vote for?”
Ceren Sözeri
Yusuf Karadaş
Aras Coşkuntuncel