Baldur strike: A struggle between capital forces and labour forces!

Workers of the Birleşik Metal-İş union went on strike at the Spanish-owned Baldur suspension factory located in the Şekerpınar Organized Industrial Zone in Kocaeli Çayırova. 114 workers work in the factory.

Evrensel readers are watching closely how the Baldur workers have been struggling in recent weeks. Baldur is one of the relatively small factories in the area. But like every worker community determined to organize and defend their rights, the last five years have not been kind to them.

The struggle for unionisation lasted five years. After five years, the authorization was taken, but the boss did not recognize the authorization. In these developments, three of the workers who led the struggle for unionisation were fired and other workers were also intimidated. But the workers did not give in, three thrown workers set up a tent in front of the factory and started a resistance, and together with their union Birleşik Metal-İş, they turned this place into a centre of resistance.

To deter workers preparing to go on strike, the boss asked for a "strike vote"; however, the workers were able to go on strike on Friday by saying "yes to the strike" (87 to 30).

WHY IS THE BALDUR STRIKE IMPORTANT?

Baldur is a relatively small factory with only 114 workers on strike, but in recent years, especially with the pandemic; bosses and the Government exploit pandemic conditions, because the one-man management adopts the suppression of every claimant and environment by using excessive force as the primary method, regardless of the size or small size of the factory, or whether the number of workers on strike is this or that, the Baldur strike is a major strike.

Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Baldur strike is "more than a Baldur workers' strike."

The regular readers of Evrensel are aware that worker-labourer actions, which were seen as "ordinary" in previous years, are shown today as "important action for the whole class".Of course, there is no exaggeration here. On the contrary, in terms of the period we are passing through, the actions that we saw as "partial", "routine of the day", "ordinary", in which a relatively small mass of people participated yesterday, have become so important that they can be seen as the actions of all working class and labourers.

As a matter of fact, the struggle of Baydur workers today; On the one hand, the success of a five-year struggle for unionisation, and on the other hand, it is also important in terms of being a struggle to impose a vested right on the boss, as it gives morale and motivation to all other workers in the struggle for unionisation.

LOCAL LABOR FORCES AWARE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF STRIKE

We understand this from the news about the Baldur strike in our newspaper yesterday, from Adnan Serdaroğlu, the Chairman of Birleşik Metal-İş, the Secretary of the Gebze Branch No. 2, Engin Kulu, and the workers standing in the forefront of the struggle. It is not only the workers and trade unionists who are involved in the developments who are aware of the importance of the struggle. On the contrary, it seems that local trade unionists and local labour forces are also aware of the importance of the Baldur workers' striking struggle and the strike. As a matter of fact, as during the 56-day Baldur resistance, on the first day of the strike, in addition to Petrol-İş and Özçelik-İş Union, local union branches and labour forces such as the Labour Party, TKP, DİP, EHP, SEP,  EYT, Gebze Association of the Labour Party and the Chairman of the Labour Party Ercüment Akdeniz where on the side of the Baldur workers and their unions who went on strike.

GAINS OF BALDUR WORKERS WILL BE THE BENEFIT OF THE CLASS

Of course, this fight seems to take longer. Because, considering the attitude of the Baldur boss against the unionisation of the workers for about 5 years, the security forces trying to put scabs in the factory even after the strike started, the workers who wanted to prevent this and the arrest of the Branch Head Necmettin Aydın, the fact that all of the bosses were behind the Baldur boss. He cannot be expected to sit at the table immediately. On the contrary, the Baldur strike is not a struggle between just 114 workers and Baldur's Spanish boss. On one side of this struggle, there is the capital consisting of the forces of the system such as the boss of Baydur and the organisations of the bosses  behind him, the local administration and the security forces. On the opposite side, 114 Baldur workers and their unions. Of course, Baldur workers and their unions are not limited to this.

Gebze Union of Trade Unions, which has been at the centre of the labour struggle for many years in the Gebze region, ensures solidarity of the parties and circles in the local labour struggles, as well as the broadest possible labour forces on the National level, to ensure solidarity with the strike, considering the Spanish origin of the boss, its initiatives in the international arena. Organizing a comprehensive struggle will be crucial to the success of the Baldur strike.