Call For Solidarity By Istanbul Dockyard Strike

To: solidarity.limteris@googlemail.com
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 11:35 PM
Subject: URGENT CALL! STRIKE AT THE DOCYARDS IN ISTANBUL!

URGENT CALL! STRIKE AT THE DOCYARDS IN ISTANBUL!

The dockyard workers of Tuzla/Istanbul go on strike on the 16th of June against labour-related accidents. The strike is called by the dockyard workers' union LIMTER-IS.
The number of the dockyard workers, who died at accidents, has risen to 98 with the latest accident at Selahattin Arslan Dockyard, where 35 year old Ihsan Turhan lost his life.
In Turkey, 900 workers loose their lives every year in labour-related accidents in different sectors. 55 thousand workers have died in the last 60 years with the same reason and 145 thousand workers have become disabled.
The dockyard workers have been struggling against the increasing accidents under the leadership of their union Limter-Is for many years. This struggle has become even more intensified during the last months and in February the dockers went on a two-day-strike which found an important echo inside and outside the country.
In face of the fact that the dockyards' bosses and the government did not fulfil the promises given during that strike, Limter-Is has called for strike once again to solve the question.
The demands of the workers are as follows:

- Application of the Law for Heavy and Dangerous Sectors at the Shipyards,
- Daily working hours should be decided as 7,5 hours; application of breaks, rests and holidays,
- Ensuring of payment of insurance and wages by the main company,
- Clean houses to stay, lockers for changing clothes, qualitative food suitable to the sector,
- Ensuring health services including hospital, doctor and ambulance,
- Giving the union opportunities to open branches at every shipyard,
- Putting an end to the oppression on the union and overcoming all obstacles of becoming a member of the union
- Abolishing all subcontract work
- Formation of a "Council for Observation the Health of the Workers and Security at the Workplace" in Turkey in general as well as in each sector.

29 May 2008

To our worker colleagues from all over the world,

Limter-Is (Harbour, Shipyard and Ship Construction and Repair Workers' Union- LIMTER-IS) struggles for 16 years for the rights of the dockers and is preparing for a new strike. Although we have applied many times to the bosses of the dockyards for the improvement of the working and living conditions of the dockers, no single move for a solution has been undertaken.

Due to the support of many friends, a legitimate strike has been carried out on 27-28 February, through which it was made possible that a delegation under the chair of the president of our trade-union confederation DISK, Mr. Suleyman Celebi and the president of our trade-union, Mr. Cem Dinc, was received for a conversation by GIS-BIR, the organisation of the bosses of the dockyards. In this meeting our demands were considered as acceptable and we were told that they would be another meeting to continue the talks. However, GIS-BIR did not carry out the agreement. Although some changes at the dockyards had been achieved through our efforts, our demands have not been fulfilled. Our worker friends are still exposed to arbitrary and illegitimate acts.

Strikes at the dockyards against the arbitrariness and the death´ have become inevitable. We do not want more workers to die in the work-related accidents and our demands to be disregarded. Therefore, we call for a strike on 16 June.

You did not leave us alone on 27-28 February; we count on your solidarity also in 16 June. Our struggle against arbitrariness and illegitimate working conditions are not only carried out for the dockers. We want to add new achievements to those the working class already gained. The day for solidarity with the dockers has come.

Kindly yours,

DİSK Limter-İş Executive Committee