04.06.2025 09:32
While negotiations continued for the end of the strike in İzmir, no consensus was reached after hours of meetings. President Cemil Tugay stated, "From my perspective, the path to negotiations with these individuals has been closed." Ercan Gül, the President of DİSK/Genel-İş İzmir Branch No. 2, said, "We have not closed the doors to anyone. If the doors are being closed in our faces, we will make a decision and determine our own path accordingly."
The actions of the workers of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality's subsidiaries İZENERJİ, İZELMAN, and Aegean City Planning have entered their 7th day. As the strike of 23,000 workers reaches its 7th day today, there was congestion at bus stops due to disruptions in bus services in the city. Citizens formed queues to board the buses.
MEETING PATH CLOSED While the strike continues, a meeting took place last night between Cemil Tugay and union representatives. Following the meeting, union representatives held a press conference after Cemil Tugay. Ercan Gül, the President of DİSK/Genel-İş İzmir Branch No. 2, made the statement. Responding to President Tugay's remarks, "I want to continue the meeting, but from my perspective, the path to meeting with these individuals is closed," Gül stated, "We told them we are open to meeting. We have not closed the doors to anyone. If the doors are closing in our faces, we will make a decision and determine our path accordingly."
"WE COULD NOT ACHIEVE A POSITIVE RESULT" Gül provided the following information regarding the negotiations:
"When we went to the meeting, we had a proposal, which was updated to 30%. They said, 'Let's give you the inflation difference not in July but in June, and let's add two points on top of that.' We also have our continuation and report incentive. The average salary is 42,000 TL. They said it would be added to our salary as an additional 1,500 TL each month under a different name. We have been resisting here for days. They said we are the ones blocking the process, but we did everything we could to prevent this process from being blocked. If we need to take a step, we took a step. We only wanted this collective bargaining agreement to conclude positively at night. Unfortunately, they remained firm on their demands. Our president just made a statement saying, 'We will give 19% as of July 1.' We told them that under these conditions, the collective bargaining agreement would not be concluded and that we would continue to fight. He told us, 'There are people calling me; you are blocking this process. Workers want the collective bargaining agreement to end, but the unionists are blocking it.' I leave this to the conscience of our worker friends."
"OUR ONLY CONCERN IS EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK" Gül expressed that they have no concerns other than the struggle for bread, stating, "We have no other concern than the struggle for bread. No matter what they say, we will not respond to it. Because our only concern is equal pay for equal work. Even while trying to find a middle ground, they are blocking the process. There is nothing we can say about how they willingly pushed us into the strike and are doing everything they can to keep it going. Because they are completely putting us under suspicion. They told us, 'Set up a ballot box and see.' We are not in favor of setting up a ballot box with these wages. After we leave here, our representative friends will gather. We are not in favor of setting up this ballot box in any way, but there is an underground effort. Our only concern is to increase our bread."
"WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO INCREASE OUR BREAD" Ercan Gül stated, "If this struggle is to continue after the holiday, we need to sit down with our representative friends and make a decision. There is a mayor who seriously puts four branch presidents and regional representatives under suspicion with different statements, as if trying to take the process to a different place with political fights. His anger is very high, and we do not understand this attitude. We want to end it through consensus, but it is not ending. We will make a decision on which of our friends wants the collective bargaining agreement to end and wants this ballot box to be set up. As President Cemil said, 'If it is to be with this perspective, I will not sit at the table.' We told them we are open to meeting. We have not closed the doors to anyone. If the doors are closing in our faces, we will make a decision and determine our path accordingly," he said.
Source: DHA-ANKA