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Voices: Tayyip (Erdogan) resign!

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Resisting for 17 months. The Hey Textile Workers Resistance Tent.

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My name is Birol Kücükoglu. We've been on the streets for 485 days with no salary.

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My name is Gülnaz. I started my job on 3rd September, 2001 

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and on the 25th June, 2011 I had to give up my job.

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I worked in this factory for 5 years in the cantine, and another 5 years 

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in quality control. Overall I've worked there for 10 years 

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and after 10 years they told us we have to downsize. So I was fired. 

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Hey Textiles is in Bagcilar, Günesli. 70% of our production there

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was for the brand Esprit. And because there's no Esprit outlets in Turkey 

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we couldn't protest. The Esprit headquarters is in Germany. 

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We don't have a union. With a union, we'd have also been able to protest.

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We produce for Tom Tailor, Mango, Timberland, S. Oliver and for lots of other brands.

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Because labour in Turkey is much cheaper. These brands know what they're doing when they

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manufacture their products in such low-wage countries. And we get about 200, 250 Euros 

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and if they would be produced in the EU, they'd have to pay approx. 1500 Euros.

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When I started in 2001, I got 150 (£47). In 10 years my salary has only just increased

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to 900 lira (approx. £280). WIth overtime perhaps 1100, 1200 (£340-£370).

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Working conditions during Esprit production times were such that workers 

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had to work for 24 hours, 48 hours, 78 hours and sleep on the assembly lines. 

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So day and night production. The bosses exerted pressure.

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That was bad, yes. In my first years there was lots of overtime. 

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In one week, sometimes we didn't go home for 3 days. There was a lot of work.

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Sure, we worked and we got our wage for it. 

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But they let us work too much.

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-Do you have a family?

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Yes. I could hardly see my kids. I had to leave them home alone.

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In the mornings I got them ready for school and having not slept, I then went to work. 

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And when I got home in the evenings, they were scattered around the flat sleeping. 

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 -How old were they?

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6, 7 and 8. So they were small.

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If I hadn't have been forced to, I wouldn't have left my kids alone.

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I rented my place, we couldn't cope any other way. So I left them alone at home.

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And when I'd come home in the evenings and saw my kids like that, I always had to cry.

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I won't forget those days.  A very difficult time. Aynur Bektas should listen to us now.

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Hear our voices. Realise what difficult circumstances we worked under. 

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Our Prime Minister named Aynur Bektas as one of the 3 most successful women in Turkey. 

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But that isn't mentioned is that she worked 3600 workers like slaves,

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and then she fired them. There's no speech about that in the press. They pretend they know nothing.

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And why? Because she has power. Because she's in the Chamber of Commerce 

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and the Women's Council Board.

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And with no shame, he mentions Aynur Bektas on International Women's Day on March 8th.

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In actual fact he shouldn't be mentioning her, he should be talking about our female friends here. 

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Because they were the ones involved in production.

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In the last few years, after 2006, 2007, there was less overtime. 

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They fired workers and they said they had to scale down. 

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They sacked maybe 5-10 workers every week.  

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From the factory's side it was always, they have to shrink, because they're not making profits.

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But those were lies from the employers side, 

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because on the other hand, production carried on. 

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We organised sit-down strikes in the cantine and then they said "Get back to work guys! 

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Your money's coming", but it wasn't true. They gave us three days off and when we came back

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they didn't want to take us back anymore and cut us loose.

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Yes we're protesting. We're protesting in the Mango boutiques. In big shopping centres.

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With 300, 400 security staff, but we don't care.

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I haven't worked for a year and a half. My husband is the only earner. In construction. 

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We can't manage. We can't afford to send our 2 sons to carry on their studies,

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although they had the marks to. I could only send one 

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and he had to take a loan from the state under his name.

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And later when he has a job, he'll pay the debt off. So my sons sit at home. 

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At the moment there are between 15 and 20 people protesting. Most of the others have gone. 

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They were there for 5, 6 months and then went. At the moment we've decided, 

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we'll carry on the protest until the end. 

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Through protesting on the street, we can influence something. 

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By going to a citizen's organisation. We don't trust political parties anymore. 

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The opposition can't do anything either. That's why we're on the streets.

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Through street protest, we want to influence something. 

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My name is Ali Ekber Alp. I worked for Hey Textiles for 12 years and 4 months.

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For one and a half years we've been protesting as workers of this company. 

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Because we've already protested for so long and my daughter is therefore also affected, 

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she decided to come with us and to support me on the 1st May-day demonstration.

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That was actually forbidden.

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When she was with friends and acquaintances, my daughter was exposed to police violence.

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Someone threw a gas bomb from a short distance 

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which broke her skull.

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I was influenced by the father's resistance. Like everyone else, I had other reasons to be there, 

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to defend my rights. That's why I was there.

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The reason why I'm here [Gezi Park] is, 

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that I wanted to be a witness how the people have come together here. 

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There are different groups here, different ways of thinking. It's very colourful. 

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Some come here because of work. Some come in order to have a free life. 

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Some come to recruit people, because of ideologies. 

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I find that the Taksim resistance and the young people here are giving a good lesson 

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to lead us. To the grassroots organisations. The unions. Everyone needs to get out of here

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and draw a lesson for themselves. I've never experienced such a protest, 

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nor such a movement in Turkey in the last 44 years. This is something very pleasing.

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The AKP wanted to close this square to the people, to the workers 

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so that they could build a shopping centre.

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And yet this square has a significance, an importance for workers. 

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The workers have understood this and that's why they've flocked here.