Low stock claims aimed at misleading public: Mint

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

The general director of mint says production has resumed at some branchs amid ongoing the strike by workers. AA photo

Reports that the ongoing mint strike has hurt the gold coin and official document supplies mislead the public, the top mint executive said after the labor minister called for the end of what he classified as a “political” strike.

“The remarks about stock levels are intentional and aim to misinform the public,” the general director of the Mint and Stamp Printing House, Sadettin Parmaksız told Anadolu Agency reporters yesterday.

After the printing and press industry union, Basın-İş, kicked off the strike on July 8 at the mint and its branches, the gold coins that are only processed there have been sold on the black market at a steep price hike of around 17 liras, and worries about the official documents manufactured there have arisen.

At the mint facilities, 257 workers in total are employed and production has resumed with 26 workers who chose not to walk-off and 36 workers who were outside the strike law, the general director said. “Some departments have started production with workers who returned to work despite the ongoing strike.”

Meanwhile, Turkish Labor and Social Security Minister Faruk Çelik said, “There is no right seeking at the mint; there is a political strike.”

The workers should end the strike before causing more losses of rights, he said July 15 in a written statement.

The mint and the Basın-İş union have been in talks over a collective labor agreement for seven months, but the parties have not reached a consensus.

The average salary of mint workers is 1,562 Turkish Liras ($835), the union’s Yakup Akkaya said, adding that the figure was too low considering the mint’s profits.

“This year, the amount of produced gold is 60 tons. In 2012, when the mint earned 68 million liras profit, it produced 32 tons of gold. Think about how much this year’s profit will be,” he said.