Production returns to normal at Renault factory in Turkey

ISTANBUL

CİHAN photo

Production at French car giant Renault’s factory in the Marmara province of Bursa returned to normal on March 2, a day after workers went on strike after their colleagues were laid off, a company official has told Reuters.

“Production returned to normal as of 8 a.m.,” the official said.

Some 150 workers at Oyak Renault, a joint venture between Renault and the Turkish army pension fund Oyak, arrived at the factory on the morning on March 1 but did not start working. Other workers amassed in front of the factory and tried to close the road linking Bursa to Mudanya, a nearby district.

The production line had been halted on Feb. 28 after the administration’s decision to fire the workers. 
Meanwhile, police officers intervened into the attempt to block the road and used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Nine workers were detained but released later in the day.

In addition, 12 more workers were laid off later in the day on March 1 on grounds of attending the protests to block the road, the company said in a statement.

Another 22 workers were also detained on March 2 on grounds of opposing the law of meeting and demonstration marches and resisting police officers as well as two others who allegedly incited workers through social media.

Last year a labor dispute in Bursa hit the factory of Oyak Renault and Tofaş, owned by Italy’s Fiat and Turkey’s Koç Holding, in Bursa before spreading to other carmakers, including Ford’s Turkish unit, Ford Otosan, and several auto part makers. 

The strike ended on May 27, 2015 after starting on May 14, 2015.