Chamber slams deadly fire calls deaths ‘labor murder’

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

The eleven workers killed in a fire on March 11 at a mall construction site’s worker tents in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district were victims of “greed and lack of inspection,” according to a report issued by the Turkish Union of Engineers’ and Architects’ Chambers (TMMOB) yesterday.

“The construction sector has transformed all of Istanbul into a construction yard. Flexible working methods and the dispersed locations of construction sites make it difficult to inspect conditions,” said the report.

The report emphasized that one of the most urgent current problems was the subcontracted working system, which exposes migrant laborers to working for low-wages for short terms. It also said that it was typical for the sector to insure killed workers only after labor accidents occurred.

The government, local authorities and unions need tight legal regulation and should cooperate to end “labor murders.”