Crisis through the eyes of a laborer

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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The almost 500 person sit-in at the Türk Pirelli factory has ended, with the labor union and employers agreeing on "limited job cuts," but the scenes of laid off workers leaving has now become the image of the hard-hitting financial crisis. 

Speaking to the Doğan news agency, one of the two workers photographed crying in front of the factory gates, said being laid off was like a second earthquake for him Ğ in reference to the Aug. 17, 1999, Marmara earthquake.

The labor protest at Türk Pirelli’s Kartepe, Kocaeli factory, which started with the termination of 80 jobs, ended Tuesday evening. After long talks between the Lastik-İş union and the employer, job cuts were limited to 30. But the factory also stopped production until Feb. 3 and all workers were sent on leave.

As nearly 500 protesting workers left the factory at 4 p.m. Tuesday, the laid off workers said farewell to the remaining staff, some of them in tears. The scenes of hugging and crying workers, some who had worked at the factory for 15 years, became the most vivid example of how the global crisis hit the Turkish economy. Hundreds of workers insisted that they would not restart production until all of the laid off were reinstated, but the talks between the union and the employer ended in agreement at 5 p.m.

"Only 30 will be laid off," the Doğan news agency quoted Lastik-İş Branch Chief Hasan Hüseyin Çakar as saying. "But also, all workers will be put on leave until Feb. 3. Four days of this one-week production halt will be deducted from workers’ annual leave. The rest is paid leave."

Hugs and tears
While workers said farewell to each other, the photo of Engin Uzun crying became a symbol of the crisis. Uzun, the father of two and a Türk Pirelli worker for the past two decades, said they were like a family at the factory and the layoffs were a "second earthquake" to them.

"We could not hold back our tears," Uzun said. "Then I hugged Özkan Umut, a fellow worker, and we cried."

Speaking to Doğan news agency, Uzun’s wife Nalan Uzun lashed out at the government. "The prime minister says the crisis has missed Turkey by a hair’s-breadth. On the contrary, it is passing right through our hearts," she said.

"Everybody is walking like a ghost due to this crisis," said Nalan Uzun. "When I learned that my husband was laid off, I could not move for four hours. I called my brother-in-law and told him the second earthquake has happened."

Özkan Umut, a worker who was not fired, said they worked together since 1996. "The crisis is not missing Turkey. We are in deep sorrow for our friends that were laid off," Umut said.