Erdemir workers may go on strike

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Talks were continuing with union representatives to avert industrial action, the company told the Istanbul Stock Exchange, or IMKB, in a filing yesterday.

Meanwhile, Çemtaş, another steelmaker, announced it has laid off 49 employees, about 15 percent of its workforce. The effects of the global crisis are being felt stronger in the automotive and iron & steel industries, the company said in a filing to the IMKB. As demand has fallen rapidly, production at the company has "nearly came to a halt," Çemtaş said. Since the last quarter of 2008, Çemtaş had to lay off 45 workers, the company said, adding that the severance pay and other benefits to those laid off totaled 730,000 Turkish Liras, Anatolia News Agency reported.