Delivery couriers of food ordering company Yemeksepeti continue strike for 14th day
The motor couriers of online food delivery company Yemeksepeti have continued their strike for the 14th day in a row, demanding to be offered a 5,500 lira ($405) monthly wage. The workers say that the company's most recent pay offer equals the minimum wage of 4,250 liras ($313).
Duvar English
Workers of Banabi, the grocery branch of the online food delivery platform Yemeksepeti, have been on a strike since Feb. 1, in the face of inadequate wage rises and poor working conditions.
Several motor couriers on Feb. 14 gathered in front of the company's headquarters in Istanbul's Şişli district. They said that the company had increased their monthly income of 3,200 liras by 32.7 percent this year, which corresponds to the minimum wage. The workers instead demanded to be paid a net monthly income of 5,500 liras ($405).
They said that the company had been trying to oppress them psychologically for participating in the protests.
The head of the freight workers' union Nakliyat-İş, Ali Rıza Küçükosmanoğlu, held a statement here, saying that not only Yemeksepeti workers, but motor couriers all around Turkey have been resisting their companys' exploitative policies for the last two weeks.
“The call of the boycott has found its voice in our society,” said Küçükosmanoğlu, adding that their public call to boycott Yemeksepeti has led to a 70 percent drop in orders.
Turkey on Feb. 3 reported an annual inflation rate of 48.69 percent in January, the highest in two decades, whereas the independent inflation group ENAG put the figure at 114.87 percent.
The official minimum wage for 2022 is 4,250 liras ($313).