Turkish company fires 70 workers for opposing unlawful construction practices in quake zone
A Turkish company fired 70 workers who refused to complete houses in the quake-torn Hatay province with unlawful practices for “not finishing the work in time.” Two workers started a protest in the crane and attempted suicide.
Burcu Özkaya Günaydın / Gazete Duvar
A Turkish company that has beeen building houses for the state-run Housing Development Administration (TOKİ) in the Samandağı district of quake-torn Hatay fired 70 workers without paying their wages for “not finishing the work in time.”
The workers stated that the company was trying to continue construction with unlawful practices and deficient material.
Two of the workers attempted suicide by climbing on the crane in the construction site as a protest.
Samandağ District Governor and the police, who went to the construction site to find a “middle ground” between the company and the workers, could not convince the company to pay the wages.
Two workers have been continuing to protest on the crane.
Workers’ lawyer Cuma Irmak stated that the reason for not finishing the construction on time was “the lack of material.” He added, “The workers say that the project had 40 stirrups (reinforcement steel that wraps the columns and beams) but this was reduced to 20 by the company.”
The lawyer stated that the workers wanted to construct the buildings in accordance with the project, but the constructions were not completed due to insufficient materials.
Irmak noted that the two workers on the crane would stay there during night.
Local newspaper Sovtna also shared photographs from the construction site raising further suspicions on the defects.
Lawyer Irmak, after hearing workers' concerns about the buildings, conducted an inspection and said, "I am not an expert in this field, but I toured the buildings. It is evident that there are issues with the reinforcement and stirrups. The workers are also objecting to this."
The lawyer stated that they have requested an independent team of architects and engineers to come and inspect the buildings. If the buildings are found to be problematic, they want to file a lawsuit against those responsible. "We experienced a disaster on Feb. 6, and now they want to put us back into these graveyards," he underscored.
The Samandağ district was heavily destroyed by the Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes and many survivors left without houses.