Soma mine workers are marching to Ankara for their unpaid receivables

Soma workers working within İmbat Mining started a march to Ankara, under the leadership of the Aegean Region Branch of the Turkish Mine Workers Union, demanding full payment of their receivables.

Workers demanded a permanent solution, stating that their progress payments have not been paid regularly for more than a year.

Speaking at the press release held in Cengiz Topel Square, Turkish Mine Workers Union Aegean Region Branch President Nazmi Gürleyen said that workers can receive their salaries and receivables piece by piece. Gürleyen said, "The invoice for power plant receivables and desk accounts cannot be issued to the mine workers who work and produce at the cost of their lives hundreds of meters underground."

“THE BASIC CONDITION FOR A SAFE WORKING ENVIRONMENT IS THE RELIEF OF ECONOMIC CONCERNS”

Stating that the people of Soma and the families of miners are crushed under the burden of debt due to the commercial calculations of the capital owners, Gürleyen stated that solving economic problems is also mandatory in terms of job security.

Gürleyen said, "In order for our mine workers to focus on their jobs and continue their working lives in safety and peace, their economic concerns must first be resolved. It is not easy for a worker who thinks about when he will receive his salary and how he will pay his debts to focus all his attention on his work."

Emphasizing that workers' accumulated receivables should be paid and their wages regularized, Gürleyen said, "Solving the financial problems of our workers, paying their accumulated receivables and regularizing their wages is not only an economic necessity, but also one of the basic conditions of a safe working environment."

POLICE BARRICATE WAS OVERCOMED

After the press release, the miners hit the ground with their hard hats and started marching. The workers, who paid their respects to the miners who lost their lives and sang the National Anthem, reached Hüseyin Özkılınç Street from Atatürk Street.

The miners, who encountered a brief attempt by the police to prevent them, continued their march by overcoming the barricade.

Stating that they do not want temporary solutions that will save the day, Gürleyen said that permanent and concrete steps should be taken. Stating that they conveyed their demands in the meetings with the relevant authorities in Ankara, Gürleyen said, "If the necessary steps are not taken for a solution, we will be in Ankara as the Aegean Region Branch of the Turkish Mine Workers Union."