6th UITBB European Meeting: Motion of Solidarity with Turkish Workers

UITBB, on behalf of the workers and trade unions it represents, conveys to DISK and DEV YAPI-IS, the Progressive Trade Union of Construction Workers, the expression of our total solidarity with colleague OZGUR KARABULUT and all the other workers detained in Turkey.

It is completely unacceptable and a clear violation of trade union rights and International Labor Standards that more than 400 Turkish trade unionists and workers, including many immigrants, have been detained by the police forces simply for exercising their trade union duty, exposing the terrible and inhuman conditions working on the construction site of the new Istanbul Airport.

There have been 42 deaths in the area and many injuries, with workers facing unbearable accommodation and given bad quality food. We also know that the wages of some workers have not been paid for more than six months.

In this situation the Turkish authorities, instead of punishing and arresting the employers responsible for keeping workers in conditions of near slavery, suppress the fair demands of workers and trade unions with water cannons, bombs and mass arrests.

The 6th UITBB European Meeting, held in Lisbon on 6 and 7 December 2018, calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees for legitimately protesting and defending their trade union and workers’ rights and freedoms.

Lisbon, 6 and 7 December 2018