Protesting delivery workers reiterate demand for pay rise, complain about mobbing

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As of today (February 15), the delivery workers of YemekSepeti, Turkey's largest online food delivery company, have been protesting against the "wages of misery" for 15 days. On the 14th day of their protest yesterday, they came in front of the Yemeksepeti/Banabi central office.

Protesting in front of the company headquarters in İstanbul's Şişli, the delivery workers were also supported by the members of the Progressive Land, Air and Railway Workers Union (Nakliyat-İş).

Addressing the crowd, the union chair Ali Rıza Küçükosmanoğlu said that the calls for boycott have been reciprocated by society. "Our fellow workers at warehouses and in distribution are not working as much as they used to be," he said, estimating the loss at nearly 70 percent.

He added, "The resistance here has been ongoing for 14 days despite all these obstacles and pressure. They impose the wage of misery and employment as delivery workers in the capacity of shop owners. They also disregard people's health by forcing them to work, saying under the heaviest conditions: 'The more orders you deliver, the more money you will get'."

The union chair underlined that the employers "cannot accept that the workers who created more than two-fold growth of Yemeksepeti have been organized and are waging a struggle for their rights."

No force can beat the organized, unionized worker. No force will manage to beat the workers resisting, struggling against the wage of misery. The victory will be the resisting workers' at Yemeksepeti.

Some protesting delivery workers of the company complained that employers have started to pressure them psychologically by taking down minutes: "Let's call out to our boss Nevzat Aydın. Laborers are here. We are the ones who have made you grow, who have filled your pocket and enabled you to have your wedding on an island. Where are you?"

The delivery workers of Yemeksepeti (lit. "food basket" in Turkish) demand that their net monthly wage be increased to 5,500 Turkish Lira (TRY) in addition to premiums and additional rights; none of the protesting workers be dismissed from their job; the business line of the workers be changed as transportation; and their union activities be guaranteed. (HA/SD)