‘This is the class struggle of the working class against bosses’

* Photo: Umut-Sen

Click to read the article in Turkish

The delivery workers of YemekSepeti/Banabi, the largest online food delivery company of Turkey, have still been protesting for their rights.

The workers met in Kadıköy İskele Square in İstanbul yesterday (February 23) and reiterated their demands in the face of "wages of misery".

The workers of Migros Esenyurt Warehouse, whose demands for wage increase, premiums and improvement of their labor health and safety conditions have been accepted after a days-long struggle, also joined the delivery workers' protest demonstration in Kadıköy district.

Speaking during the protest, Progressive Land, Air and Railway Workers Union (Nakliyat-İş) Chair Ali Rıza Küçükosmanoğlu referred to the decreasing purchasing power of citizens amid increasing inflation in Turkey and said that while the workers of YemekSepeti could by 2,200 loaves of bread with their salaries in 2021, this number has now dropped to 1,417.

Recalling that they have been struggling for their labor rights for 23 days as of yesterday, Karaosmanoğlu has defined the protest as workers' "struggle for their daily bread". He said, "This is the class struggle of the working class against bosses. The moneybags have been pushing the working class in Turkey to impoverisment, deunionization and precarious work."

Reminding the audience that the workers of Migros, one of the largest supermarket chains of Turkey, have won their struggle for their rights, union chair Küçükosmanoğlu said, "Our fellow Migros workers have crowned their resistance by winning a victory against yellow unionism. Just as Migros workers have won, the workers of YemekSepeti will also win."

Gülabi Aksu, a worker who has become the symbol of Migros protests with his picture taken in a detention vehicle after being detained during a protest in front of the employer's house, also made a speech during the protest and expressed his support for YemekSepeti workers.

Requests of workers

The delivery workers of YemekSepeti also protested in Barbaros Boulevard in İstanbul's Beşiktaş three days ago. While several social media users have been supporting the workers' protests by calling for a boycott against the company, the workers list their requests briefly as follows:

"The net monthly wage should be increased to 5,500 Turkish Lira (TRY) in addition to premiums and additional rights; none of the protesting workers should be dismissed; the business line of the workers should be changed as transportation; union activities should be guaranteed." (HA/SD)