Marmaray workers put down tools in protest

Nearly 200 workers at an archaeological dig connected to the construction of Istanbul’s Marmaray tunnel project have been on strike for the past 25 days to protest low wages and unhealthy working conditions.

The workers say they earn as little as 28.5 Turkish Liras per day, that they have not seen any rise in their wages and that payment has often been delayed during the last three years.

Abdülkerim Koşmaz, a worker at the excavation site, said his family has been subjected to miserable conditions because his wages are too low.

“I have nine children. Two are conscripts in the army. Four of them were forced to leave school. A bakery has been providing me with stale bread. We cannot see any doctor in case of need,” said Koşmaz. “I get up at five in the morning and walk for three hours to come to work because I cannot afford to pay for travel.”

“I cannot afford a cup of tea when I take a break during work,” the 52-year-old worker added. “What can I buy or afford with a daily wage as low as 28.5 liras?”

The sons of a 45-year-old worker have also had to drop out of school due to the family’s dire financial situation.

“I have four children, but almost all of them left school due to financial problems. I want my youngest son to remain at school because he is a hard-working student,” said Şahin Fırat. “I am ready to sell my jacket for him to continue his education.”

Nearly 200 workers are employed at the excavation site in Istanbul’s Yenikapı district by the Deniz Polat Construction Company, which is the subcontractor at the site. Their frustrations boiled over when they only received a wage increase of 1 lira after a three-year delay.

An official from Deniz Polat Construction rejected the workers’ claims.

“Their claim is unreal. Their working conditions are normal. They have just told the truth about the delay in their payment,” Ziya Polat. “They have been provoked by some groups [to] make a complaint against us.”

The workers have also claimed they worked almost every day during the entire year, but were insured as employees who worked just 200 to 250 days a year. They say they have also suffered from irregular payments, and their wages have been paid just once every three months.

Polat also refuted the workers’ claim that their insurance premiums were not fully paid.

“We are a subcontractor company. We have paid and insured workers based on the number of days they have worked at the site,” he said. “My last offer is 30 liras on a daily basis. It is the best offer for today’s market conditions. The municipality pays its workers 28 liras.”

Mehmet Şirinyıldız, 40, another worker on the ongoing project, which is valued at $3 billion, said he walked to the construction site, as did many of his friends who cannot afford to use public transportation.

“Most of the time, I walk to Yenikapı from the Sultançiftliği district because I do not have any means to take a bus,” said Şirinyıldız.

“We have kept silent for many years due to being illiterate. We have not taken any legal or illegal action,” he added. “When we previously attempted to take a similar action, they deceived us and pledged they would improve our working conditions. We cannot take any annual leave. We have not received any rise in our wages for three years.”

Some of the workers have claimed that the subcontractor company deceived them and terminated all their working rights.

“I am not literate. An official forced me to sign a paper and said I would be discharged if I did not sign it. I put my signature on the paper. It came as a surprise to me that it was a paper to discharge me,” said Aydın Erhan. “The company discharged me Jan. 16. I cannot ask for anything because I signed it.”

What is the Marmaray project?

The Marmaray project, which will connect Istanbul’s Asian and European sides via a tunnel under the Bosphorus strait, is one of the biggest projects being carried out by the Transportation Ministry.

Construction started in May 2004 but is currently running four years behind schedule due to the 2005 discovery of Byzantine-era archaeological finds on the proposed site of the European tunnel terminal.

The project, expected to be completed in 2012, aims to find a permanent solution to the city’s transportation difficulties by creating a mostly aboveground, 76.3-kilometer metro line between the Halkali district on the European side and Gebze on the Anatolian side. The commute between Gebze and Halkalı is expected to last just less than 104 minutes once it is completed.

The Bosphorus will be crossed via a 1.4 kilometer-long quake-proof tube, assembled from 11 sections, each as long as 130 meters and weighing up to 18,000 tons.

Railway lines in both halves of the city will be connected to each other by means of this underwater tunnel.