Pirelli Workers in Turkey Demonstrate Against Layoffs

Employees at Pirelli’s facility in Kartepe, Turkey have taken part in a sit-in protest at the factory site after hearing news that 80 workers had been laid off. Workers at the Türk Pirelli factory stopped production late on January 26 and many occupied the factory. According to the Lastik-İş labour union, all 1,150 factory employees took part in the sit-in.

Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, local union leader Hasan Hüseyin Çakar said he stayed the night at the factory with 500 workers. “We demand that the employer take back the decision to terminate jobs,” he said. Çakar accused the Turkish government of not taking action against the economic crisis. “Thousands of workers have been fired, but the government is underestimating the crisis.”