24 September, 2007
This week, on Wednesday, 26 September, 84 strikers in the Antalya Free Trade Zone of Turkey will mark one year on picket lines at Novamed, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, owned by Fresenius Medical Care of Germany. Eighty-two of the strikers are women.
The ICEM has continued to champion the cause of the strikers and the Turkish union Petrol-Iş that organised this workplace, and stands by them. Judging from the inhumane treatment, it is easy to see why. Workers – mainly women – were forced to apply to management if they wished to marry. They were forbidden to talk to one another on the job. And they were forced to undergo breath tests following breaks to enforce a no-smoking ban.
Picket sign states: "We decide when we give birth"
Workers at Novamed freely elected Petrol-Iş as their collective representative. Novamed managers did begin negotiations with the union and the workers in April 2006. But when talks broke down, managers quit the negotiations and began a harassment and intimidation campaign aimed at dislodging union support. On 26 September 2006, 84 workers expressed their discontent by striking.
The first anniversary of this just strike has gained a sizeable and significant voice inside Turkey. Through actions and a fortnight of constant press coverage, leading up to the one-year anniversary, civil society across Turkey is acutely aware of the Novamed strike. Handbilling, mass meetings among trade unions, NGOs, and Turkish women’s groups, as well as rolling actions in support of the strike have all happened.
In Istanbul, a coalition of trade unions, women’s groups, and others have formed a “Women’s Platform for Solidarity with Novamed Strikers,” which has carried out a number of actions over the past two weeks. In the cities of Izmir and Adana, actions and forums in support of the strike have occurred.
A petition drive to the National Parliament has also started, aimed at mandating better work conditions for women, thanks to the courage of the Novamed strikers. Various actions for justice at Novamed are backed by all Turkish confederations, trade unions, and, increasingly, by civil society groups. And today and tomorrow, busloads of supporters will descend on Antalya for the one-year strike anniversary.
The ICEM called attention to the deplorable conditions that caused the strike from the outset. In May, the strike received firm commitment from the ICEM Executive Committee. Currently, a four-person ICEM Women’s Committee is in the Antalya trade zone to support the strikers. They will join the strikers and Turkish activists in a forum, documentary film, and a social event on 25 September, and then accompany the strikers to the front of company offices on 26 September for a lively protest.
The delegation is headed by ICEM Women’s Committee Chair Evgenia Esenina of Russian Oil and Gas Workers’ Union (ROGWU), and includes Elena Petrovici of the Oil Workers’ Union of Romania (PETROM), Ramona Parra of the Chemical, Textile, and Leathern Workers of Spain (FITEQA-CCOO), and Carol Bruce, ICEM Women’s Officer.