28 workers died in October in mine accidents
ANKARA (DİHA) - Turkish Mining Workers’ Union, Dev Maden Sen, has released a report about the mining accidents that took place in the month of October. The report says 28 mining workers lost their lives while 10 others were injured during October. The union pointed at the government, the employers, and pro-company trade unions as the ones responsible for the occupational deaths.
Drawing attention to the fact that occupational accidents and job safety as well as workers’ health issues have come to occupy the public agenda after the mine disaster in Soma that claimed the lives of 301 workers, Dev Maden Sen said, in its report, that following accidents in Istanbul at a site belonging to the construction company Torunlar İnşaat and the recent mine accident in Ermenek, discussion on the issue has intensified.
The report puts the greed of the company owner to maximize the profits, the subcontractor system that has been widely applied through the privatizations and at last legalized by the recent regulation, workers‘ being unorganized or the trade unions‘ compromising attitudes as the causes of occupational accidents leading to deaths. The report also stresses that the close relations of the company owners with the government, the lack of control and the efforts to cover up the accidents also lead to accidents and occupational deaths.
The report further draws attention to the fact that there is a growing tendency among the workers that only independent unions defending the interests of the working class can pursue an effective struggle against the companies as well as the government.
(nt)
