Workers locked themselves in mine to protest layoffs
ZONGULDAK (DİHA) - Some 350 workers have begun a protest by locking themselves inside a mine in Zonguldak in reaction to the dismissal of their 60 colleagues.
When the workers arrived at the mine, they learned that their colleagues had been laid off by the company that runs the mine, Hema Coal Mining, which is under Hattat Holding, and which had previously dismissed 29 workers. The company hung a notification at the entrance of the mine with a list of the dismissed miners, saying it had annulled their labor contracts on the grounds that an economic problem occurred due to the mine’s reserves. The mine has 4-4.5 megatons of reserves, not the 12 megatons that was cited in the tender when the company rented the mine from the Turkish Coal Institute (TTK) in 2005, the company said. The company also said it would hire the dismissed workers at other facilities in different provinces if they so choose.
However, the miners gathered inside the mine and refused to leave, saying their protest would continue until a solution was found. Mutlu has expressed the union’s support for the miners’ protest, calling on authorities to intervene and find a solution. The miners working during the night shift will join the protest when they arrive and 600 people will continue to keep themselves locked underground, he added.
(nt)
