Vulnerable employment, lack of inspection, the oppression over worker rights and freedoms... To create more profit... At least 794 workers lost their lives in work murders in the first half of 2015

3007 Okunma
12.08.2015
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Report on Work Murders in the First Half of 2015

Vulnerable employment, lack of inspection, the oppression over worker rights and freedoms... To create more profit...

At least 794 workers lost their lives in work murders in the first half of 2015

Workers' Health and Work Safety Assembly – WHSA (İşçi Sağlığı ve İş Güvenliği Meclisi) is a labor organization, an independent coordination from the state and capital organizations, composed by private sector workers, public sector employees, victim workers' families, doctors, engineers, scholars, journalists, lawyers and the organizations of these people to coordinate the struggle for workers' health and safety at work.

Based on what we could monitor from printed press, visual and digital media, and information shared by labor organizations, professional bodies, and the statements made by the victims’ relatives, we state that at least 794 workers lost their lives at work in the first half of 2015…

The number of corporate murders in the first six months of 2015 are as follows:

In January 2015 no fewer than 128;

In February 2015 no fewer than 85;

In March 2015 no fewer than 139;

In April 2015 no fewer than 133;

In May 2015 no fewer than 162,

In June 2015 no fewer than 147 workers were killed at work in Turkey...

By this way no fewer than 794 workers lost their lives in corporate murders in Turkey.

Those 794 workers, who died at work, are constituted by 686 private sector and public sector employees, 84 agriculture workers and small landowners, 24 small scale tradespeople, and 108 self-employed people.

The cases of corporate murders in Turkey are more frequently happened in seasonal, non-unionized and insecure working conditions.

1- With JDP government, the number of construction workers, who are killed in work murders, increase as a result of “mega construction projects.”

2- With the decline in small scale agricultural production, the number of seasonal agricultural workers, farmers, drovers, forest worker and fishermen, who die at work, also increase.

3- With the rise of this order of plunder, transportation and logistic sectors has expended, which results in work related deaths especially among long distance drivers.

The number of work murders in Turkey by sectors are as follows...

In construction sector no fewer than 184 workers;

In agriculture and forestry sectors no fewer than 170 workers;

In transportation sectors no fewer than 117 workers;

In trade and commerce, education and cinema sectors no fewer than 59 workers;

In municipality sectors no fewer than 51 workers;

In metal processing sectors no fewer than 29 workers;

In food processing sectors no fewer than 22 workers;

In mining sectors no fewer than 22 workers;

In energy sectors no fewer than 22 workers;

In defense and security sectors no fewer than 20 workers;

In cement, clay and glass processing sectors no fewer than 14 workers;

In shipbuilding and shipyard sectors no fewer than 12 workers;

In health and social security sectors no fewer than 12 workers;

In petrochemistry and rubber processing sectors no fewer than 10 workers;

In hardwood and paper processing sectors no fewer than 8 workers;

In tourism sectors no fewer than 8 workers;

In textile, garment and leather processing sectors no fewer than 6 workers;

In communication sectors no fewer than 4 workers;

In press and journalism sectors no fewer than 2 workers;

In baking, finance and insurance sectors no fewer than 2 workers;

In unknown sectors no fewer than 20 workers were killed at work...

The number of work murders by causes are as follows...

Due to traffic accidents 225 workers;

Due to falling 136 workers;

Due to crushing and collapsing 136 workers;

Due to electric shocking 39 workers;

Due to poisoning and suffocation 34 workers;

Due to explosion and burning 25 workers;

Due to cutting and amputating 12 workers;

Due to falling and crushing of heavy objects 8 workers;

Due to other causes (heart attack, cerebral bleeding, suicide, crimean-congo hemorrhagic fewer, liver failure, malaria, bee sting, snakebite, armed attack, wild animals attack and viral diseases) 179 workers were killed at work.

Hidden epidemic: Since there is no systematic classification or recording and notification system for occupational diseases in Turkey, we have only a very limited amount of data regarding work murders caused by occupational diseases. Therefore, WHSA could only report work murders, which are resulted from occupational diseases, under the title of “other causes”. Depending on our data, only 8 of 794 workers were killed due to occupational diseases in the first half of 2015. However, according to ILO's and WHO's estimations, between 4 and 12 occupational diseses cases due to working conditions each 1000 workers in every year because of occupational diseases. Relying on these estimations, it would be expected that 120.00 and 360.000 new cases due to occupational diseasees every year in Turkey...

Based on our data, 50 of 794 workers, who were killed at work in the first half of 2015, are women.

1- Almost 50 percent of women workers in Turkey work in agricultural sectors as unpaid family workers.

2- 15 percent of women workers work in industrial sectors, while 35 percent of them work in tertiary sectors.

The number of worker murders in Turkey by age are as follows...

8 child workers, who are 14 years old or below;

18 child/young workers, who are between 15-17 years old;

119 workers, who are between 18-27 years old;

364 workers, who are between 28-50 years old;

222 workers, who are 51 years old or above;

And 63 workers, whose ages are unknown, were killed at work...

1- Child workers, who died in work murders, clearly signify the problem of child labor in Turkey, despite the state's efforts to conceal it.

2- Children are worked in agricultural and construction sectors in Turkey.

3- Children are also worked as apprentices and interns in Turkey.

4- The number of child workers increase especially in summer season.

5- The state reports that 893,000 children are worked in Turkey. However, in reality, there are millions of child workers in Turkey.

6- There are many retired workers in Turkey, who die either by working or by living in vulnerable conditions.

7- Despite the reality of “retired workers” in Turkey, the state considers the pension expenses as waste of resources.

Refugee Workers in the Grip of War, Immigration and Chauvinism: 37 of 794 workers, who lost their lives at work, are immigrant workers. 29 Syrian, 2 Afghan, 2 Iranian, 2 Japan, and 2 Russian immigrant workers died at work in the first half of 2015.

Immigrant workers in Turkey are excluded from basic human rights, especially from the right to health. The existing legislation does not accord any right for 2 millions Syrian refugees. In order to fill legal gap, the state creates legal definitions, as 'guest', which are not recognized by any international act.

In addition, there are many Kurdish migrant workers in Turkey, who seasonally move in the country to earn their livelihoods. Two main factors determine the patterns of Kurdish labor migration in Turkey. These are “seasonal agricultural employment” and “seasonal construction employment”.

Workers died in work murders in all cities of Turkey, except for Bayburt, as well as in abroad...

The number of work murders in Turkey by cities as follows...

In Istanbul 63 workers;

In Adana 38 workers;

In Antalya 38 workers;

In Konya 37 workers;

In Bursa 36 workers;

In Izmir 33 workers;

In Kocaeli 29 workers;

In Şanlıurfa 24 workers;

In Gaziantep, Kayseri, Manisa and Mersin 19 workers respectively;

In Samsun18 workers;

In Ankara and Hatay 16 workers respectively;

In Aydin 14 workers;

In Bolu, Denizli, Karabük and Trabzon 12 workers respectively;

In Adıyaman 11 workers;

In Balıkesir, Bilecik, Edirne, Kahramanmaraş, Mardin and abroad 10 workers respectively;

In Çanakkale, Erzurum, Malatya, Muğla and Niğde 9 workers respectively;

In Burdur, Diyarbakır, Düzce, Sakarya, Sivas and Zonguldak 8 workers respectively;

In Gümüşhane, Kırıkkale, Kütahya, Ordu, and Şırnak 7 workers respectively;

In Afyon, Bartın, Çorum, Isparta, and Kastamonu 6 workers respectively;

In Eskişehir, Karaman, and Tekirdağ 5 workers respectively;

In Tokat and Uşak 4 workers respectively;

In Aksaray, Bingöl, Çankırı, Elazığ, Giresun, Kars, Osmaniye, Siirt and Sinop 3 workers respectively;

In Amasya, Artvin, Batman, Bitlis, Erzincan, Nevşehir, Tunceli, Van, Yalova and Yozgat 2 workers respectively;

In Ağrı, Ardahan, Hakkari, Iğdır, Kırklareli, Kırşehir, Kilis, Muş and Rize 1 worker respectively lost their lives at work...

The struggle for workers' health and trade union movement: In the first six months of 2015, DISK, SGBP, KESK, TTB and TMMOB, and associated unions and chambers, and democratic mass organizations, political parties and journals issue hundreds of statements to press, and organize many demonstrations to demand heath, safety and security at workplaces. As a result of these demonstrations, many workers were fired, several doctors and engineers were investigated, and the police intervened in the protests by tear gas and took protesters under custody...

Our Demands... We want to work in healthy, safe and secure work environments...

And we struggle...

1- In order to secure the justice after the incident of death at work, and inflict necessary punishment on responsible politicians, employers, bureaucrats, and other responsible actors and institutions...

2- The most fundamental factors in providing workers' health and work safety are workers' unionization and the right to choose union organization. In order to overcome all forms of oppression over workers' freedom of organization...

3- In order to assemble workers' health and work safety councils at workplaces, in which workers are equally represented...

4- In order to create a new regulation regime, in which independent assemblies of trade unions, professional chambers and independent experts participate into the state's investigations of workers' health and work safety...

Unionize against Work Murders... Resist, Worker! To Survive...

Contact us at

http://www.guvenlicalisma.org

http://www.facebook.com/guvenli.calisma

http://twitter.com/guvenlicalisma

guvenlicalisma@gmail.com

Workers' Health and Work Safety Assembly / İşçi Sağlığı ve İş Güvenliği Meclisi