Construction workers from Turkey working on the Tanzania Railway Project have shut down a company known as Yapı Merkezi for nonpayment of their salaries for about seven months.
The about 2000 workers who are members of DİSK Union, are on strike in Tanzania while their families are protesting in Istanbul due to hardship as a result of refusal of the company to pay their dependents wages.
Spokesman of DİSK/Dev Yapı, a (Construction Workers’ Union) Ömer Tanriverdi said: “Let our voices be heard, let the problem be solved”
“Some of us cannot pay the rent, and some of us cannot buy food while some have even attempted suicide; there is constant mobbing on us”.
He further said their families were also victims of the increasing poverty in Turkey.
Also speaking, President of DİSK/Dev Yapı-İş (Construction Workers’ Union), of which the workers are members, Özgür Karabulut added that the workers had resolved to resist any ill treatment by the company.
“We will carry the voice of our workers everywhere; we will carry out our activities in every channel that will affect the government from ministries and solve the problem,” he said.
Yapı Merkezi, is known in Turkey for trying to usurp the rights of construction workers, especially their salaries, took over the work of the 4th phase after the first three phases of the Darussalam-Mwanza Railway line in the East African country of Tanzania.
Yapı Merkezi is one of the well-established and large companies in Turkey, which has received the most public tenders and is also undertaken many projects worldwide, particularly in Africa.
Two thousand workers from Turkey started to work in Tanzania to construct the railway line, relying on the size of the company. However, the workers’ salaries have not been paid for seven months.
At least 10 thousand people, including families of 2,000 people in Turkey, suffer from increasing poverty. The workers, who made a short statement at the construction site, went on strike by stopping work on August 7.
Strike representative, Ömer Tanrıverdi said: “We are resisting getting our salaries. We could not get a salary for 7 months easily”
