ANKARA
The recent deaths of seasonal farm workers has sparked a debate in Turkey over the need to overhaul working conditions and provide better work opportunities.
A total of 15 seasonal farm workers were killed in a traffic accident Monday morning when a pick-up carrying them in its back collided with large truck in Golmarmara town in the western Turkish province of Manisa.
E.I., the driver of the truck involved in the accident, was sent to court Tuesday. After giving his statement to the gendarmerie, the driver was referred to the Akhisar Courthouse in Manisa.
Commenting on the incident, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said in a written statement Monday that there was need to overhaul workers' rights.
"In every part of Turkey, the seasonal farm workers are employed in inhumane conditions. They have neither social insurance nor accommodation and health rights," the statement said.
The HDP also put the entire blame of the accident on the shoulders of the Justice and Development (AK) Party on the grounds that officials affiliated with it allegedly failed to carry out necessary road inspections.
Meanwhile, Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions head Ergun Atalay said that the accident was a reflection of general state of irresponsibility in the country.
"The women, temporary and seasonal workers, who went to the vineyard, were obliged to work without social security," Atalay noted.
"Their wage is not sufficient for their daily basic needs," he said.
Moreover, the Memur-Sen Union also issued a statement Monday over the incident and highlighted the importance of workers' security.
The union called for upgrading the transportation, accommodation, education, health, security, working and social security conditions of workers. It pointed out that the present working condition for the seasonal workers was inhumane.
Meanwhile, the Republican People's Party (CHP) Group Deputy Chairman Ozgur Ozel and General Vice Chairman Yakup Akkaya visited the victims’ relatives in Cokelek village to offer their condolences.
"If they had their own secure jobs, the workers would not [be under pressure to] run to collect leaves at vineyards [early morning] at 5 a.m. by [travelling on] a vehicle designed to carry [not humans, but] goods," Ozel said.
"They are in a difficult position and unemployed just as those in the mines of Soma. The burnout in the agricultural sector provoked their deaths," he added.
HDP Izmir Deputy Ertugrul Kurkcu termed the accident as "work homicide," while the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey President Kani Beko said: “This was no accident, this is massacre”.
A village in mourning
The Cokelek village of Salihli district in Manisa province has been in mourning ever since it received the tragic news of the deaths of its 15 residents.
The 15 victims included 13 women and a child, who were on their way to pick vine leaves that sell for just 1.5 or 2 Turkish liras ($0.5) per kilogram.
The victims were buried following the mid-afternoon prayer in the cemetery of the village on Monday. Manisa province Governor Erdogan Bektas and many AK Party, CHP, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and HDP deputies had attended the prayers.
Members of a local labor and solidarity group also protested the workers’ death, during which they also unfurled a banner that read: "This is not a working accident, it is a homicide".
