ANKARA
Turkish carmaker Ford Otosan said in a statement Monday the ongoing strike is on the verge of harming the automobile industry, urging its employees to resume negotiations while continuing production.
The company pledged it would fire no one as long as they resume their work, and vowed to deliver a 1000-lira ($384) premium for each worker in ongoing talks with workers’ representatives.
But, the statement added, workers were pushing for demands that exceeded the company’s means, and “blocked the way for economic dialogue with this unacceptable proposal."
“As we also shared with them, it is not possible to meet those demands in terms of the sustainability of production."
The workers of the company’s Golcuk and Yenikoy plants were on strike last week but manufacturing operations have restarted in these plants, effective as of Thursday night shift, Ford Otosan said in a stock exchange filing last Friday.
Some workers insist on their demands for wage raises and the withdrawal of the Turkish Metal Labor Union from their plants.
Meanwhile, workers at the company’s plant in northwestern Turkey’s Eskisehir province on Monday joined their colleagues on strike with similar demands.
