In recent weeks, the shipyards in Tuzla, on the outskirts of Istanbul, have come to public attention with a spate of accidents and deaths.

Indeed, these deaths are nothing new, with dozens of people dying each year as shipbuilding companies are sacrifcing health and safety regulations for profit.

Yet another accident and another death...

On Friday, worker Orhan Erim was injured at the Torgem shipyard and taken to hospital. According to the trade union his condition is serious.

On Saturday, there was another death, that of 24-year old Mikail Kavak. Kavak, the fourth worker to die this February, and the 16th in the last seven months, was electrocuted when working with cables.

According to statistics from the Shipbuilding Trade Union LIMTER-Is, this makes the 80th death in the last 23 years.

On Friday LIMTER-Is trade union leader Cem Dinc talked to bianet about the death of worker Cevat Toy, who died on 12 February. Dinc claims that Toy’s body was released from the morgue and sent to his hometown of Batman (south-east of Turkey) by plane without informing his relatives. According to Dinc, the aim was to keep the family and the press away from the funeral. In addition, all workers at the Dearsan shipyard where Toy died were given they day off.

Protesters dismissed

It has further emerged that workers who joined a LIMTER-Is protest at Toy’s death on Thursday morning lost their jobs on the same day. The subcontracting firm Güven (which ironically means “Safety” or “Trust”) announced that it has terminated their contracts. Among the 25 workers joining the protests was a trade union leader, Kamber Saygili.

The Association of Shipyard Worker’s Union (TIB-DER) commented on the dismissals: “Workers aren’t afraid of gathering for nothing. It is natural for them to fear the bosses who insist on ignoring what is happening, who try to keep workers separate as much as possible and who divide them through the subcontracting system.”

"Is the state not strong enough?"

During the protest, workers were carrying a model coffin. They asked why, seeing that everyone knew about the conditions at the shipyards which caused the deaths, the government and the sate were not acting: “Is the state not strong enough for the shipyard bosses, or are the shipyard bosses the government?” (EZÖ/TK/AG)