Car producer Hyundai has dismissed 800 workers in its plant in Kocaeli, northwestern Turkey. Workers have said that they were told to sign a paper reading “I do not want to make use of any rights based on the leave I have been given during the economic crisis.”

Workers refusing to sign were threatened that they would only be given severance pay and would not benefit from any other rights.

Employer: "No dismissals"

However, Kaan Bakrıcıoğlu, PR Manager for Hyunday Assan denied that 800 workers were dismissed. He said, “In order to stay on our feet as a company, we are taking certain precautions by cutting costs. There have certainly been no dismissals, but the contracts of contract personnel have not been renewed.”

“130 workers received compensation on leaving. We offered this possibility to those in need of a lump sum of money. Other workers resigned and made use of all their legal rights. In addition, we offered these workers a bonus of two extra wages.

Employee: "No pay for three months"

Atakan Şanlı is one of those made redundant. He said that they had been on unpaid leave for three months. They had been called to the factory the previous day, only to find out that they had lost their jobs.

Şanlı accused Hyundai of benefitting from the state short-time payments to employers, which amounts to 326 TL per worker.

The Hyundai plant will continue with 900 workers on single shifts. There is no trade union organisation at the factory. (BÇ/AG)