HDP Labor Commission deputy co-chairperson Şaziye Köse issued a written statement and said: "The Code-29 persecution should be ended, those who were dismissed should be reinstated."

Köse added: "The AKP-MHP alliance has implemented all kinds of exploitation mechanisms, including some in violation of the workers' right to life, by granting all kinds of privileges to the capital. On 16 April 2020, with the provisional article added to the Labor Law within the scope of Covid-19 measures, dismissal of workers during the pandemic was prohibited, except in case of 'behaviours that do not comply with the rules of ethics and goodwill'. While the capital turned the pandemic into an opportunity and turned the Code-29 into a weapon against the workers, the AKP-MHP government did nothing to prevent this.”
Köse continued: “According to official data, 176,662 workers were arbitrarily dismissed on the grounds of Code-29 in 2020."

At the end of his statement, Köse said: "We will continue to defend the rights of the workers, to resist and struggle together and we will definitely win."

What is this Code 29?

Employers have to give notice to the Social Security Institution within 10 days of the dismissal of a worker. The dismissed worker is given a code for the reason for dismissal on this notice. Code 29 shows that the employment contract had been terminated on the grounds that the employee exhibited 'behaviours that do not comply with the rules of ethics and goodwill' as listed in the second paragraph of Article 25 of the Labour Law.

This article, which bosses used extensively during the ban to dismiss workers [during Covid] is also an obstacle to benefiting from unemployment benefits. İŞKUR (Turkish Employment Agency) looks at the code when an application for unemployment benefit is made; if code 29 is entered benefits are not paid. Those dismissed under the code 29 also cannot receive short-time work allowance.