Protest by 12 cleaners fired for demanding their rights at LC Waikiki warehouse enters 15th day

The resistance of 12 cleaners fired for demanding their rights at the LC Waikiki warehouse is on its 15th day.

12 cleaning workers employed by a subcontractor company named Kluh were dismissed by LC Waikiki warehouse in Esenyurt, Istanbul, on the pretext of "Code 46" for opposing the harsh working conditions. The workers started an action in front of the warehouse with the support of the Shipbuilding and Maritime Transport, Storage and Warehouse Workers' Union (Limter-İş) affiliated to the Revolutionary Confederation of Trade Unions (DİSK).

The workers made a statement on Halitağa Street in Kadıköy on Sunday, the 14th day of their protest. Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Istanbul MP Musa Piroğlu, Friendship and Culture Association (DKDER), Independent Revolutionary Class Platform (BDSP), Revolutionary Youth Union (DGB), Construction Workers' Union (Construction-Is), Struggle Union Platform, Devrimci Revolutionary Construction, Construction and Road Workers Union (Dev-Yapı-İş Union), Workers and Labor Union, United Workers' Movement (BİH) supported the action.

'Solidarity is our best weapon'

HDP Istanbul MP, Musa Piroğlu, said that workers have two tools to use against employers: “One is their unity and resilience, and the other is the solidarity of the people. Because the only weapon we have against these money bosses and wealth bosses is solidarity. This solidarity is a solidarity against dismissal, rights violation and poverty. The resistance of LC Waikiki workers is the demand of the poor in this country, the oppressed in this country.”

Call for a boycott

Kanber Saygılı, chair of Limter-İş Union, asked people not to shop at LC Waikiki stores. Saygılı said: "We told the bosses to sit and solve this problem together. The dismissed workers have been working in warehouses for 3 years, 5 years, 7 years. Isn’t this dismissal a shame? We will resist and we will win.”