The economic crisis in Turkey is increasingly affecting the jobs of the masses, leading to organised work stops - currently especially in the heavy/metal industry. This December, Turkey's gross debt alone is 1.87 trillion Lira (approx. 200 billion Euros), almost 50% higher than a year ago. For instance, workers at the Baldur factory in Çayırova organised a strike as a result of the dismissal announcements, which the police stormed at around 5am and arrested four workers and a union manager.
In Istanbul, a rally was held against the action of Systemair, a Swedish company producing in Turkey, to put unionised workers on unpaid leave in exchange for hiring even cheaper temporary workers.
The protest and resistance of the Turkish people is also developing in the countryside; in Gölormani (Düzce) in the northwest of the country, peasants with 30 tractors carried out an action against the "restructuring law" recently passed by the parliament. Due to the increased (especially technical) demands of the big agricultural sellers, many poor farmers have to incur debts and their land is degrading. The "Restructuring Law", contrary to what some had hoped, is yet another step in this direction and farmers' debts will not be dropped.
