Workers’ voices were heard from Ankara: The only answer is resistance

Ebru Çelik

The Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) held a Great Workers’ Gathering in Gebze, calling for “justice in income and taxation” in response to the minimum wage process and the stalled collective bargaining talks in the metal sector. The first stop of the march, which will start in İstanbul Kartal and end in Ankara Ulus, was Gebze.

As the clock approached 2.00 pm, every street leading to Gebze City Square filled with workers. Metal workers, municipal workers and employees from different sectors filled the square with slogans. The chants “We are workers, we are right, we will win” and “If there is no bread for us there will be no comfort for you” echoed through the centre of Gebze.

THE SQUARE WARMED UP, THE RANKS TIGHTENED

As the meeting time drew near, flares were lit and metal workers tightened their ranks. Banners reading “The Smart strike will win”, “We don’t want poverty wages”, “Stop child labour” and “Not a work accident but murder” stood out. The crowd grew not only with unions but also with the participation of representatives from CHP, LEFT Party, EMEP, TİP and DİP.

Speaking first from the back of a lorry at the gathering in the square, Özkan Atar, General President of the United Metalworkers’ Union (Birleşik Metal-İş), affiliated to DİSK, summarised the point reached in the collective bargaining process that metal workers have been in for months. Recalling the offer put forward by the employers’ organisation MESS, Atar said they were imposing an average 10% rise in wages and an annual 25% rise in social rights.

Stressing that this offer was unacceptable, Atar said, “These figures are a mockery of the metal worker’s labour and sweat. It is clearly an imposition of poverty and we do not accept it.” Saying that MESS was not only imposing low wages but also targeting hard-won rights, Atar added, “They shamelessly put in front of us a three-year contract, flexible working and the seizure of rights. We say it from here: We will not give up even the head of a pin of our hard-won rights.”

NOW IS THE TIME FOR ACTION, NOT WORDS

Recalling that a dispute record was drawn up on 8 December, Atar said the action phase began after leaving the table. Referring to the marches in factories and stoppages by shift, Atar underlined that metal workers had started using their power that comes from production.

Saying, “On 28 November we marched in factories, on 18 December we stopped production in all shifts. This week the stoppages will continue,” Atar stated that the action timetable would be expanded in the coming days.

His words, “Thousands of metal workers are one fist. This struggle will not remain limited to factories, it will be carried to the squares,” were met with applause. Touching on the mediation process as well, Atar said this was a stalling tactic from their point of view and added, “If a sensible and acceptable offer comes we will talk. If it doesn’t, the strike process is ahead of us.”

WE ARE THE LOCOMOTIVE OF THIS COUNTRY

Drawing attention to the place of the metal sector in the country’s economy, Atar said, “From automotive to iron and steel, from white goods to machinery, we carry this country’s production burden. We produce in steel plants facing 1,500 degrees.” Emphasising that metal workers’ demand was clear, Atar said, “We want to receive the return for our sweat that fills the bosses’ safes through a fair and just collective agreement.”

After Atar, DİSK President Arzu Çerkezoğlu said the gathering in Gebze was one of the key stops of the march stretching from İstanbul to Ankara. Saying, “We set off from Kartal, we are in Gebze. With every step we take from İstanbul to Ankara this march will grow,” Çerkezoğlu greeted not only metal workers but also workers who are on strike and in resistance.

“We are marching together with Smart Solar workers who have been resisting for sixty-one days, with municipal workers and with tyre workers,” she said.

MINIMUM WAGE AND THE POVERTY PICTURE

Çerkezoğlu noted that the minimum wage in Turkey had effectively become the average wage, stressing that the 22,104 lira wage remained below the hunger threshold. “Millions are trying to live on this wage. Even in a household where four people work, the poverty line cannot be reached,” Çerkezoğlu said, adding that this was a choice. She said the working class was being put under pressure through strike bans and policies of deunionisation.

THE CALL FOR JUSTICE IN TAXATION WAS REPEATED

Also touching on tax injustice, Çerkezoğlu said, “In this country workers pay more tax than bosses. We pay tax in advance before we even receive our wage, while companies break profit records.” Addressing the government, Çerkezoğlu said, “If you want to increase tax revenues, look at banks and big companies. Take your hands off our tables and our children’s future.”

Not only metal workers but also workers from different sectors joined the gathering in Gebze. Members of unions affiliated to DİSK filled the area at the first stop of the march and gave a message of solidarity. Filiz Küçük, a public-sector worker and a member of Dev Sağlık affiliated to DİSK, said she saw the struggle of metal workers as “a common issue for all workers”. Filiz K. said, “This process is not only important for metal workers, it is very important for DİSK and for all workers. I think we need to be here for our future and our rights.”

Pointing to the metal workers’ march reaching Ankara, Filiz K. said, “This march is stating a very clear demand: equal pay for equal work, a humane wage for workers. In such a period, seeing this crowd gives you strength. We feel we are not alone.” Saying she had come from outside the city, Filiz K. added that she would support the march in her own city as well.

Municipal worker Mehmet A., who attended the gathering, said the cost-of-living squeeze was a shared reality across all sectors. “Metal workers are at the front today but the problems we live are the same. Wages are eroding, taxes are rising. Being here means saying ‘we do not accept this order’,” Mehmet A. said, stressing the importance of the march reaching Ankara.

Elif S., a member of Enerji-Sen, said, “It’s almost impossible to make it to the end of the month. The crowd here gave me hope. If this voice doesn’t grow nothing will change. That’s why we’re here.”

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled İşçilerin sesi Ankara’dan duyuldu: Tek çare direniş, published in BirGün newspaper on December 22, 2025.