Four Tekel workers hospitalized in hunger strike

On their 38th day of demonstrations in Ankara, four Tekel workers were taken to a hospital as a result of a hunger strike that began Tuesday.

The country’s former state-owned alcohol and tobacco monopoly, or Tekel, workers, including many women, started a hunger strike Tuesday in front of the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions, or Türk-İş, headquarters in Ankara, saying that they would stage a “death fast” if their demands were not met.

Ambulances are present at the site as well as doctors, who regularly check the workers’ blood pressure.

Thousands of Tekel workers have been protesting in Ankara for over a month to oppose the privatization of the former monopoly and the government’s refusal to meet their demands regarding a related change in their positions.

The Tekel privatization obliges workers to either quit their jobs or accept work in another state institution with lower wages and fewer benefits.

The former Tekel workers will be employed in temporary positions at other public institutions under Article 4/C of Law No. 657 in Turkey, which they say will cause a significant reduction in wages, by almost half, and the loss of some of their rights. Under Article 4/C of the law, employees are allowed to work a maximum of 10 months.

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