The workers, from the Doruk Madencilik mine, had started a march from Eskişehir's Mihalıççık district on 11 April, led by the Independent Mine Workers' Union. According to the union, police detained union leader Gökay Çakır, organising specialist Başaran Aksu, and 31 miners on Tuesday morning when they attempted to reach the ministry. After the detentions, 110 miners began a hunger strike outside the ministry until their demands are met.
The protest stems from a history of escalating workers' rights violations. The mine was seized by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) in 2016 on alleged ties to the Gülenist organisation and transferred to Yıldızlar SSS Holding in 2022. With this transfer, violations of workers' rights began to escalate, according to the union, with workers' severance and notice pay, overtime wages, and salaries not paid. Due to payment disruptions, the number of miners decreased from 1,200 to 250-300.
Can anyone hear our voice?
The miners are demanding their salaries, which have not been paid for about five months, as well as severance and notice pay dating back to before and after the TMSF takeover. They also seek full payment of wages, bonuses, and annual leave receivables, and an end to unpaid leave imposed on current workers. Another demand is the creation of a safe working environment, with workers saying the company imposes old equipment for safety and that labour health measures are inadequate. The miners additionally demand the reinstatement of workers dismissed for union activity and the nationalisation of the mine for job security.
Yıldızlar SSS Holding, a family-owned company chaired by businessman Sebahattin Yıldız, operates the mine. The official response from the police or government regarding the detentions and the miners' demands has not been confirmed, nor has the response from Yıldızlar SSS Holding to the allegations of unpaid wages and unsafe conditions.