Celebrities in Turkey gave support to the struggle of Acarsoy Textile’s women workers who were fired for joining a union. Acarsoy Textile has a 70% ratio of women employees and works for global brands as Zara, Bershka, Pull & Bear and H&M.
Acarsoy Textile, who works with a 70% ratio of women employees and works for global brands as Zara, Bershka, Pull & Bear and H&M fired four female workers in March for taking part in union activities.
The reason for the dismissals according to the company was that the workers’ “performance had dropped.” The four women have been protesting their dismissals in front of the factory since then and are demanding their jobs back.
According to the women, working conditions at Acarsoy Textile were very difficult and they were not even allowed to take bathroom breaks. If workers used the facilities, the foremen were instructed to knock on the door until they came out. Women workers were compelled to sign a contract in which they agreed not to get pregnant for two years. Some workers had to hide their pregnancies by wearing girdles.
Last week, feminists organized a campaign called “Feminists Rise Against Poverty” demanded the reinstatement of women workers by protesting both in Zara and H&M stores in Turkey and on social media. Women went to Zara and H&M stores, affixing labels on their clothes, revealing what happened to those women workers at the factory.
The labels read “Women workers who produce this product were fired because they demanded their rights”, “Four female workers who were fired without compensation for being members of the Öz İplik-İş Union have been resisting in front of the Acarsoy Textile factory for almost 150 days. This resistance belongs to all of us, of all women. The women should be reinstated.”
Celebrities in Turkey also gave a support to support to the campaign and the struggle of Acarsoy Textile’s women workers through informative videos.
Turkey was named one of the world’s 10 worst countries among 149 in total for labor rights, in a report published in July 2021 by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
Turkey was categorized as a country where there was “no guarantee of labor rights,” meaning that while a country’s legislation may spell out certain rights, workers effectively have no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labor practices.