Some 500 miners working at a coal mine in Ankara started a protest by locking themselves underground in the mine on Wednesday to protest government plans for the privatization of the company operating the mine, which they fear will leave them unemployed, BBC’s Turkish service reported on Thursday.
The protesting miners, who began their second day 350 meters under ground on Thursday, are from the Çayırhan Thermal Power Plant in the Nallıhan district. There is a coal mine on the premises of the power plant that supplies the thermal plant with coal for electricity production.
The miners barricaded themselves on Wednesday inside the mine, which employs 2,100 workers, as they expressed their objections to the plans for the privatization of the mining company that surfaced approximately six weeks ago.
Selim Arslan, secretary of the Çayırhan branch of the Turkish Mine Workers Union, told BBC that the clauses of a tender to be held for the privatization of the mine lack any reference guaranteeing the continued employment of the current workforce.
“There are 1,300 workers underground and 800 workers above ground in the mine. … Our biggest fear is to become unemployed. The tender specifications only state that workers will be evicted from their lodgings within four months,” Arslan said.
He said that the workers will not leave the mine until a positive result is achieved.
In a video they broadcast from inside the mine, the miners announced they would go on a hunger strike if necessary.
Nurettin Akçul, head of the Turkish Mine Workers Union, also told the private DHA news agency that the tender specifications for the privatization of the mine include nothing regarding the miners’ vested rights.
“It is clear that privatization will harm both the miners and the local community’s interests. … After this sale, they [the new owners] may ignore workers’ rights in order to reduce costs. They could lay off workers and reduce the current workforce,” Akçul added.
According to BBC, officials from the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources are holding talks with the authorities at the mining operation.
The protesting miners are receiving support from political parties and civil society organizations.
Özgür Özel, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), expressed support for the miners on X on Thursday.
“We will never leave workers across Turkey, who are protesting, resisting and going on strike to defend their labor, alone in their struggle,” Özel said.
Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, also from the CHP, visited the mine site to show his support for the workers’ protest.
The leader of the Labor Party (TİP), Erkan Baş, made a statement after visiting the thermal power plant on Wednesday.
“Privatization means cheap labor, deunionization and unemployment. We will show that the miners are not alone in their struggle across every corner of the country,” he said.
BBC reported that the deadline for submitting the final bids for the privatization tender is December 4 and that 13 companies have applied so far to take part in the tender.
According to a 2022 report by the Climate Change Policy and Research Association (CCPRA), the Çayırhan Thermal Power Plant is the first thermal power plant in Turkey to be transferred to the private sector.
The facility, which began operations in 1978, was transferred from the state to the private sector in 1996 and was handed over to Park Termik Elektrik Industry and Trade Inc., a company affiliated with the Ciner Group.
The operation of the plant was returned to the state in 2020.