August 22, 2008

Turkey may shut all shipyards on worker safety issues

Turkish Daily News quoted Mr Faruk Celik Turkish labor minister as saying that all the shipyards in Istanbul's Tuzla district will be closed down if they do not implement regulations to prevent further worker deaths.

Mr Celik said that "The success of shipyards should be with respect to human lives, otherwise, regardless of the success it means that one earns money from deaths. 25 deaths had resulted from work related accidents recently, but did not specify a time frame.”

He said that a campaign that will harm the shipyard sector will not be correct. There were 37 shipyards in Turkey until 2002 and now there are 76, with this number expected to increase gradually due to the numerous new orders. The sector is involved in a serious amount of exports and this leads to exchange inflows to the country.

Mr Celik said that Tuzla's shipyards were among the first issues that he looked into on the first day he took up his ministerial duties. He added that "I knew that it is a risky sector. I went to Tuzla the week I became minister and inspected two shipyards. We are not working impulsively on shipyards because of public reaction. We are trying to enhance peace at work."

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Union and Limter İş met with the Turkish Shipbuilders Association last week to discuss possible safety measures to prevent work related deaths. The three organizations are expected to meet once more this week.

According to data from the Port, Shipyard, Ship Construction & Repair Workers Trade Union 18 workers have died in the last eight months. There are some cases where the cause of death has not been established, but those were included on the list of work related deaths.