Kemalbay: The elections have turned into a referendum

HDP MP Serpil Kemalbay said workers will face a great attack after the June 23 elections, starting with the robbery of the seniority compensation, and added that voters should consider their position accordingly.

HDP MP Serpil Kemalbay, founder of Imece House Workers Union and active member of several unions like the Independent Textile Workers Union, spoke to the ANF about the importance of the Istanbul elections for workers.

Kemalbay stressed that the Istanbul elections to be renewed on June 23 are not normal elections, and that Turkey has been experiencing a democratic, political and economic crisis for a long time which the authoritarian regime is trying to suppress.

“WORKERS ARE AT THE POINT OF SETTING THEMSELVES ON FIRE”

Kemalbay said the crises affect workers the worst and pointed out that some workers have even had to resort to setting themselves on fire to make their voice heard.

Kemalbay said there is a great rebellion brewing within workers, whether it manifests through individual or organized action, and added: “Today workers are facing a similar process to that experienced in the aftermath of the 1980 coup d’etat. The precarious and undocumented labor regime allowed the state to disband unions or at least greatly reduce their influence. As the workers lost their organized power, they were more and more condemned to these hellish conditions.

Today the unions are unable to meet the demands of the working class, so the workers have begun individually setting themselves on fire, or throwing themselves off of cranes. Public workers exiled with the Statutory Decrees (KHK) were forced into poverty, and many who were left unemployed committed suicide in protest. The unions under pressure were unable to develop strategies to overcome the dark picture, and as such the government’s attack against workers continued to intensify. Flexible and precarious work has spread. Migrant workers and women are in particular subjected to abject slavery conditions. Workplace murders are on the rise and any worker who objects is fired to be added to the caravan of the unemployed.”

ATTACKS AGAINST WORKERS LIE IN WAIT UNTIL AFTER JUNE 23

Kemalbay added that on top of everything, the government is now seeking to force the working classes to foot the bill for the crisis under the guise of an economic package. Kemalbay said the seniority compensation, the most deep-rooted right of the working class, is now set to be turned over to various funds and that the government wants to spread taxation to the base.

Kemalbay stressed that there needs to be a grand fight against the fund turnovers: “There is an extremely large scale attack coming after June 23, and we must be ready. Workers should consider their position at the elections accordingly. In this sense, these elections act as a type of referendum. These elections should aim to take down the AKP-MHP fascism. We must put a stop to the corruption and degeneration emerging in the society due to the political and economic crises. Istanbul’s citizens will either stop the fascist bloc’s local branches from getting stronger, or they will take down the fascist bloc and lead the way to democratic opportunities.”

Kemalbay concluded by saying the HDP will disrupt the government’s plans to institutionalize fascism on June 23, like they did on March 31.