Lone unionist fights on and on and on...

"I invited the workers to my home. I said, come and learn what types of rights we have. The shift goes on and on. They get sick. Their children get sick. Do not whine, I said. We gathered at my home. Then people learned about our meetings. When [the bosses] heard, they asked, 'How dare you?'"

Emine Aslan, 44, who "dared," was fired June 2 without severance pay from the Desa textile factory in Sefaköy district of in Istanbul, where she had been working for the past eight years.

Since that day, she has protested alone in front of the factory. Everyday, just as if she was going to work, she arrives in front of the factory at 8:30 a.m. and wears an apron with "Union is a constitutional right" printed on it.

She worked for 22 years in the textile sector but only joined a union six months ago. Her morning at work now starts with her placing a plastic table and stools outside and hanging her banner, "Union is a constitutional right Ğ Firing is illegal," from a tree. She leans back. Then she sips tea from her thermos, watching the day going by.

Today is day 196 since she was fired along with 41 of her co-workers and day 139 of her protest in front of the factory of Desa at Düzce Organized Industrial Zone.

The story begins 10 months ago, when the leather industry branch of Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions started to organize unions in Desa factories. Desa has been a leading firm in the leather industry for 36 years and has two factories in Düzce and Sefaköy, alongside a tannery at Çorlu.

Musa Servi, president of the leather workers union called Deri-İş, claims that the company management heard about the union activities in the factory and fired 41 Deri-İş affiliated workers April 28.

According to the claim, the firings were followed by pressure. The workers waiting in front of the factory were arrested twice. They were banned from the organized industrial zone by a court order. Threatening text messages rained into their cell phones. Harun ?ztürk, İzmir deputy of Democratic Left Party, or DSP, carried the case to Parliament in a written question.

At that time, the organization of the union was in progress at Desa's Sefaköy Factory, which mostly manufactures leather jackets and bags. The workers were hiding the unionization efforts from the bosses.

The meetings were held at Emine Aslan's home and members were enrolling. However, a worker informed the management of these meetings. Aslan claims she was called to a meeting July 2 with Human Resources Manager Hamdi Paramyok for "lame excuses."

"We are not going to continue working with you, sister," said Paramyok.

"What about my eight years? My salary from June, 144 hours worth of overtime work, two years' worth of off-days," Aslan asked.

Paramyok replied, "Show me one person who received severance pay from Desa."

Since that day, Emine Aslan has spent her days in front of the factory. Her husband Ramazan, who works as a driver, and her children, a 15-year-old son Yasin and an 11-year-old daughter Hatice, support her when they can.

Does Aslan have any regrets? On the contrary: She describes the life before she joined the union: "We were like birds in a cage."

She has her self-confidence now.

What about her friends inside? Aslan says after she started to protest, workers began to be taken even to the Friday Prayer with buses, just not to let them meet her. During this, the first strike of her life, she also was arrested for the first time in her life. Even that was not enough. She was fined for occupying the sidewalk. She claims that there was an attempt to kidnap her daughter; a garbage pile was dumped and iron stakes were nailed to her protest spot. She is aware that keeping up the protest will be troublesome. But she says "Inside, we were also in trouble."

What was the trouble about? She tells all about it in one breath: "Let's say, we start to work today at 8:30 a.m. We work all day, work at night and the following day, until 7 p.m. in the evening, sometimes until 10 p.m. During the daytime there is no food due to rush of cargo to be loaded; you wait for the evening. In the evening, there are products to be shipped; you cannot have a break for tea. We work with solvents and bali (a type of industrial glue). Whenever there is an inspection, they hand out new working gear. When they are gone, it is collected back. You get one break at your desk at 6 a.m. in the morning. That break is for your need for food, bathroom and sleeping. For sleeping, if you find some cardboard to sleep on under the desk you work at, you are golden. The bosses yell at you during breaks. There is soap at the bathroom and medicine in the first-aid chest whenever there are visitors; normally there is none."

She had been working at a minimum wage, YTL 638 before taxes, and paying YTL 400 out of it for rent.

The guest book she has on her table shows that she is not alone. Unions, worker societies, youth societies, women, even people just passing by have given her support. Furthermore, she has become a force of empowerment, with other women protesting in front of Desa stores in her name. British and Italian journalists have interviewed her. Leather workers from İzmir sent her postcards. Teachers from the Black Sea province of Tokat offered their support. Her name is heard as far away as Germany.



Desa: she did not do her job

Aslan now waits for the trial on the complaint she filed against the factory to begin. It is scheduled for Nov 24. Desa officials dismiss Aslan's claims, asking the court to declare a mistrial. Desa says Aslan was fired simply because she wasn't doing her job properly, nothing to do with her union activities. Desa said they were not even aware Aslan was a union member. Desa's Chairman of the Executive Board Melih Çelet said he had always been supportive of union rights for workers.

"Union members have worked at the factory since 2004. I have no idea how many union workers work here. Everyone can join any union they want," he said.

He said Aslan had bad intentions and aimed to ruin the reputation of a well-respected and internationally known Turkish brand.

The 1,800 Desa workers were furious with stories criticizing the company, he said.

"They released a declaration defending the factory," he said.