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DESCRIPTION:Dec 23 Global Day Of Action for Levis Workers-Rally At Levis World 
 Headquarters In SF\n\nCall to LEVIS: "Our patience is at an end!" workers 
 at Ozak Textile are asking for global demonstrations in front of Levi's 
 stores on Saturday, December 23rd\n\nSaturday December 23, 2023 12 
 noon\nLevis World Headquarters\n1155 Battery St.\nSan Francisco\nInitiated 
 in SF  by United Front Committtee For A Labor 
 Party\nwww.ufclp.org\ninfo@ufclp.org\n\nhttps://twitter.com/birlesiktekstil/status/1730180538441314552?s=20\n\nhttps://twitter.com/birlesiktekstil/status/1735738342979838391\n\nTurkey 
 Levis Workers Fighting For Rights & Their Own Union\n\n\n1. International 
 » Turkey » Labor disputes » Dossier: Workers at Özak Tekstil in Urfa 
 defend themselves against the yellow union, one of them dismissed as a 
 result: Protests are followed by bans, gendarmerie and arrests\n\nCall to 
 LEVIS: "Our patience is at an end!" Colleagues at Ozak Textile are asking 
 for global demonstrations in front of Levi's stores on Saturday, December 
 23rd\n\n"...The right of workers at Ozak Textile to “choose a union” 
 has been usurped. Subjected to bullying, harassment, pressure and 
 discrimination; hundreds of workers exhausted by 20-hour shifts and harsh 
 working conditions are now at risk a mass layoff. For 23 days, resisting 
 workers have been subjected to baton attacks and mass arrests. Enough is 
 enough!\n\nIf there is no response to our demands and no agreement is 
 reached, On the evening of December 22nd we are hosting a global social 
 media event. On December 23rd, we are declaring a Global Day of Action in 
 front of Levi's stores worldwide.\n\nWe call for coordination of actions in 
 front of Levi's stores around the world.\n\n#LevisTakeAction" From the 
 Turkish appeal by BİRTEK-SEN from December 19th, 2023 (unfortunately only 
 on Twitter) - there has apparently already been a meeting with the company 
 Levi's, for which Özak produces Tekstil - see this and the background as 
 well as more and more reports our dossier on national and international 
 solidarity\nhttps://www.labournet.de/?p=216620\n\nWORKERS AT TURKISH 
 LEVI’S SUPPLIER FIGHT FOR UNION 
 CHOICE\n\nhttps://sourcingjournal.com/denim/denim-brands/levi-strauss-garment-workers-turkey-union-birtek-sen-ozak-textil-denim-factory-482351/\n\nDECEMBER 
 12, 2023 5:22PMBY JASMIN MALIK CHUA\nPROTESTORS OUTSIDE ÖZAK TEKSTI IN 
 URFA, TURKEY. BIRTEK-SEN\n\nFor the past two weeks, some 470 employees at 
 Özak Tekstil, one of Turkey’s largest apparel manufacturers, have been 
 striking outside their factory in Urfa, the capital of Şanlıurfa 
 Province. Chief among their demands: the right to choose their own 
 union.\n\nIt was roughly two months ago when employees at the Levi Strauss 
 & Co. supplier began withdrawing from the factory-approved union, Öz 
 İplik-İş, and signing up with Birtek-Sen, another organization 
 representing textile, weaving and leather workers. The former, defectors 
 say, is a “yellow” union that has failed to address their complaints, 
 which include rampant harassment and violence directed at women. After 
 making the switch, however, many say that they have faced threats and 
 intimidation by management to resign from Birtek-Sen.\n\n“Ulfa is a very 
 conservative city,” Özlem Temena, a representative from Birtek-Sen, told 
 Sourcing Journal. “Özak managers told one woman that if she stayed at 
 Birtek-Sen, they would tell her family that she has a boyfriend. This is 
 very dangerous, especially in Ulfa, where the murder rate of women [in 
 so-called ‘honor killings’] is so high.”\n\nProtesting has been 
 difficult, workers say. Law enforcement officers, known as the gendarmerie, 
 have erected barricades outside the factory that prevent strikers from 
 using the restroom or visiting a nearby mosque for prayers. “We are 
 literally trapped here,” one worker said. “We are being subjected to 
 collective torture.” Security forces, demonstrators say, have also 
 attacked them with water cannons, pepper spray, riot shields and batons. 
 Since the strikes began on Nov. 27, 20 people, many of them members of 
 Birtek-Sen, have been arrested, Temena said. Another 40 have lost their 
 jobs.\n\n“The rightful actions of Özak workers have been unlawfully 
 prevented for days,” Birtek-Sen wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on 
 Tuesday. “End this unlawfulness and arbitrariness, release the 
 workers!”\n\nAccording to Turkey’s constitution, workers have the right 
 to form unions “without obtaining permission” and “to possess the 
 right to become a member of a union and to freely withdraw from 
 membership.”\n\nÖzak Tekstil did not respond to an email seeking 
 comment. While Öz İplik-İş did not immediately reply to a request for 
 comment, a representative for the IndustriALL Global Union affiliate 
 refuted Birtek-Sen’s allegations following the article’s 
 publication.\n\n“It is absolutely unacceptable for this union [to attack] 
 our union, targeting and pushing brands to [cut] commercial relations with 
 Özak Tekstil, which is one of the very few workplaces in Turkey where we 
 were able to successfully organize which recognizes workers’ rights and 
 has signed successful collective bargaining agreements with high gains for 
 three periods after a process that progresses with devotion and respect,” 
 said Pinar Özcan, who noted that Birtek-Sen does not have the sufficient 
 majority to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement.\n\nWorkers say 
 they will stop protesting if three of their demands are met: That their 
 sacked colleagues are reinstated, that they’re able to freely participate 
 in Birtek-Sen, and that Levi’s, the factory’s sole buyer, listen “not 
 to the factory, but to workers’ voices,” Temena said.\n\n“For days we 
 have been trying to make our voices heard by Levi’s,” one protestor 
 said. “But they are not listening to us. We are reaching out to the whole 
 world from here. Please spread, hear our voices. Please do 
 something.”\n\nLevi’s said that it takes any allegations of efforts to 
 curtail freedom of association “extremely seriously.” “We have a 
 longstanding commitment to supporting safe, productive workplaces for 
 workers,” a spokesperson told Sourcing Journal. “We are looking into 
 the issue on the ground and will conduct a thorough investigation.”\n\nIn 
 its terms of agreement, Levi’s writes that it respects workers’ rights 
 to form and join organizations of their choice and to bargain collectively. 
 It also expects its suppliers to respect the right to free association and 
 the right to organize and bargain collectively without unlawful 
 interference.\n\nTemena said that workers want Özak Tekstil, which employs 
 770 people, to continue negotiations with their elected union, which is to 
 say, Birtek-Sen. “The boss should not put pressure on us for the freedom 
 to choose a union,” she quoted them as saying. “End the boss’s 
 pressure inside the factory.”\n\nBut Özcan said that it was actually 
 Birtek-Sen that threatened employees, forcing them to stop work and 
 “causing chaos.” She said that Öz İplik-İş has spoken to Özak 
 Tekstil to demand that it take precautions to ensure the safety of both its 
 members and non-union workers.\n\n“The fact that Birtek-Sen directs the 
 workers to such a provocation victimizes the employees and employers of the 
 textile sector, which is already disintegrating and being disrupted, and 
 unfortunately, by trying to create a perception on the brands, it also 
 affects the image of our country toward the brands,” she said.\n\nÖzcan 
 said that it is “absolutely not acceptable” to “attack” Özak 
 Tekstil and say that it doesn‘t respect freedom of association when it is 
 among the 2 percent of Turkey’s garment industry that has signed a 
 collective bargaining agreement.\n\n“It is absolutely unacceptable to try 
 to attach a yellow union label to our union that has been carrying out an 
 honorable labor struggle as a member of the Industriall Global Union and 
 Industriall European Union almost since its establishment,” she added. 
 “This union has already overstepped its bounds and is in a position where 
 it must be stopped. The only party that should be condemned is Birtek-sen, 
 which does not respect the rights of workers who chose our union with their 
 free will.”\n\nWriting on X, Labour Party minister Sevda Karaca expressed 
 her solidarity with strikers.\n\n“The anti-labor, misogynist, anti-worker 
 government laid all the means of the state at the feet of the Özak 
 boss,” she said. “Özak workers did not give up, did not break their 
 unity, and defended their will. If Özak Textile workers win, the whole 
 working class wins.”\n\nLevi's Workers In Turkey Need Support\nÖzak 
 Workers in Southeast Turkey Ask for Your Solidarity\n\nEstablished in 1985, 
 Özak Tekstil is one of the big apparel companies in Turkey. The company 
 has three factories in three cities: İstanbul, Malatya, and Urfa. Malatya 
 and Urfa are in southeast Turkey. The latter is the poorest region in 
 Turkey, and apparel companies have been moving their operations to the 
 region since the 2000s because of the cheap labor and government 
 incentives.\nÖzak's customer portfolio includes several brands; however, 
 the factory in Urfa, which opened in 2009, produces only for Levi’s. The 
 Urfa factory employs nearly 700 workers.\n\nÖz İplik İş Union has been 
 the authorized union in the factory in Urfa since 2017. Öz İplik İş is 
 part of the Hak-İş Union Confederation, which is the closest union 
 confederation to the AKP, the party which governs Turkey since 2002. Hak 
 İş Union Confederation has Islamist roots and is known to be very 
 pro-management.\n\nWorkers report that the conditions are very harsh in the 
 Urfa factory. The managers and chiefs mistreat workers. Workers are being 
 insulted and sworn on a daily basis. Chiefs mistreat women especially. 
 There are severe problems with work speed, working hours, food, and 
 transportation. Öz İplik İş does not act upon workers’ complaints, 
 and it has not even discussed the collective agreements with the 
 workers.\n\nÖzak workers have tried to resign from Öz İplik İş since 
 the pandemic. During the pandemic, they aimed to resign from Öz İplik 
 İş and organize in another textile union. However, they failed due to the 
 pressure of the management, which fired leading workers and discriminated 
 against workers who resigned from Öz İplik İş.\n\nAt the beginning of 
 November, Özak workers started resigning from the Öz İplik İş Union 
 and joining BİRTEK-SEN. The latter is an independent union founded in 
 2022, and it is based in southeast Turkey. Although new and independent, it 
 has attracted workers’ attention in the region. Staging strikes and 
 supporting the strikes that workers themselves organized, BİRTEK-SEN has 
 brought significant gains in several regional factories.\n\nManagement has 
 responded with pressure and discrimination. Female workers were 
 interrogated and threatened in their rooms. On November 20, Seher Gülel, a 
 BİRTEK-SEN member, was dismissed. In response, BİRTEK-SEN members stopped 
 working.\n\nSince November 20, nearly 400 BİRTEK-SEN members have engaged 
 in an epic battle against Özak management, Öz İplik İş, and the 
 military police. Turkey has become significantly more authoritarian in the 
 last decade, and accordingly, the Urfa governor uses military police to 
 intimidate the workers and end the resistance. Since November 20, military 
 police have violently attacked the workers six times, tens of workers have 
 been injured, and more than 200 workers were taken into 
 custody.\n\nNevertheless, workers are still determined to protest and 
 return to their jobs as BİRTEK-SEN members.\n\nBİRTEK-SEN contacted 
 several institutions to intervene, and auditors came to the factory and 
 talked to the dismissed BİRTEK-SEN members. Levi’s is well aware of the 
 situation but has not intervened.\n\nWe kindly ask for your help to put 
 pressure on Levi’s to intervene and ensure Özak workers’ freedom of 
 association.\n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2023/12/20/18861285.php
SUMMARY:Solidarity Action at Levis World Headquarters for Turkey Levis Workers in Istanbul
LOCATION:Levis World Headquarters\n1155 Battery St.\nSan Francisco
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2023/12/20/18861285.php
DTSTART:20231223T200000Z
DTEND:20231223T210000Z
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