AGAINST CRISIS, WE OWN OUR LABOUR, OCCUPATION, RIGHTS

AGAINST CRISIS, WE OWN OUR LABOUR, OCCUPATION, RIGHTS

The rise of the exchange rate up to a level for which the economy is unable to carry out, high interest rates, inflation, official assumptions and indications on growth, national income, budget deficit, real sector debt and unemployment for current condition demonstrate that our country is implicit in a serious economic crisis. Projection for a depression in public finance, efforts to expand the severance pay fund and private pension system, dissemination of flexible-precarious forms of work, increasing taxes received from employees and indirect taxes taken from the whole population, restrictions on social assistances, repression of wages and likewise issues are manifestations of this crisis.

While the effects of the crisis, experienced due to the wrong economic policies of the power, increase day by day, the heavy bills, same as it ever was, are being loaded to the laborers anew. Our life is getting more difficult because of high bills, additional charges, layoffs, closed down establishments through the inflation rates breaking up a record for the last fifteen years. As a result of neoliberal policies ruling in our fields of work, external-dependence, in all venue, is increasing. Our underground and aboveground assets are getting exposed to the exploitation of international capital. Throughout irrational projects and privatizations, our public resources are being wasted. There are issues which threaten the future of our country and community in all areas from energy to transportation, from urbanization to industry, from food to agriculture take place.

Our colleagues, who assume duties and responsibilities of all kinds of engineering, architecture and city planning services, planning, projecting, implementation and supervision works in public and private sectors, are among the ones most affected by the conditions of economic crisis. Our waged worker colleagues who always feel the threat of dismissal are on the list prepared to sacrifice at first in crisis conditions. Trouble of unemployment; as a reminder of an obligation to work under flexible, precarious and poor conditions at low wages, constitutes a certain threat for our colleagues. Our wages, in accordance to inflation, are getting resolved and our living standard is being subsided to the bottom. Our rights for pension and social security are also usurped by virtue of not being paid insurance subsidies on real wages.

Our  public employee colleagues who are struggling with many problems such as staff problem, violations of employee personal rights, low additional indexes, are obliged to work under the threat of political pressure and exile. Employee personal rights, job security and wages are systematically ruined.  Dissent engineers, architects and city planners who have no relation to the coup, are expelled from public works by the dismissal through the decree-laws under state of emergency. To work in other jobs, for those unemployed ones, is also restrained. Due to the continuity of lawlessness raised by various legal cases, our colleagues could not able to find a way to claim their rights. Dismissed public employees are, thus, condemned to starvation.

Oppressive attitude has also running towards to our organisation UCTEA, which is a professional organisation as a public institution, established by the law numbered 6235 according to the Article 135 of the Constitution. The power of our Union, which has critical importance for democracy and the future of our country, having a fundamental role for the organisation about our fields of occupation, endeavouring for the development of our professions in line with public and societal benefit, is trying to be disrupted by means of the changes of laws and regulations. The attempts to change our law which are regularly brought into the agenda prevent our Union and affiliated chambers to sustain practices in a proper manner. The character of our professional democratic mass organization and an autonomous professional organization as a public institution is meant to be dissolved. It is aimed to rule out the public interest, disintegrate our organization, become an ineffective, unauthorized institution. Since we take a stand in our colleagues, organization, country and community, ever-increasing pressures center upon us.

While the quality and sophistication of services about engineering, architecture and urban planning as a public service, are considered as a measure for the level of development of countries at an international level, our professional honor and prestige are trampled down in our own country.  

We are aware of that it is possible to stop this rot through claiming our rights, profession and organization.

As we are engineers, architects, city planners and their organization UCTEA, struggling for providing science and technique dedicated to the benefit of community, not for imperialism and the colonies, protect our rights, professions and organisation in crisis conditions.

We will not allow our rights and powers to be extorted.

     1. We invite Social Security Institution(SSI) to work!

Immediately, the protocol on minimum wage of the wageworker engineers, architects and city planners should be put into action.  

     2. Wages of public employee engineers, architects and city planners and employee personal rights must be improved, the conditions of the retirees must be enhanced to the level of humane life!

     3. Engineers, architects and city planners who were dismissed by decree-laws under the state of emergency should be returned to their work providing their all rights!

     4. Attempts aimed at to change the law of UCTEA should be put an end!

     5. Rights of labour, against crisis, should be protected!

Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (UCTEA)