Turkish Airlines Strike Gezi Park, Istanbul, June 2013
My name is Aysen. I was working for Turkish Airlines. We've been on strike since the 15th May.
- What are your demands?
We want healthy and safe flights.
We don't ever again want our right to strike to be threatened.
We want a works council.
And safe flights, that's the most important thing.
I worked as a VIP air stewardess for 3 years.
Last year in May I was sacked.
That's because I went to a union press conference.
That's called 'psychological warfare'. In that context I lost my job.
That's it!
Of course, that is one of the purposes of our strike.
We want our 305 sacked colleagues to be reinstated.
But that won't determine how to carry on with the strike. That is only one of the demands of our union.
In terms of the staff, money from Turkish Airlines has never been the issue.
It's questions around health and around flight safety
- which were so prominent.
Therefore, we haven't come to the point where we're thinking about payment.
We've somehow always managed to make ends meet.
Of course, we earn more compared to the Turkish average.
But our problems are so huge that we haven't even addressed this issue yet.
The working conditions - that's our main focus.
For example, we fly to the USA.
But we don't have enough time between flights
to get ourselves ready, as is expected of us.
To do our hair and make-up properly.
There's not even enough time to sleep.
And when we fly back, we see our colleagues, the captains too,
that they hadn't been able to rest.
Then there are less and less overnights. Hardly any now.
Why are there so few of you striking?
As to why there are now so few of us left, I would like to say one thing:
Because the management has had the backing of the government
many of our colleagues don't even dare to go out on the streets with us.
The government and the management of Turkish Airlines are in cahoots.
They don't have opposing interests.
What actions have you done already and what have you got planned?
Lots of supporters from abroad come and see us, like yourselves.
We send regular announcements to the management which state:
In future, ensure the health of your employees on your scheduled flights!
Reinstate the sacked workers and negotiate with our union.
And I ask you:
Please show the video of our action, that the striking workers produced,
on German TV. Spread it all over the world!
Check it out, let others see.
In the video, what we're demanding is explained in a fun and creative way.
What is the relationship between your strike and what's happening in Gezi Park?
Gezi Park is our heart.
There's an incredible atmosphere here.
You probably feel that too.
Here there is a sense of brotherhood, just honest emotions and expressions.
There are people here from all walks of life, who are simply fed up.
We're now rebelling. We're saying: Enough!
We don't want our personal freedom encroached upon anymore.
We want to be able to breathe!
We started out with a branch from a tree.
And now we're really blooming and becoming more.