“Seventeen textile workers dismissed after union membership in Dersim”, 13 August 2025

Seventeen workers from the Peri Tekstil textile company in the southeastern province of Dersim were dismissed on Jul 24, following a dispute that took place on the company shuttle. Among the workers laid off were 14 women and 3 men who regularly commuted from Pertek to the factory located in the city center.

The workers allege that they were subjected to verbal abuse by a foreman on the day of the incident. The following day, they were denied access to the shuttle and had to make their own way to the factory.

Upon arrival, they say they were threatened by factory owner Selçuk Bozkurt, who allegedly told them, “Don’t push us to the edge. Do you want to be beaten?” They were not permitted to return to work and were forced to leave the premises.

The dismissals came shortly after the workers joined the United Textile, Weaving and Leather Workers’ Union (BİRTEK-SEN).

The textile factory located in the Pertek district is the only one in Dersim, a small city with a population of just over 84,000.

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According to the workers, Bozkurt explicitly said he would not employ unionized workers and rejected calls for reinstatement.

BİRTEK-SEN Chair Mehmet Türkmen told bianet the employer had pressured workers to resign from the union, calling this a violation of their constitutional rights.

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Most recently, the factory had been producing for Zara. BİRTEK-SEN reported the labor violations at the plant to the company. Zara responded by announcing that it would conduct an inspection. (SÖ/HA/VK)