Coal mine collapse in Turkey reveals lousy deal for workers

In further reports about the coal mine collapse in southern Turkey, which has trapped 18 workers underground,  serious claims of mistreatment to which the workers were subjected, have also emerged.

Since the incident occurred on Tuesday, news reports said that 18 miners have become trapped in the Has Şekerler coal mine that became flooded with water. More than 350 emergency workers toiled to reach miners believed to be trapped in the mine near the town of Ermenek in Turkey’s Karaman province.

According to reports, workers, who were working for Has Şekerler mine, were deprived of daily food allowance and their rights to use the shuttle bus to commute between home and office. Saffet Uyar, the owner of Has Şekerler mining, usurped the right of the miners to receive coal under their collective labor contract. The worse is that workers were not paid their salaries for three months. 

Nazmiye Çolak, the wife of Hüseyin Çolak, 42, who has been trapped underground after the mine collapse, said that the company had even cut providing the miners’ coal allowance.

“My husband is working for a coal mine, but we do not have any coal to make our house warm,” said Çolak. “They offered to sell coal to us, in exchange of money, but they have not paid the salaries for three months.”

Hüseyin Çolak, a father of two, could not visit his newly-born grand child, because he was suffering serious financial difficulties, said the miners.

The owner, Uyar, served as mayor for three terms in the Güzelyurt district of Turkey's Karaman province. According to miners, Uyar has placed a copy of the Holy Quran in front of the coal mine and forced them to swear whether they voted in favor of him. The miners said that some of them were dismissed, because they refused to swear to vote for him.

The former mayor, who has run an oil office in Güzelyurt and a coal mine in Söke in the western province of Muğla, has allegedly employed subcontracted workers.

According to miners, Uyar has forged official documents by falsely displaying the miners and other workers at his other company as working for the mining company during the inspections by the ministry.

It was also revealed that Uyar has used electricity illegally in the Şekerler mine in Ermenek. Has Şekerler Company created illegal connections with the power grid, because the power management cut the company’s power as it has not paid the bill valued at 32,000 YTL.

The miners said that the officials, who were sent from power management to inspect the mine following the collapse, confirmed that the company was, in fact, stealing electricity illegally.