{"id":2724,"date":"2026-02-07T07:31:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T07:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/2724\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T07:31:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T07:31:39","slug":"detentions-layoffs-at-major-turkish-supermarket-chain-spark-nationwide-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/2724\/","title":{"rendered":"Detentions, layoffs at major Turkish supermarket chain spark nationwide protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Work stoppages at Turkey\u2019s major supermarket chain Migros have spread nationwide after the firing of 280 workers and the detention of nearly 100 protestors, triggering growing protests and solidarity.<\/p>\n

According to the Turkish media the unrest began on January 23, when workers at four Migros warehouses stopped<\/a> work to protest poor working conditions and a proposed 28 percent wage increase, which they said was insufficient given that Turkey\u2019s rate of inflation stands<\/a> at at 30.65 percent according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat)\u00a0and at 53.42 percent according independent economists from the Inflation Research Group (ENAG).<\/p>\n

The company has not responded to their demands. Instead, around 280 workers were fired and nearly 100 others were detained<\/a> during a protest held on Saturday in front of the residence of Tuncay \u00d6zilhan, owner of the Anadolu Group, Migros\u2019s parent company. The detainees were released on Sunday.<\/p>\n

On Monday police also attempted<\/a> to block workers and union officials from making a public statement in front of a warehouse in \u0130stanbul\u2019s Esenyurt district.<\/p>\n

Led by the Warehouse, Port, Shipyard and Maritime Workers Union (DGD-SEN), the work stoppage has since spread to 12 warehouses across the country and now involves approximately 5,000 workers.<\/p>\n

The workers are demanding a 50 percent wage increase. They claim Migros has pressured employees to join a different union as a prerequisite for permanent employment contracts. They have also accused the company of attempting to change their work category to evade occupational health and safety obligations.<\/p>\n

The Confederation of Public Employees\u2019 Trade Unions (KESK) issued<\/a> a statement calling for the immediate fulfillment of the workers\u2019 demands and urging an end to dismissals, detentions and unlawful practices.<\/p>\n

Opposition lawmaker \u0130skender Bayhan of the Labor Party (EMEP) submitted<\/a> a parliamentary inquiry addressed to Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat I\u015f\u0131khan, asking whether inspections and sanctions had been carried out in response to workers\u2019 complaints. Bayhan criticized the ministry for remaining silent and failing to take any concrete action.<\/p>\n

Support for the workers is increasing. A group of 163 academics issued<\/a> a joint statement calling on Migros to respect trade union rights and engage in negotiations. Hundreds of artists and cultural workers have also expressed solidarity with the workers.<\/p>\n

In addition, operators of small liquor and tobacco shops, known locally as tekel dealers, said<\/a> they would stop selling products of Efes, a company under the Anadolu Group, until the workers\u2019 demands are met.<\/p>\n

A yearly\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0produced by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on labor rights revealed that Turkey is one of the 10 worst countries in the world for workers in industrial sectors. According to the Brussels-based ITUC, workers\u2019 freedoms and rights have been further denied since police crackdowns on protests in Turkey in 2025, while strikes and attempts to unionize were prevented by the authorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Work stoppages at Turkey\u2019s major supermarket chain Migros have spread nationwide after the firing of 280 workers and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[83],"tags":[2975,2976,2977,2978,2979,131,132,2980,2981,2982,2983],"class_list":["post-2724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-stockholm","tag-anadolu-group","tag-emep","tag-iskender-bayhan","tag-migros","tag-port-and-shipyard-workers-trade-union-dgd-sen","tag-stockholm","tag-sweden","tag-the-confederation-of-public-employees-trade-unions-kesk","tag-tuncay-ozilhan","tag-work-stoppage","tag-workers-rights"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}