The International Solidarity Commission (ISC) of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) sends our solidarity to all workers occupying the Greif-Sanjut factory, a division of the US enterprise, Greif, since February 10. We condemn the police and gendarmerie raid in the early daylight hours of April 10. Due to this attack many workers have been taken into custody and abused, including, Mehmet Ali Karabulut, who was reporting for the left publication Kizil Bayrak.

The Greif factory, a manufacturer of packaging products, has been occupied by 500 workers who are members of the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions in Turkey (DİSK). Workers at the Greif factory are struggling for several issues. The most urgent problems are: low wages, which are currently below the poverty line; 44 subcontractor companies working for the Greif bosses, and excessive workplace accidents. Workers, including the core workforce and subcontracted workers, decided to occupy the factory after the managers refused to negotiate concerning their problems.

http://www.iww.org/


I worked for the Greif Bros. Cooperage in Cullman, AL back in '70-'71. Teamsters. It was a hellhole. We made oil drums (mostly) and the workers were so cowed, we couldn't get the union rep to even talk about working conditions. The only time we even came close to an action was when someone got ripped-off on seniority. I left there to work in a steel plant in Birmingham - frying pan to the fire...