Koç industrial holding company, the largest industrial conglomerate in Turkey, has been trying to maintain "peace" in a Turkish oil refinery TÜPRAŞ in Aliağa, İzmir with false statements, following an explosion on October 11 that claimed the lives of four workers. The explosion had occurred during maintenance work on a product tank at the refinery.
Koç Holding provides workers with psychological support to hide their ambition to increase profits by ignoring safety measures to get work done faster.
In an e-mail sent to workers, Koç announced that a team of four were sent to give psychological support to the workers. Koç also stated that the team would run meetings, provide counsellor support and give briefings as well.
The workers of the refinery have reacted negatively to the email, seeing it as an attempt to downplay the murders caused by ignorance and ambition. The workers have been demanding humane work conditions and stating that they need conditions to be fixed.
Speaking to soL news, the workers of the refinery stated that the explosion was not an accident and that the murder of their four coworkers was caused by the ignoring of safety conditions and the inadequacy of staff. The workers see this as being caused by their bosses wanting the work to be completed faster and to increase their profits.
The workers stated that each of them carried the workload of 3-4 workers and highlighted how this was connected to the disaster. The workers pointed out that these conditions are the reason behind a recent profit spike.
On Oct. 11, a TÜPRAŞ worker told soL: "There is huge neglect. Now they will blame the subcontractor company or the TÜPRAŞ workers. But the real issue is that corporate management, the Koç family, are putting pressure to finish the job faster and ignore safety measures. They are trying to cover up their mistakes.”
The citizens of Aliağa and the workers had protested Koç Holding on Oct. 13. With a banner saying "No to subcontractors."
