Since the opening of shopping malls, one of the first steps of the "normalization" process, the number of COVID-19 cases among workers continues to increase.
As the workers' working hours did not change even during the lockdown and they were later forced to take unpaid leave, they are now exposed to working conditions exceeding 12 hours since the number of employees has decreased.
COVID-19 CASES INCREASING
Like many shopping malls with similar working conditions, the number of cases continues to increase in the Nautilus shopping mall in İstanbul's Kadıköy district.
COVID-19 cases have tended to increase in many stores and businesses in recent days. Most of the practices are planned to increase the profits of the bosses while most employees are working for hours in the same aisles, the frequency of breaks are decreasing despite the pandemic, hygienic conditions and shuttle services are not provided, leading the workers to use public transportation. Such practices bring workers face-to-face with COVID-19.
WORKERS FORCED TO RESIGN
Although a “dismissal ban” has been implemented with the recent regulation, most enterprises force the workers to resign by imposing various mobbing conditions. Some of the workers who are afraid of losing their jobs continue to work after their family or a relative test positive.
In this process, businesses put all the responsibility on the workers and do not let other workers test when a positive case appears. Despite confirmed coronavirus cases, none of the businesses are closed. Workers meet the necessary equipment for protection from the virus from their own pockets.
The shopping malls, which are depicted as "wellness centers", function as a flueless factory where laborers get sick and die. Behind the colorful discount aisles, store employees are trying to fight the pressure of sales during the coronavirus period, security guards who cannot provide their life safety against the disease in front of large doors, and cleaning personnel working at the risk of viruses for hours are behind the bright hygiene advertisements.
Moreover, most of the employees pay for the products such as masks and disinfectants they use for protection against the virus.
