An employee from Turkey’s grocery retailer chain, Şok Market, contacted the Communist Party of Turkey’s (TKP) ''Breathe Down Bosses' Neck'' (PE) solidarity, communication, and struggle network after the news covered by soL news on local election day about how some workers of Şok Market were not allowed to vote in Kadıköy Rasimpaşa district of İstanbul.
Nearly two years as a Şok Market employee, and having served in various branches, the employee stated that since the first day, they were not paid when they were forced to overwork, the already long and tiring work hours have been increased by their bosses and reported that they weren’t paid overtime in return.
The employee also stated that overworking without getting paid was not their only problem and continued that they are also facing problems when it comes to using their annual leave and that the administrators are deciding when and how long they could use their leaves for and also that they can cancel the leaves anytime they’d like.
According to the worker, only half an hour break is allowed for lunch and during this time they have to eat ready-to-eat foods in the store and also the toilet permit is not given, which leads to very difficult situations. The worker said that the working conditions condemned them to unhealthy life.
The employee stated that the workers in the grocery store have "to fill in the quota" and "not have a shortage" over the expiry date of the products and in order not to be treated as a thief, they were gathering money among themselves to buy the expired products so that s/he is spending 100 liras per month out of a minimum wage to buy these products.
