Gama workers threaten hunger strike

Eighty-five Turkish workers embroiled in a row with Gama Constuction have threatened to go on hunger strike unless they receive back pay they claim is owed to them.

The workers have been on strike for months over what they claim is the underpayment of millions of euro by Gama for work on Irish building sites. They say they worked for up to 84 hours a week for as little as €2.20 per hour.

In a statement read by one of the workers to a press conference this afternoon, they said they had worked hard for Gama for long hours and had been repaid with "poverty and hardship".

They were grateful to the Irish people for the support they had received, but were frustrated with the lack of progress in their struggle. Therefore, they were prepared to go on hunger strike if their demands were not met. "Do they want to see us die in Ireland?" the spokesman asked.

According to Siptu, up to €40 million in back pay is owed to some 300 workers. Of these, over 200 have returned to Turkey due to what they claim is intimidation and harassment by Gama of their families. Socialist TD Joe Higgins, who first raised the issue in the Dáil last February, said today that the 85 remaining workers had been sacked.

The workers say they were told rumours of their involvement in "illegal activities" and the Kurdish separatist group, the PKK, would be spread in Turkey unless they stopped their protests.

Most of the workers involved are not Kurds, Siptu's Noel Dowling said.

Mr Higgins alleged Gama had a "sinister gameplan" to force all the remaining workers to leave Ireland so there would be no evidence of the company's exploitation.

Gama has dismissed the claims of intimidation as without foundation. "Intimidation is in fact happening against Gama staff who wish to continue working," the company said in a statement. It says the ongoing strike is illegal.

The company also rejected claims by Mr Higgins that workers had been sacked or locked out of their workplace and living quarters.

Mr Higgins said the claims of intimidation were raised with the Minister for Enterprise and Employment Micheáal Martin at a meeting of workers and their union representatives this morning. Mr Martin has formally complained to the Turkish ambassador, he said.

Talks at the Labour Relations Commission are due to resume on Monday afternoon.

Mr Dowling said Siptu resumed pickets on Gama sites in Balgaddy and Ballymun this morning after suspending them last Tuesday. He said the pickets were placed because they had no word from Gama on whether it would attend.

Gama said these were "unnecessary" as it had already advised the LRC it would be attending the LRC talks. If the LRC talks fail, it is expected the matter will be referred to the Labour Court.

An investigation into the workers' claims was carried out by the Department of Enterprise's Labour Inspectorate, The company is seeking to halt the publication

of its report

through the High Court.