Brothers,

With deep sorrow and anger, we learned of yet another crime committed by an employer at the Soma mines on Thursday, October 1, when a tunnel collapse at the lignite mine operated by İmbat Madencilik buried seven workers. Two were pulled alive from the rubble. The other five never returned home.

They descended into the depths of the earth to earn a living and support their families. They leave behind loved ones, friends and colleagues. We express our sincere condolences and wish the two rescued workers a speedy recovery.

This was a crime waiting to happen, and the culprit is known. The company ordered alterations to the mine tunnels to speed up production, which led to the collapse. It was informed of inspections by the authorities two to four weeks in advance and temporarily closed off the dangerous areas.

This company has a long and bloody record of crimes against its workers. Other coal miners have lost their lives in the mines it operates. The state bears grave responsibility for allowing the company to conceal dangerous working conditions and continue, with impunity, to profit from workers’ blood.

This is a reality we also experience in Greece. In January, five women workers lost their lives during the night shift following an explosion at the Violanta biscuit factory in Trikala. Workers lose their lives almost every day because of intensified exploitation, the absence of health and safety measures, and inadequate inspections by state authorities. Workplaces become arenas of death for the profits of the exploiters.

On both sides of the Aegean, we workers know what it means to work in fear that we may never return home to our loved ones. We face the same inhuman system of exploitation, the governments and the state that serve it and sacrifice our lives for the profits of business groups.

PAME, the trade unions and the working class of Greece share your pain and anger. Together with you, we demand exemplary punishment for those responsible within the company that owns the mine for this crime.

The greatest tribute to the memory of our brothers who died so unjustly, Halit, Kerim, Ramazan, İsa and Ömer, is to strengthen our organisation in the trade unions, our solidarity and our struggle, so that no worker, anywhere, loses their life for profit.

Their profits or our lives!