PM: Subcontracted workers will be recruited

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu gave good news to workers: 6,417 workers working for subcontractors would be recruited by the Directorate General of Highways. He added that the recruitment of all workers working for subcontractors would continue following the elections. Davutoğlu attended a "Meeting with Highway Workers" that took place at the Ankara Sports Hall and gave the good news to workers who have been waiting to be recruited. Davutoğlu said: "One of the indivisible part of a man's honor is labor. One of the most important characteristics of human beings that separate them from other creatures is their ability to build the world with labor. You are the highway workers that connect all corners of the country with your labor. You are experiencing the biggest honor in the world."

Davutoğlu underscored that remunerating someone's labor is the state's fundamental duty, and stressed that workers will be paid for their efforts. "It is a holy mission and a basic principle for us. There are two important principles that our ancient culture was built upon. Our prophet said ‘nothing is more auspiciousness than an honest penny' and advised employers and those who plan to employ ‘to give workers their due before their sweat dries,'" said Davutoğlu. He added that they were raised with that culture, and now they put this basic principle of traditional culture and belief into practice. He said the government conducts the necessary procedures in terms of union rights as part of the modern social state mentality. "We see this not as a conflict or tension but as building Turkey and the world together," he said.

Emphasizing that the practice of subcontracting was initiated by the Republican People's Party (CHP) government in 1936, he said: "We have taken big steps to solve this huge problem. From now on, anyone who does real work will not be put to work as a subcontracted worker. As a first step, we offer workers who work for the highways a chance to be recruited." Davutoğlu then told highway workers, "Henceforth, we need your labor. We will build many roads together. We built 17,000 kilometers of two-way roads; how about building thousands of kilometers of highways along with these two-way roads?"