Mehmet Şeker, Board Member of SASA, which is the world's leading polyester producer, said that the budget allocated to employment constitutes 7 percent of the company costs. Şeker stated that more than 14 thousand workers work in their facilities in Adana and that they manage the company's human resources with an ethical as well as strategic approach. Şeker, who is also a Member of the Board of Directors of Erdemoğlu Holding, specified that SASA has taken steady steps towards a qualified workforce since 2015, when it was acquired by Erdemoğlu Holding, and that the number of its employees, which was about 1,150 when the company was taken over, 150 of which were subcontractors, has exceeded 5 thousand today. He added that when the 9 thousand people working in ongoing constructions are also included, they reach a huge employment number of 14 thousand people.
"Our priority is to be strategic in our relations with unions"
Şeker said that one of the most important steps they took in this process was the inclusion of subcontracted workers, which constitute approximately 15 percent of the total number of employees as of 2015, into the company payroll, that they took that step on their own initiative, and that there was no demand from the union in that direction. Stating that employment has a share of approximately 7 percent in their production costs, Şeker emphasized that the share of SASA's contribution to the employment and family economy of Adana and the region is immeasurably large.
Mehmet Şeker specified that misleading information about the company's human resources practices has been shared in some news recently and explained that SASA's relations with unions have developed within the framework of the principle that "the relations should be not only strategic but also ethical." Saying that they worked in close contact with different unions when they were organized within SASA, Şeker pointed out that he personally managed many collective labor negotiations with those unions. Şeker expressed that they see that the competition and groupings unions experience within their own body produce results that disrupt the labor peace of their own members, and underlined that, however, they do not interfere in the slightest way with any employee who is a union member.
“The lowest salary is 47% above the minimum wage”
Regarding the allegations that took place in the news recently, Mehmet Şeker stated that the lowest net wage in SASA is 47 percent above the current minimum wage, and added that the company makes wage updates with a dynamic approach. Saying that SASA offers many bonuses and benefits to its employees along with their wages, Şeker highlighted the fact that their greatest assurance for the huge investments that will take place in the next 10 years is their employees.
Source: NB Economy Newspaper
