In addition to national and international laws and agreements, there are also contracts encompassing social responsibility duties and principles directly binding on you, as a supplier of your factory, which is a part of the international supply chain, to ensure that the fundamental rights and freedoms of workers are not violated. These contracts involve international brands such as Levi’s and Zara, which you produce for.

As you know, these contracts with the brands you produce for contain explicit provisions. Failure to comply with these contracts, which include strict provisions regarding workers' fundamental rights and social compliance principles in workplaces within the international supply chain, would prevent you from continuing to produce the products of these brands at Özak Textile and affiliated factories.

At this point, due to Özak Textile's uncompromising stance in putting an end to these rights violations and accepting the entirely justified and legitimate demands of the workers, Levi’s and Zara have reached the final stage of terminating their supply relationship with Özak Textile.

The termination of this order relationship is not a situation preferred by either our union or the workers. As BİRTEK-SEN, it is the last thing we want. We are in favor of this factory continuing its production. However, this production cannot continue by disregarding the most fundamental rights of workers, such as freedom of expression, freedom of association, and the right to choose a union. It is unacceptable for the employer to prevent workers from earning their livelihood through dismissals and blacklisting.

The demands of our union and the workers are entirely reasonable and justified:
1- Reinstatement of the workers who were dismissed for being members of our union,
2- Payment of wages for the days of the protest, during which the workers were disadvantaged in every respect,
3- Respect for the workers' right to choose a union, unionize, and be represented,
4 - Signing a mutual protocol with our union on behalf of the workers to guarantee the above demands.

As a union, our priority is to ensure that the economic activity, corporate identity, productivity of production, and industrial peace of Özak Textile, where the majority of workers in Şanlıurfa are our members, are not harmed. The most important condition for this is for the factory management to respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of the workers who carry out this production and to create a trust that they are meticulous about it. One of the most important elements in establishing industrial peace, harmony, and a safe environment within the factory is a union that expresses the problems and demands of workers. Our union is ready to fulfill the responsibility that falls on us to establish a culture of mutual trust and understanding and a democratic process between the employer and the workers.

So far, the ongoing pressures and rights violations against our member workers in the factory indicate that the factory management is not respecting the rights of the workers and is taking an approach far from resolving the issues through dialogue. However, we still call on you to act responsibly and to contact our union as soon as possible to resolve these issues and to recognize the demands of the workers. At this point, we reiterate that we are ready to engage in discussions and take responsibility for resolving the issues through dialogue.

Yours sincerely,