Tuncay Delen
( Subcontracted Worker , FEAS A Building )
Short Personal Background :
Tuncay Delen was born in 1974 to a farmer family in Kırıkkale . He graduated from Keskin High School and moved to Ankara after he got married in 2000 . He worked as a subcontracted cleaning worker at the Treasury for six months and in 2001 he got employed at METU Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences . His eldest son was born in the same year and his other son was born in 2004 . Up to this day , he still holds the same job at METU .
Hello , Mr . Delen . How long have you been working as the janitor at our faculty ?
I have been serving our faculty for 15 years .
I kno w for myself that you do your job in the best way possible . I think that a person can only duly perform his duties if he loves his job , regardless of the job being held . Can we say that you love your job ?
the guests pay . Ho wever , it is not possible to pay such high fees for people like us that earn the minimum wage . Also , we cannot use the service buses and even if we can get on the bus , we are told to wait until all METU employees get seated . The firm em ployees sit only if any places are left afterwards . This alone makes you feel inferior and second -class . Also , the service buses are paid by the firm and the firm refuses to pay our travel fares . In addition , there is no job guarantee and my employers can end my job immediately if I face a problem at the faculty . This is a big concern for me since I am the only breadwinner in my family . I hold a second job to provide my family but working in a different job after my shift ends can be very tiresome .
Yes , I love my job . First and foremost , this job provides me with a steady inco me which I need . In addition , I believe that working closely with the professors and students in our faculty helps me improve myself in many ways . METU is a special place , and it has a special place for me personally as well . For this reason , thinking t hat I do something good to contribute METU makes me happy , news on the stock market pricing of securities .
You are neither a civil servant nor an employee at METU , but a firm employee . In other words , you are a subcontracted worker at METU . Can you share with us the problems that subcontracted workers face at METU ?
Where should I begin ? I believe that subcontracted workers take care of the hardest jobs and they are the hardest laborers , yet we cannot benefit from many facilities that other personnel can benefit . We cannot use the basic services . For example , we canno t eat at the cafeteria but we have our lunch at a different section were the food is more expensive than the cafeteria . We cannot benefit from the health center , the nursery and the sports center . I mean , we can use these facilities if we pay the fee that
If you were employed at a position at which you could improve the working conditions of subcontracted workers , what would you change ?
I believe the most important problem is job guarantee . At the moment , the contracts are made annually . I think it would be better if they covered at least five years . I would also enable subcontracted workers to benefit from the utilities that other METU personnel can benefit .
I know you have an intense work schedule but can you tell me what is a day in your life like ?
12 Department of Economics Newsletter