Bankruptcy-stricken Turkish food giant begins layoffs

While the economic policies implemented in Türkiye cause thousands of companies to have difficulty accessing cheap financing, large-scale companies continue to join the explosion of bankruptcy craze.

Aroma, one of Türkiye's leading fruit juice producers, applied to the court for concordat in December 2024, and was initially given a 3-month temporary respite, and in the ongoing process, the court announced a definitive 1-year respite for the company.

According to the news by Elif Özge Yalçın from Cumhuriyet; some workers have started to be laid off without compensation at Aroma, which continues production under the supervision of the composition commissioner board.

While the work stoppage action initiated by 250 workers who did not accept the signed collective labor agreement continues, it has emerged that the workers are now facing the danger of being dismissed.

Accordingly, it was learned that İbrahim Gül, who criticized the composition management and the attitude of Tekgıda-İş Union on his social media account, was dismissed from his job without compensation.

The workers, who claimed that the concordat management had threatened them with, “If you continue the action, I will write a report and the factory will close down,” made the following statement upon the dismissal of their friends: “We see this as an open attack aimed at silencing the workers. Our criticisms, reactions and actions are a reflection of our will to protect our future. We have never displayed an attitude that would harm the factory in any way during this process. However, our good intentions have once again been met with threats and intimidation policies.”

Gül's lawyer, Kemal Özgür Yetkin, said, "The institution of concordat should not be abused."