Migration, Ethnicity, and Divisions of Labour in the Zonguldak Coalfield, Turkey

Abstract

This article examines labour relations and labour conditions in the Zonguldak coalfield on the Black Sea coast in Turkey. From 1867, peasants from surrounding villages were obliged to work in the mines on a rotational basis. Peasants continued to work part-time in the mines after the end of this forced-labour regime in 1921, and after its reintroduction between 1940 and 1947. The article explores the significance of the recruitment of local villagers for the division of labour in the mines. Underground work was performed by low-skilled rotational peasant-miners, while migrants became skilled, full-time surface workers. Different ethnic origins added to the division of labour between these two groups. Attention is then turned to trade unionism in Zonguldak. The miners' trade union was controlled by permanent workers, mostly migrants of Laz origin, to the detriment of underground peasant-workers. Ethnographic fieldwork reveals that these divisions have persisted over many years.

Migration, Ethnicity, and Divisions of Labour in the Zonguldak Coalfield, Turkey

“…This practice seems to have lasted until the mid-1940s. 40 Deployment of convict labour in the mines had already revealed the lack of labour there. This, however, was not enough to tackle the labour-shortage problem.…”

“…This practice seems to have lasted until the mid-1940s. 40 with no prospect of immediate improvement. Because of low wages, harsh working conditions, including long working hours and high industrial injury rates, many workers abandoned the mines as soon as the forcedlabour regime ended.…”