From Fish Tank to Ocean, from Plazas to Public Squares: Plaza Action Platform (PEP)*

Unemployment is not an exception for white-collars any more. How is the process of “becoming organized” going on in plazas?

Plaza Action Platform (PEP) has been working in the field for ten years. They do not define themselves as a union or a professional organization. They see themselves as an alternative to work life. We interviewed the team which works for the white-collars’ rights.

How was Plaza Action Platform founded?

PEP was founded in 2008 to be in solidarity with white collars that were trying to become unionized in IBM. It’s named after plaza actions back then. After the TEKEL resistence ended, it evolved from organizing support events for workers to become a labour organization oriented at white collar workers.

What does it stand for now?

It is a labor organization which was founded by white-collars to be in solidarity with each other and to implement rights-based activities and studies. It is not a professional organization, a union or a pre-union organization.

What are white-collars’ main problems? How do you think “becoming organized” is going?

There are still many things to do but we have limited time because of our work. We should use our strength very economically. We don’t have the luxury to forget about our individual problems, we have to deal with social matters in order to cope with our own problems. This practically makes our job more difficult and easier at the same time. It makes it obvious that we have to stand together.

Workers today do not think they get tired because they work. They know that if they don’t get tired, it means they do not work enough and they experience the disturbing exhaustion because of working. Today, we see that physical and psychological destruction is not a side effect of working life, it is the work itself.

If you experienced a lawsuit related to your job, it is very precious to tell your experiences about it. If you do it via PEP, it is not an individual help any more. It is a help to make social change possible.

Do you have anything to say to white-collars?

We invite freelancers, white-collars, unemployed or still-students to PEP. What we promise to share is what the employers and executives want us to forget: a meaningful life.