Özet:

This study aims to draw attention to the problems of seasonal (migrant) agricultural workers and to create awareness on this issue by examining field researches in Turkey on seasonal labor. Seasonal (migrant) agricultural workers are defined as; labor groups who move from one region (the places where they live and work) to another agricultural region mostly with their families during the peak seasons of agricultural works, in accordance with the agricultural product range and labor demand.  As well as there has been a rapid increase in the number of seasonal agricultural workers especially since 1950’s, their numbers have reached millions in 1980-90 and this group has become a must in agricultural production in different regions of Turkey. This situation prevented seasonal agricultural worker to be a marginal form of labor. The field researches on seasonal agricultural workers show that these groups are mainly from the Southeast of Turkey and especially the forced migration process in 1990 induce this fact. One of the basic concepts of this study is poverty. Most of the people living in rural areas are landless or small peasant. Therefore, they feel poverty deeply. Also, this group gradually has been becoming poorer during the process of economic and social change. 75% of the poor in the world live in rural areas. “Seasonal worker” is perhaps one of the most serious view of the poverty in rural areas. The lack of legal regulations for seasonal agricultural workers increases the problems of this group. Therefore, all kinds of efforts to develop a common mind related to the solution of seasonal work issue should be considered as a meaningful step.

Anahtar Kelimeler: