Workers at the French car giant Renault’s factory in the northwestern Turkish province of Bursa went on strike on March 1, after 10 of their colleagues were laid off.

Police officers intervened into the attempt to block the road and used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Seven workers were detained.

Some 150 workers at Oyak Renault, a joint venture between Renault and the Turkish army pension fund Oyak, arrived at the factory on the morning on March 1 but did not start working.

Other workers amassed in front of the factory and tried to close the road linking Bursa to Mudanya, a nearby district.

A labor move has sparked in 2015

The production line had been halted on Feb. 28 after the administration’s decision to fire the workers. It was expected to resume early on March 1, but the striking workers decided not to restart work yet.

Last year a labor move in Bursa hit the factory of Oyak Renault and Tofaş, owned by Italy’s Fiat and Turkey’s Koç Holding in Bursa, before spreading to other carmakers, including Ford’s Turkish unit, Ford Otosan and several auto part makers. The strike ended on May 27, 2015 after starting on May 14, 2015.