Reactions to the negotiations continue
Statements from confederations on the minimum wage continue to come. DİSK stated that it is essential to conduct “a genuine collective bargaining process”. Türk-İş, on the other hand, will convene its Executive Board tomorrow.
Labour Service
As the process of determining the minimum wage continues, workers’ confederations are making various statements. Hak-İş President Mahmut Arslan reiterated yesterday that a fair minimum wage cannot be achieved with the current structure of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission. Arslan said, “Some of our counterparts, our partners, our fellow confederations that represent workers alongside us, unfortunately did not take our demands seriously. But now all three confederations underline that the structure of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission must change. In the coming days, the three confederations will make statements either jointly or separately.”
Arslan had made his first call to change the structure of the commission for the 2026 minimum wage on 28 September. However, Hak-İş has not yet announced any action plan or agenda with its members to achieve this goal.
TÜRK-İŞ TO CONVENE
Türk-İş, the only confederation with representation rights at the table, remains silent. After the 2025 minimum wage was set, the confederation announced that it would no longer participate in the commission, citing the lack of democratic worker representation. So far, it has made no official statement. Yet, based on its statements from last year and Arslan’s recent remarks, it is clear that Türk-İş will not take part in the process. Thus, in the commission composed of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TİSK), and the authorised workers’ confederation, there will be no body representing workers with actual authority. Meanwhile, the Türk-İş Executive Board will meet tomorrow for the first time since the signing of the Public Framework Protocol in August. The agenda of the meeting will be the minimum wage.
DİSK President Arzu Çerkezoğlu called for “a genuine collective bargaining process”. Speaking live on NOW TV, Çerkezoğlu underlined that the minimum wage has now become the average wage in Turkey. Recalling Türk-İş’s latest data showing the poverty line at 92,547 TL, she stated, “Even if two people work in a household, this amount is not exceeded. Therefore, the 2026 minimum wage should not be below 45,000 TL,” declaring their demand for a wage that ensures a decent standard of living.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Masaya tepki sürüyor, published in BirGün newspaper on November 3, 2025.
