Wage raise approved by Turkey’s government falls under inflation rate

A collective bargaining agreement in Turkey involving around 200K workers was signed yesterday (July 3) at a ceremony held in the Çankaya Palace of Ankara. According to the details explained by Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, public workers will receive a 7.5% raise within the first six months and 5% within the second six months. On the second year, this raise will be 3.5% for both the first and the second half of the year. Necessary adjustments will be done in accordance with the inflation rate in the country, PM added.

PM: 'Perfection is the enemy of goodnes'

Mentioning that the agreement covered the years of 2017 and 2018, PM Yıldırım said the following during the meeting: “Discussions were held in serious understanding and maturity and the demands of our workers’ unions on behalf of the laborers were tried to be met at a maximum level based on our governement’s and our country’s capabilities. Perfection is the enemy of goodness! We wish we could have extend the best of everything but we all know that this country belongs to all of us. We are going to be one both in respect to our capacity and our problems. We are going to stay together and rise our country to a level of contemporary civilization.”

Government's raise falls below inflation rate

During the bargaining, Türk-İş had requested an 18% of raise for the first year and a raise matching the inflation rate (plus 4 percentage points) for the second year. While the government’s final decision fell much below this rate, the demand of the union for bonus payments were also not met.

For workers with a gross salary of less than 2200 TL, Türk-İş had requested a bonus of 400 TL and a 200 TL bonus for those earning between 2250 TL and 2500 TL. A 100 TL was also demanded as a bonus payment for workers with a gross salary between 2500 TL and 2800 TL.

Government, however, decided to extend a bonus payment of only 90 TL for those with a gross salary under 3000 TL per month.

No action on the issue of subcontractors

On the other hands, the issue with regards to subcontracting firms, which leave tens of thousands of workers without job security, equal payment, and benefits, was not even brought up by the government although the union had specifically listed the demands in that regard, too.

The record high inflation rate in the country still stays at a rate with two digits.

Front-page article of BirGün published on 4 July 2017, Tuesday with the headline of 'Inflation goes up again and salaries fall under it'

Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/kamuda-calisan-iscilere-talebinin-cok-altinda-zam-168045.html