Public workers will hold a day stoppage today to protest the government's refusal to agree to their demands.

The 2024-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (TİS) negotiations between public workers and government representatives started on 1 August. On 14 August, the government representatives offered a 14 percent raise for the first six months of 2024, 9 percent for the second six months, 6 percent for the first six months of 2025, and 5 percent for the next 6 months. However, the demands of the unions to apply the same salary increase to retirees, to provide rent assistance, and to increase spouse and child benefits were rejected.

Workers employed in the branches of business affiliated to the Confederation of Public Workers' Unions (KESK) will hold a 1-day work stoppage today after their demands were not met. The TIS process will continue until 21 August.

KESK co-chair Şükran Kablan Yeşil spoke to ANF about the protest and the negotiations.

Yeşil said: "If the government's proposal is accepted and implemented, considering that the poverty line was 38 thousand liras in July, we will have a situation in which, in 2 years, the lowest public pension will just reach today's poverty line. It is obvious that this is not a humane wage. We will not accept this offer."

Yeşil said: “The 8,077 lira increase in July should be reflected in our base salary, the wage increase will be made on this basis, the spouse benefit will be increased to 3,300, the child benefit will be increased to 2,200 lira, public workers living in big cities will be 7,500 liras. We also proposed to provide 5,000 liras of rental assistance for public workers living in other cities. We demanded that the minimum wage of a public worker be increased to 47,500 liras, and 45,000 liras in other cities, together with all these benefits, for a public pensioner with two children whose spouse is not working. We based our proposal on the fact that the lowest salary of public workers should be raised above the poverty line in a place where the poverty line is predicted to be 45,000 liras in December. We proposed that the salaries of public workers and retirees should be updated at the rate of the increase in the 3-month poverty line, and that our wages should be increased, taking into account the growth in the country."

Call to take action

Yeşil said: "Today, we call on all public workers to stop working and on people to support our struggle."

Amed

KESK Amed Branches Platform also held a press conference at Eğitim-Sen Branch No. 1 on Tuesday to call workers to take action.

Eğitim-Sen Sen No. 1 Branch co-chair Emine Akşahin said that the government's proposal sentenced public workers to misery and public retirees to death.