Public Workers Protest Government Proposal on Wages

Turkish Confederation of Workers' Unions (Türk-İş) decided to take action as negotiations with the government on collective agreement for the coming two years rests inconclusive.

Confederation members made press statements before the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) city centers, condemning the government's proposal of wage increases. On 7 July, workers will stop working for an hour in protest.

Türk-İş chair Mustafa Kumlu, made an announcement following a meeting with the PM.

"Unfortunately we couldn't agree" he said. "We made all the effort to finalize the negotiations. They proposed a 3 percent increase for the first half of the year and a 4 percent increase for the second half. For the second year, the government's proposal was 2.5 percent increases. We concluded that it's not possible to reach a deal under such circumstances. We urged for a increase in accordance with the inflation rate in 2008, which was 10 percent."

He noted that around 90 thousand workers are on the way to strike and if a deal isn't met within 60 days, those strike actions would realize. The collective agreement concerns around 300 thousand workers.(EÜ/AGÜ)