Protests ahead of minimum wage negotiations: ‘Don’t let it be a wage of misery’

Click to read the article in Turkish

Affiliated with the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK), the Progressive Land, Air and Railway Workers Union (Nakliyat-İş) staged a protest in Taksim, İstanbul ahead of the minimum wage negotiations and amid aggravating economic crisis in Turkey.

The union executives and members demanded that the minimum wage not be a wage of misery and privation and raised their requests for a wage with which workers can lead a life in humane conditions.

The protest was attended by Nakliyat-İş Chair Ali Rıza Küçükosmanoğlu, union executives and members, the workers dismissed from Pegasus airlines for joining the Nakliyat-İş and the workers of Uzel Machine and Neo Trend Textile, who are not paid their severance. Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul MP also supported the protest.

'Net minimum wage must be 6,800 lira'

Addressing the crowd, union chair Ali Rıza Küçükosmanoğlu first greeted the ongoing workers' resistance across Turkey.

He moved on to underline that the debates on the minimum wage are not independent of the economic, political and social debates in Turkey.

Recalling that Turkey pays the lowest minimum wage among the European countries, Küçüksomanoğlu said, "Turkey ranks first in terms of the number of workers earning a minimum wage."

He noted that "the struggle of the working class is also Turkey's struggle for economic and political independence."

"The studies carried out by several institutions quite clearly show that the minimum wage in Turkey is even below the starvation line," he added.

The union chair also announced their request for the minimum wage. As indicated by Ali Rıza Küçükosmanoğlu, the Nakliyat-İş union demands that the minimum wage be increased from its current level of 2,825 Turkish Lira to 6,800 Turkish Lira (approximately 540 US Dollars).

"A trade union movement led by the yellow unions who do not live like workers, do not earn the average wage of a worker and have hundreds of thousands of salaries cannot be a trade union movement in the true sense of the term," he said, adding that "the net minimum wage in Turkey must be 6,800 lira so that it will not be a wage of misery and privation."

Workers on resistance speak out

Taking the floor after union chair Küçükosmanoğlu, CHP İstanbul MP Ali Şeker also made a speech and said that they stand in solidarity with the workers who struggle and resist for their rights.

Afterwards, Cihan Kaya, a Neo Trend Resister, read out the press statement titled "Enough is enough! Don't let minimum wage be a wage of misery and privation." Then, Suat Bektaş, a worker from the Uzel Machine company resisting for his rights, made a speech and noted that minimum wage must be determined by the workers who try to make a living with minimum wage.

Bektaş also underlined that their struggle, which they have been waging for their rights for 14 years, will continue until they get their rights.

Dismissed from Pegasus for unionizing, Barış Turan also addressed the crowd during the protest. He said that they had worked in hard conditions for years, but they could not get a recompense for their hard labor. He recalled that while they had received performance awards before, their 'underperformance' was cited as the reason for their dismissal. 

He also reiterated that their protests and resistance will continue until they get their rights. (HA/SD)