2022 budget talks: Labor organizations to protest in Ankara

* Photo: DİSK Twitter account

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Amid the 2022 budget talks at the Parliamentary Commission on Planning and Budgetary, the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK), Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK), Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) and Turkish Medical Association (TTB) will take to the streets to raise their demands.

In a joint statement, the labor and occupational organizations have announced that they will hold a joint protest in the capital city of Ankara on November 14 and chant the slogan, "We cannot make a living."

Underlining that the budget must be used to ensure that workers, laborers, small business owners, farmers, low-income people and the vast majority who say, "We cannot make a living" can breathe, the labor organizations will protest in Ankara Anıtpark this Sunday.

Every night, we go to bed worried about what prices will be increased the next day, asking ourselves how we will make a living with our shrinking wages and how we will survive the coming winter.

"Unfortunately, for years, budgets have been turned into a tool for transferring the country's resources and the taxes collected from laborers and people to the capital-bosses and pro-government groups," the organizations have underlined, referring to the ongoing budget talks.

Requests

Further in their statement, the labor and occupational organizations have also listed their requests for the 2022 budget:

• Ease the tax burden on waged groups; ensure that tax income is mostly dependent on taxing profits, interests and wealth.
• Free the minimum wage and the equal amount of all wages from taxes and cuts and pay a net minimum wage, which will increase all wages by nearly 750 Turkish Lira (approximately 77 US dollars).
• Exempt electricity, water, natural gas and Internet bills from taxes and cuts.
• Reduce indirect taxes and levy 0 percent VAT from all food products.
• End the marketization of public services such as education and healthcare; increase the budget share of public services and investments.
• Increase the lowest pension at least to the level of minimum wage.

(KÖ/SD)