Minimum wage demand from Turkish President Ergün Atalay: I have never seen such an issue in 25 years
In an interview with Saygu Öztürk of the Soşçı newspaper, Türk İşe Chairman Ergün Atalay addressed the government, stressing the importance of controlling inflation and saying that the minimum wage needs to be improved. Atalay noted that retirees are also in a difficult situation.
Ataley’s statement reads as follows:
“We are going through the toughest and most difficult times in years. I have never seen or experienced such a bad inflationary period in the last 25 years. Inflation must be stopped and the minimum wage must be improved. If it is inflation, the effect of the improvement will not last even a month. Earlier, relief was given to those on fixed incomes; we want such measures to be taken,” he said.
“This issue is always on our agenda.”
The condition for determining the minimum wage was that it would be 18,000 TL and would be determined twice a year. Four minimum wage brothers participated in this meeting. As their spokesperson, we submitted an objection to this decision because the minimum wage had been determined below 18,000 TL and the proposal to determine it twice a year had not been taken into account.
Where there are trade unions there is no minimum wage. Our minimum wage brothers are butchers, greengrocers, tailors, that is, working in the private sector. He is not a union member, so he cannot strike or demand rights. We represent our organization in the committee based on the powers given to us by law. There is no provision in the law for determining the minimum wage twice a year. But because of the situation we are in, we keep this issue on the agenda all the time. We must make a deal. I have never seen such a problem in the last 25 years. We are living in times when fixed incomes are the most onerous. “The situation of workers, retired workers and minimum wage recipients should improve.”
