AKP and MHP reject minimum wage proposal

The HDP group’s proposal for a general meeting proposal to “investigate the problems experienced by workers earning minimum wages” was rejected by the votes of AKP and MHP deputies in the General Assembly of Turkey’s Grand National Assembly. Explaining the rationale for the proposal, HDP MP in Istanbul Oya Ersoy said:

“SOCIAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL HAS NOT MEETED FOR 12 YEARS”

*Minimum wage means much more than the minimum wage a worker earns in Turkey. It determines the entire working life and salaries of almost all employees. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security started a survey and wanted to determine the expectations of workers, employers and the public.

*The same ministry has not even convened the Tripartite Advisory Board, which should meet 3 times a year since Vedat Bilgin took office, much less that the Minimum Wage Commission is undemocratic. The Social Economic Council has not met for 12 years.

* In another country in the world the minimum wage is not talked about as much as in Turkey. Because the minimum wage in Turkey has become the average wage, thanks to you.

* The government constantly boasts that ‘our economy is growing’, but we see that workers never get a piece of this growth. The share of labor income in gross domestic product decreased from 37.8 percent in 2016 to 25.4 percent in 2022.

“YOUR COMPANIES AND YOUR CAPITALS ARE GROWING”

*What grows, grow their companies and shareholders. What happens to the workers? The situation that Turkey has brought ranks first among 156 countries in the misery index. In early 2022, he bragged that “we’ve increased the minimum wage by 50 percent.” That fee just vanished within the second month.

* With the increase in the inflation difference in July, the minimum wage increased to 5 thousand 500 lira, but what happened in July? It exceeded 6 thousand 839 liras. When we look at the hunger limit in November, it was over 7,785 lira, and the minimum wage dropped to 2,285 lira below the hunger limit. The poverty line is almost four times the minimum wage.

“49 PERCENT OF EMPLOYEES WORK AT OR BELOW THE MINIMUM WAGE”

*49 percent of workers in this country work at or below the minimum wage. When we look at this rate, it is 43 percent in the non-agricultural sectors, 50 percent in industry, 59.72 percent in the leather sector, 65 percent in the food sector, 54 percent in the construction sector, 64 percent in wholesale trade. and the retail sector, and 72 percent in the tourism sector.

*When we look at the sectors where women work more intensively; Although women earn less than men, the number of women working below the minimum wage is many times higher than that of men.

*Today a worker who has to earn a living on the minimum wage has no access to food or shelter, and in this country where even inflation in the kitchen has risen 134.77 percent, the minimum wage should rise 134 percent even though only kitchen inflation is taken into account.

*Proportional growth is mentioned when determining the minimum wage, but what you can get with this wage is more important than this rate. The important thing is whether basic needs such as housing, food and heating can be covered with the minimum wage.

*That is why it is clear what will be done to save workers from inflation and from this deep process of impoverishment, at least to save them at a minimum level.

“WE DEFEND THAT THE MINIMUM WAGE SHOULD BE AT LEAST 12,500 TL”

* To increase the welfare of millions of wage earners, a welfare share must be added in parallel with economic growth, plus the inflation difference in wage increases. To ensure income fairness, the minimum wage must be determined not as a living wage for a single person, but as a living wage that will support a worker’s family, and tax fairness must be provided for income fairness .

*Yes, a system should be introduced where lower earners are taxed less and higher earners are taxed more. It is clear that a minimum wage to be determined before they are made will condemn millions to starvation. As the People’s Democratic Party, we advocate that the minimum wage should be at least 12,500 lira, and we never accept that the 99 percent should work to death for the wealth of the 1 percent.

Konya MP Fahrettin Yokuş, who spoke on behalf of the IYI Party Group at the suggestion of the HDP, said:

“WE ARE WELL BELOW THE FUNGER LIMIT”

*Minimum wage actually means the lowest wage, that is, poverty wage. As of today, the minimum wage of 5,500 TL is well below the hunger limit. When we look at the figures of TÜİK, when we look at the figures of TÜRK-İŞ, the truth is revealed. Today, the TÜRK-İŞ hunger limit is 7,785 lira, the difference is 2,285 lira.

*At this minimum wage, how will our minimum wage earn a living and pay rent? Electricity, water, fuel… How will you send your children to school? You know, we say, ‘Kids go to school hungry, they go to school without breakfast.’

* Here, these, these facts must be seen, must be corrected. Because in a country where official inflation is 85 percent, unofficial inflation is 185 percent, food production inflation is 156 percent, retail food prices rise 200 percent, in a period where the inflation monster destroys workers, civil servants and retirees, no matter how much you raise the minimum wage, it will be crushed by inflation, the inflation monster will swallow it. As long as inflation is not checked, narrow and fixed rents will remain miserable.

“THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN DEFINITELY KNOW THE MINIMUM WAGE SITUATION BETTER”

Karaman MP İsmail Atakan Ünver spoke on behalf of the CHP Group. Unver said:

*The situation of the minimum wage is best known by those who live on the minimum wage, that is, those who are condemned to misery. The day laborer, who entered the year 2022 with a minimum salary of 4,253 liras, could not get what he received in January with his salary, which reached 5,500 liras with the increase in July.

*A worker could buy 287 kilograms of rice, 98 boxes of eggs, 93 kilograms of feta cheese, 166 liters of sunflower oil, 817 kilograms of onion, 833 kilograms of potatoes and 210 kilograms of dry beans with minimum wage.

“YOU WILL TAKE ACCOUNT OF THE LESS BREAD AT THE CITIZEN’S TABLE”

* On the other hand, how much can you buy these products with the minimum wage that reached 5,500 lire with the increase made as if it were a blessing in July? 162 kilos of rice, 87 boxes of eggs, 55 kilos of feta cheese, 113 liters of sunflower oil, 392 kilos of onions, 458 kilos of potatoes, 137 kilos of dry beans.

*You stole 115 kilos of rice, 11 cartons of eggs, 38 kilos of feta cheese, 53 kilos of sunflower oil, 425 kilos of onion, 375 kilos of potatoes, 73 kilos of dry beans from the table of the minimum wage worker; This interest-bearing economic order that you set up as ‘How is it?’ I steal it. In an environment where the hunger limit has reached 8,000 lire, is it possible to say ‘We have increased the minimum wage, it’s comfortable’?

You can not say. Is the emphasis on the human level that you made during the minimum wage negotiations the level that dooms the minimum wage to starvation? Of course, you will pay the minimum wage to the minimum wage in the ballot box, you will not be able to escape from the ballot box. (PHOENIX)