President of MUSIAD: The minimum wage should not be increased according to inflation

Mahmut Asmalı, President of the Association of Independent Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (MUSIAD), spoke at the meeting held for the promotion of the MUSIAD Economic Report 2022.

When asked by a reporter about the 2023 minimum wage negotiations, Asmalı said: “Last year, the minimum wage was increased twice. Therefore, the sum of the 2 increases reached an average of 94 percent.

Stating that efforts to reduce inflation should be continued, Asmalı continued: “Inflation is the purchasing power of this period. A salary increase was made for this year related to the loss of purchasing power related to purchases. It should be considered that the increase to be made next year will increase based on inflation expectations for the next period, not acting on the inflation data for this period. At this point, a model should be considered that protects workers’ rights but also protects Turkey’s competitive power in production.

‘EYT WILL HAVE CHARGES TO THE EMPLOYER’

Emphasizing that it is possible to include the regionally varying minimum wage on the agenda, Asmalı said: “When determining the minimum wage, the expectation should be set a little higher than inflation and the figure to be determined should meet expectations.”

Asmalı, on the other hand, regarding the regulation on the Retirement Age (EYT), said that while protecting the rights of the employee, the employer must be observed.

Asmalı said: “This situation will have some burdens for the employer. We have never called for employee compensation to be paid in installments. Because they can also have an expectation with a lump sum of money. Therefore, they have to receive that lump sum of money. What we want to say is that the state helps with this financing, provides cheap financing, etc.” (AA)