Minister Bilgin’s shared dollar minimum wage sparked a backlash
Although the minimum wage to be applied for 2023 was announced yesterday at 8 thousand 506 TL, the dollar account of the Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Bilgin regarding the minimum wage caused a reaction.
In his post on his Twitter account, Bilgin gave rise to the table containing the values in TL and dollars of the minimum wage for the period 2002-2022, along with the message “Congratulations to the highest minimum wage in terms of both TL and of dollars”. in the history of the Republic”.
In the table shared by Bilgin, when calculating the dollar equivalent of previous years’ minimum wages, the dollar rates of the first business days of the year in question and yesterday’s dollar rates for 2023 were used.
On the other hand, the change in US inflation was not accounted for in the calculation shared by Bilgin.
Considering official consumer inflation in the US, for example, $429 in 2008 is equivalent to $605 today. Therefore, the minimum wage for 2023 is 24.8 percent below the minimum wage of 15 years ago in dollar terms.
‘CONTAINS GREAT DISINFORMATION’
One of those who reacted to Bilgin’s Twitter post was Future Party Vice President Kerim Rota.
“Attention! This sharing by the minister includes strong misinformation,” said the former banker Rota, “It is misinformation that the minister makes a comparison of 20 years in dollar terms and does not take into account US inflation. I am sharing his table after freeing it from inflation,” he said, and gave the following information: “The minimum wage is 25 percent compared to 2008, that is, 90 dollars a month below.”
Economist Hayri Kozanoğlu was one of the names corrected for Bilgin’s participation.
Prof. Dr. Kozanoğlu said: “Mr. Minister, this calculation is incorrect. 10 years ago, the minimum wage was $451. Total US inflation over this 10-year period is 28.4 percent. This means that $451 that day would have the same purchasing power as $584. However, what you pay is only $455,” he said.
UNDER KITCHEN INFLATOR
In addition, the 54.7 percent increase in the 6-month minimum wage and the 100 percent one-year increase remained below the food inflation announced by various institutions.
The starvation limit, which was 4 thousand 97 TL at the end of last year, increased by 90 percent from November compared to the end of the year. According to Türk-İş, the annual food inflation in November was 137.38 percent.
According to TURKSTAT, food inflation stood at the level of 102.55% per annum in November, while the Istanbul Wage Livelihood Index, which is an indicator of retail price movements in Istanbul, was 105% per year in November, according to data from the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce. Commerce.
While the minimum wage, which was set at 4,253 TL at the beginning of last year, was 5,500 TL in July and 8,506 TL in 2023, the annual increase in the minimum wage was 100 percent. Therefore, the amount of increase in the minimum wage remained well below Türk-İş kitchen’s annual inflation rate of 137.38. On the other hand, Istanbul inflation and TUIK food inflation exceeded the minimum wage increase.