Danger of double minimum wage

Starting next July, for the first time in Turkey, a double minimum wage can start to apply. Starting next July, a net minimum wage of 22,853 liras will be applied to public sector workers. The lowest salary of civil servants will be equal to the real minimum salary in the public sector with 22,853 lira. On the other hand, workers who work in the private sector and do the same job will receive a minimum wage of between 11,000 and 11,500 liras. Thus, two separate minimum wages will be applied, with a difference of up to 2 times between the public and private sectors. The dual minimum wage system means that poverty will increase even more for workers in the private sector.

HIGH PUBLIC ELECTION

Just before the elections, the government had withdrawn the collective agreements that had to be signed in August to obtain the votes of 700,000 public workers before the elections, and announced that it had given a 45 percent raise in May. Thus, together with the other social conquests of the collective agreement, the public worker’s net salary increased by 98 percent, not 45 percent. As of January 1, 2023, the minimum wage for public workers was 8,506 lira, the same as for private sector workers. The public worker’s net salary, including service increase, social assistance, extra pay and bonus pay, was also 11,693 lira in January. With the May contract, the bare net minimum wage increased to 16,901 lira and the clothed net minimum wage to 23,170 lira, starting in January. These workers will receive an additional 15 percent raise in July. However, since he will enter a higher tax bracket, the net wages received by the employee will decrease to 22,853 lira. If the minimum wage in the private sector remains between 11,000 and 11,500 lire on this date, the dual minimum wage will be there.

Salary, salary, monthly gap is experienced

For the government to make good on its promise to equate the lowest salary for a civil servant with the lowest salary for a worker in the public sector, it needs to raise at least 82.3 percent to the lowest civil servant. In this case, if the salaries of technical and qualified public servants in the public sector do not increase in the same proportion, there will be salary imbalances among public servants. Likewise, pensions must be increased in order to maintain the current balance. Otherwise, there will be gaps and income inequalities between wages, salaries, and salaries.

THE MINIMUM WAGE IS NOT BASED ON DOLLAR

Before the elections, the government promised to increase the minimum wage to $500 in July. When Vedat Bilgin, the former labor minister, made a statement of $500 on May 9, the dollar was at 19.55 lira and the minimum wage of 8,506 lira was equivalent to $435. $500 was about 9,780 lira. Today, considering that the dollar is at the limit of 24 TL, the minimum salary of 500 dollars corresponds to 12 thousand liras. When the minimum wage was set in December it was equivalent to $455. If the dollar rises further until the signatures are signed on the table, the numbers will change as well. Demands on the workers’ side for the fulfillment of their electoral promises will especially test the ruling wing.