Request from Atalay, president of Türk-İş, to regulate tax brackets
Türk-İş President Ergün Atalay said: “Most workers entered the 27 percent tax bracket from July. For this reason, a worker has an average loss of around 2 thousand lire. Taxes must be taken from those who earn a lot, and less from those who earn less”.
Atalay, in his statement, stated that immediately after the increase in wages and salaries, there was a high increase in taxes and fees in many areas.
‘IT IS NOT A FAIR AND CORRECT SYSTEM’
Expressing that employees are under a heavy burden of direct and indirect taxes, Atalay said:
“Most workers entered the 27 percent tax bracket starting in July. For this reason, a worker has an average loss of around 2 thousand lire. The tax system applied to employees is not a fair and correct tax system. Those who earn a lot should pay more in taxes and those who earn less should pay less in taxes. Tax brackets must be reduced and the burden of the tax system on employees must be eased.”
Noting that workers continue to feel the effects of inflation and that the prices of products and services have increased with the effect of tax increases, Atalay said:
“We cannot solve any problem with salary increases in line with inflation. As long as workers’ wages and incomes exceed inflation, then the issue of livelihood is resolved. The raises keep pouring in like rain without the employees getting their pay rise.”
SUBCONTRACTOR WORKER WAITING FOR STAFF
Atalay affirmed that the problem of subcontracted labor continues in the public sector and affirmed that about 100,000 subcontracted workers, mostly in the fields of energy, transport and transportation, are waiting for the good news from Cadre.
Recalling that many politicians promised to recruit contract workers before the elections, Atalay continued as follows:
“Today, the staffing problem has reached the point of disturbing the labor peace in the workplaces. There is great expectation in society about it. For that, we need to remove the issue of subcontracting from the country’s agenda. Whatever the cost of contract workers to the public, they must be recruited based on this cost. We are always following this theme. We ask politicians to resolve this problem in Parliament so that it does not come to light again.
Noting that there was a net increase of 8,077 lira in the salaries of civil servants, Atalay said: “The only hope and security of millions of employees is severance pay. Today, the ceiling for severance pay is 23,489 liras. The lira 8.77 increase in the salaries of civil servants should also be reflected in the maximum salary of severance pay. In this way, it makes a difference of 160 thousand lire for a worker who has worked for 20 years”. he made the assessment of it.
‘THE RETIREMENT OF THE CONTRACTED MUST BE REVIEWED’
Noting that different segments of employees, especially some civil servant unions, have recently compared their income to public worker wages, Atalay said:
“We as workers exist in all walks of life. We continue to work in difficult conditions. We poured asphalt in the summer heat, and climbed to the top of the lamppost in the winter cold. Our workers are very uncomfortable with the salary comparison. All wages and salaries must reach a certain level. Workers, officials, retirees must unite in prosperity.
The condition of the retirees is deplorable. The increase applied to civil servants should also apply to all retirees. The lowest pension is 7,500 lire. Millions of retirees whose base salaries are below this will not get a 25 percent raise. This needs to be reviewed.” (AA)