United Public Sector Workers' Union at the Collective Bargaining Table in Adana

Adana - Turkey's third largest civil servant confederation, United Public Labor, organized a mass meeting in Adana to voice their demands ahead of the upcoming 8th Term Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations. In the action organized with the participation of union members from neighboring provinces, Confederation President Orhan Yıldırım harshly criticized the anti-labor policies of the government and gave the message "We will break the game played at the table". Yıldırım drew attention to the victimization of all workers, especially agricultural laborers, and stated that these policies will be held to account at the ballot box.

A Voice Rising from Adana: "We Will Resist and Win!"

The United Public Labor Confederation had decided to hold protests in 11 provinces before the 8th Term CBA negotiations. In this context, many union members from neighboring provinces also participated in the meeting organized in Adana. Shouting their demands with slogans such as "We will win if we resist", "We want to live humanely", "Right, law and justice", public laborers expressed their concerns about the economic and democratic course in the country.

Confederation President Orhan Yıldırım started his press statement by emphasizing that Adana is a strong city of the labor movement. Yıldırım stated that due to the wrong agricultural policies of the government, farmers could not get the return of a year's labor and said, "As United Public Labor, we warn the government that continues its anti-labor policies, especially agricultural laborers. The laborers you intentionally crushed will ask you to pay for it in the ballot box when the day comes."

"The Knife is to the Bone: It's Time to Say Stop!"

Yildirim argued that the government, which has ruled the country for 23 years, has dragged Turkey into "hunger, misery and poverty". "If workers, peasants, pensioners, minimum wage earners and civil servants say in unison, 'We can't make ends meet! Give us our rights!', there is a huge problem of governance in that country," Yıldırım said, adding that it is time to say "stop" to policies that prioritize capital and exclude laborers.

Taking a look at Turkey's political agenda, Yıldırım stated that the recent unlawful and undemocratic practices have upset both individual rights and freedoms and economic balances. He cited the arrests of party leaders, elected politicians, mayors, mayors, journalists and university students in violation of legal norms, the blackout of television channels, and the undermining of democracy and trust in the legal system as the main cause of the economic crisis.

Stating that they are following with concern what is being done to all the arrested mayors, especially Adana Metropolitan Mayor Zeydan Karalar, who is being held in Silivri Prison, Yıldırım said that these attempts are a clear interference with the will of the people. "These unlawful practices must end immediately and democratic practices must be returned to. It is not only a constitutional right but also a civic duty to speak out against this unjust, fear-spreading oppressive order."

Also reacting to the passage of the omnibus law that will lead to the plunder of olive groves, Yıldırım stated that the government has been weak in responding to the fires in Eskişehir and neighboring provinces. Criticizing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for buying a travel plane instead of a fire plane, Yıldırım said, "The President who buys travel planes, the number of which we cannot even count, instead of a fire plane, should not sit in that seat."

"Fake Inflation Figures Steal from Laborers' Pockets!"

Reminding that they will participate in the 8th Term Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations that will start in August, Yıldırım harshly criticized the inflation figures announced by TÜİK: "The fake monthly and annual inflation figures produced by TurkStat at the desk, which have nothing to do with the reality of the people's lives, have become another tool of the political power to take away the bread of the people. TÜİK has turned into a public institution that works like the accounting department of the Palace, not a reliable statistical institution. The sweat stolen from the pockets of millions of public laborers, pensioners, workers and minimum wage earners with the fake data announced; It has dragged millions of laborers into poverty, debt and hunger."

Stating that according to the researches conducted by the Confederation, the hunger limit has increased to 27 thousand 60 TL and the poverty line to 85 thousand 859 TL as of July 2025, Yıldırım argued that the current CBA tables are not a real negotiation area for laborers. Yıldırım said, "The Collective Bargaining Table, which has been going on for 7 periods, has not been a real negotiation area for the oppressed laborers, and has been transformed into a theater stage of the Ministry of Labor and its authorized confederations for years." Yıldırım expressed their determination by saying, "As the United Public-Is Confederation, we are determined to break this game played at the table where laborers are ignored."

Key Demands of United Public Work

"Now the knife is to the bone," Yıldırım said, listing the confederation's demands as follows:

• We want a union law with collective bargaining!

• We want a salary above the poverty line!

• Inflation differences should be paid monthly.

• Sequianen payments should be reflected in the base salary and pension.

• The 15 percent tax bracket should be fixed.

• We want merit appointments, not interviews.

• We want permanent and secure appointments, not salaried and contracted ones.

• We want equal pay for equal work.

• We demand the right to free kindergarten for public employees!

• We want rent support for all civil servants in the provinces where they work!

• All civil servants in the first rank should be given the right to 3600 Additional Indicators!

• Family, spouse and child allowances should be increased.

United Public Labor's determined stance and the demands it voices reveal the expectations of public laborers in the upcoming collective bargaining process and their determination to struggle.

Source: republic