Demands from Türkiye Kamu-Sen for the 8th Term Collective Bargaining Agreement

Ankara - Türkiye Kamu-Sen Confederation has announced its comprehensive demands to the public and the authorities ahead of the 8th Term Collective Bargaining Negotiations that will start on August 1st. The confederation demanded a raise of 40,657 TL for the lowest civil servant salary and 47,481 TL for the average civil servant salary, drawing attention to the tax burden on public employees and salaries below the poverty line in the current economic conditions. Önder Kahveci, President of Türkiye Kamu-Sen, laid the foundation of their demands by saying, "Fair sharing, fair income distribution is a must."

Fiscal Demands and Welfare Share Emphasis

Turkey Kamu-Sen's main financial demands cover the years 2026 and 2027. For the whole of 2026, the union is demanding a cumulative 92.3% increase in the lowest ranked civil servant salary, including the welfare share, and 88.6% increase in average civil servant salaries. For 2027, a 45.2% increase is requested for all salaries, including the welfare share. These rates were determined with the aim of preserving the purchasing power of civil servants and increasing their economic welfare.

Attention drawn to the erosion of salaries

Önder Kahveci drew attention to the decline in the purchasing power of civil servant salaries compared to previous years. In 2002, 22.1 quarters of gold could be bought with the average civil servant salary, while this figure has decreased to 7 today. It was emphasized that with an average salary of 53 thousand TL, civil servants have difficulty in supporting their families in an environment where the poverty line exceeds 85 thousand TL. In addition, it was stated that the tax burden was unfairly placed on the backs of public employees and called for the elimination of injustice in income distribution.

Comprehensive List of Demands: Touches on Working Life

Turkey Kamu-Sen will bring to the collective bargaining table not only financial demands, but also a comprehensive set of demands to improve the social, personal and working conditions of public employees. The most prominent of these demands are as follows:

• Supplementary Pay and Compensations: Eliminating injustices in special service compensation, equalizing the rates on the basis of title and increasing them for all civil servants, and solving additional payment problems.

• Social Benefits and Family: Pay "Eid Bonus" to all public servants twice a year. Raising pensions and providing pensioners with social benefits such as family allowances and child allowances. Ensuring family unity, encouraging marriages, providing support to increase fertility, removing obstacles to spousal status, health and educational disability.

• Security of Employment and Appointments: Abolish the 3+1 contract status and ensure permanent and secure employment for all public servants. Recruitment of all non-permanent staff, including PTT's İHS personnel, honorary Qur'an course instructors and proxy civil servants. Appointment of university graduate workers to civil servant positions upon their request.

• Raise and Title Change: Regularization of promotion and title change exams, abolishing the oral exam and taking the written exam as the basis.

• Food and Working Conditions: All public servants should benefit from free meals, as is the case for workers, and in workplaces where food service is not provided, food should be paid in cash. Reviewing the working conditions of public employees who cannot take vacations on holidays and weekends.

• Demands for Special Areas: Solving the problems of the personnel working under the Decree Law No. 399 such as additional payment, change of institution, transfer, tax injustice. Solving the problems of civil servants and protection and security personnel working in military workplaces and security organizations. Regulating the personal rights of titles such as chief, engineer, lawyer and abolishing the distinction between central and provincial specialists. Special payments to deprived and disaster areas instead of mandatory rotation.

• Health and Disabled Personnel: To solve the problem of health workers who receive different salaries every month due to the different salary elements paid in health institutions and organizations and to switch to a single item salary application in order to receive a standard salary. Making all kinds of positive discrimination for disabled personnel so that they can produce services more easily and find enough space for themselves in working life.

• Additional Lessons, Watch and Overtime: Increase overtime pay so that it is not less than the hourly wage that the employee receives for normal work. Increasing additional course and shift fees.

• Various Other Demands: Public servants who take unpaid leave to perform their patriotic duty or due to childbirth should continue to have their social security premiums paid by their institutions and should be paid a certain percentage of their salaries during their leave. Redetermination of actual service increases. Legislation to protect personnel subjected to mobbing practices. Reforming the social security system to provide full protection and reducing co-payments.

Turkey Kamu-Sen sent the message that it will fight with determination to defend the rights of public employees with this comprehensive list of demands in the 8th Term Collective Bargaining Negotiations.