Harsh Criticism of the Government from Turkey Public-Sen President Kahveci: "Figures should be discussed on the basis of actual inflation"

ANKARA - In his evaluations on the 8th Term Collective Bargaining process, Önder Kahveci, President of Türkiye Kamu-Sen, harshly criticized the public employer's proposals and the general public personnel regime. Kahveci emphasized that the government should raise wages based on "actual inflation" rather than "targeted inflation" and drew attention to the wage injustices in the public sector and the deterioration of labor peace.

"The Lowest Civil Servant Salary Should Be Above the Lowest Worker Salary"

In his statement, Kahveci stated that he did not compare the salaries of civil servants and workers, and that their main goal was to protect the working peace of 4 million civil servants and 600 thousand workers in order to ensure that public services are carried out without disruption. In this context, he argued that the lowest civil servant salary should be above the lowest worker salary. He stated that this situation is not a competition and that the responsibilities of each sector are different.

"There is no overwork in the public sector, there is a resource transfer problem"

Kahveci said that the oft-heard statement that "there are too many employees in the public sector" is pure information pollution. Stating that Turkey ranks 31st among 36 countries according to OECD data, he reminded that the state is not anyone's company and that the social state carries out public services through public servants. Stating that although the number of civil servants increased by 1 million from 2021 to 2024, their share of the budget decreased from 25 percent to 21 percent, he emphasized that the real problem is not in the number of personnel, but in the distribution of resources.

"Social Rights are not on the Table, Welfare Share is Indispensable"

Criticizing the functioning of the collective bargaining table, Kahveci stated that the compression of the process into 22 days narrowed the space to discuss problems. He argued that the separate general and service branch agreement method applied to workers should also be applied to civil servants. He also expressed his discomfort that social rights were not sufficiently discussed at the table. Stating that "welfare share" is indispensable for public employees, Kahveci used the expression "a raise equal to inflation is a zero raise" and opposed the burden of the economic crisis on the employees.

Emphasis on Tax Justice and Merit

Making important statements about the tax system, Kahveci said, "Ensuring fairness in taxation does not mean 'let us pay less tax'. The main thing is to take tax from earnings," he said. Stating that all wage earners pay their taxes before receiving their salaries, he demanded that the tax rate be fixed at 15 percent. On the other hand, Kahveci also touched upon current problems such as the reluctance of civil servants to work in metropolitan cities and holiday resorts, and stated that this situation leads to the disruption of public services. Finally, he stated that Turkey needs a new public personnel regime in the second century of the Republic and that a system based on merit and competence should be established.