Medium Term Blow to Public Workers: Expectation of a Raise Gave Way to Disappointment

"Medium Term" Clampdown on Public Sector Workers: Salaries Didn't Get the Expected Increase

Public workers, whose expectations for an additional raise in 2024 were frustrated, are now disappointed by the low offer of the government in the 2025 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) process. After the draft submitted by the Türk-İş and Hak-İş confederations demanding a raise of nearly 90 percent, the 24 percent offer brought to the table by the government was met with a reaction among workers.

The process for the Public Framework Protocol (PFP), which concerns about 600 thousand public workers, started on February 27, 2025. In the time that has passed since then, the government first proposed a 16 percent raise, which was later increased to 24 percent. Union leaders, on the other hand, are trying to convince the public by making this rate look like 39 percent with additions.

The following statements were included in the text delivered to the workers by the union:

Wages below 1400 TL will be increased to this figure,

Daily wages above 1400 TL will receive a 40 TL diluted increase,

The 3.68 percent loss will be compensated for March contracts,

A 24 percent increase will be applied in the first 6 months of the first year,

Work and attrition premiums will be increased by 7 percent,

In both halves of the second year, increases will be made at the rate of inflation.

However, these figures are far from workers' demands. A Yol-İş member worker emphasized that the offer did not meet their needs and said, "Our draft demands were already minimum. Even half of them were not met. We demand that the base wage be increased to 1800 TL, a 50 percent raise and the tax bracket be fixed. We worked for 7 months without a salary, this is a policy of intimidation."

Expenses Increased by 13 Thousand TL in Istanbul

On the other hand, the economic pressure on public workers is getting worse every month. In Istanbul in the first 7 months of 2025;

Average rent is 6,297 TL,

Food expenditures 3,736 TL,

Income tax deduction 2,000 TL,

Bread costs 630 TL,

Natural gas 300 TL, water 120 TL and electricity 100 TL

increased. Thus, the total cost increase faced by a public worker in Istanbul in just 7 months reached 13,200 TL.

Workers Expect: Compensate Losses, Take Real Inflation into Account

Workers emphasize that the rate proposed by the government and unions is far from meeting living conditions and that real inflation rates should be taken into account. While the outcome of the process is awaited with curiosity, the reaction of the workers continues to grow.

source: universal.net