"Women's Labor" Report by Memur-Sen and Hak-İş: Joint Call for Family-Friendly Reforms in Labor Life

ANKARA - The Confederations of Memur-Sen and Hak-İş introduced the **"Women's Labor in Turkey's Century Panel/Workshop Report "**, which they prepared to bring permanent solutions to the problems of women in working life. The introductory meeting, held at Hak-İş Headquarters, emphasized the importance of the two major confederations raising a common voice for women and family-oriented policies without discriminating between workers and civil servants.

The meeting was attended by Sıdıka Aydın, Chair of the Women's Commission of Memur-Sen, Fatma Zengin, Deputy Secretary General of Hak-İş and Chair of the Women's Committee, and many trade unionists, academics and members of the press. The speakers stated that the report is not only a problem identification document, but also offers concrete solutions and a road map for the future.

Sıdıka Aydın: "Our Sweat is Common, Solidarity is the Solution"

Memur-Sen Women's Commission President Sıdıka Aydın said that the problems of women workers and civil servants were addressed with a family-centered approach during the preparation of the report. Reminding that they had brought these demands to the table in the previous 8th Term Collective Bargaining Negotiations, Aydın listed their main demands as follows:

• Increase maternity leave to 60 weeks in total.

• Extension of milk permit to 2 years.

• Reducing the weekly working time for public servants with children from 40 hours to 32 hours.

• Provision of accessible and safe daycare services or daycare allowance.

• Reorganization of income tax rates in favor of married families with children.

Aydın said, "A mother cannot be a worker or a civil servant! Our sweat and labor are common. Although our problems may seem different, they are similar in essence. The solution is unity and solidarity," he said, emphasizing the strength of the joint work of the two confederations.

Fatma Zengin: "We Want 2 Years Early Retirement for Women for Each Child"

Hak-İş Deputy Secretary General Fatma Zengin explained their demands prioritizing the family in working life within the scope of the "Year of the Family". Stating that the fertility rate should be increased in order for the population to renew itself, Zengin reminded that the current birth rate is 1.48 percent and said that they support the government's efforts in this regard.

Among the demands announced by Zengin, the following stood out:

• A family-first tax system and a 2.5 percent tax deduction per child.

• The right to up to 36 months of paid leave for both mother and father.

• For women, 2 years of early retirement and age reduction for each child.

• Organization and legal security for unregistered domestic workers.

• Elimination of wage inequality between men and women doing the same job.

Zengin emphasized that these obligations should not fall solely on women and demanded that existing rights be further expanded. She also expressed the expectation that Turkey ratify the ILO conventions on domestic workers and violence prevention.

At the end of the program, the editor of the report, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hatice Altunok, made a presentation on the content of the report and underlined that the joint work of the two confederations constitutes an exemplary model in the trade union movement.