Strong Call from KESK in Gaziantep: "We Demand Strike, Real Collective Bargaining and a Secure Future!"

Gaziantep - The Confederation of Public Workers' Trade Unions (KESK), an important actor in the struggle for the rights of public workers, conveyed its strong demands to the government and the public with a press statement in Gaziantep. KESK Co-Chair Ayfer Koçak, Legal-Bargaining and International Relations Secretary Bahadır Berdicioğlu, and members of the work branch FMC came together with members of the Gaziantep Branches Platform and shouted their demands with the slogan "We Demand a Real Collective Bargaining Agreement with Strike, Wages Above the Poverty Line, Secure Employment, Secure Future, a Democratic, Fair Working Life and a Public Service in Favor of the People!".

Voice Rising from Gaziantep: "Our Struggle for Rights Will Continue"

The visit of the KESK delegation to Gaziantep is of great importance in terms of voicing union demands from the grassroots before the upcoming collective bargaining period. Participating in the press statement, KESK executives and Gaziantep Branches Platform members sharply criticized the economic difficulties experienced by public workers, precarious working conditions and the move away from democratic working life. The statement emphasized that in order to increase the quality of public services, the welfare and rights of laborers must be secured.

KESK's Basic Demands: The Right to Strike and a Decent Life

The demands raised by KESK in Gaziantep include chronic problems that public laborers have been voicing for a long time:

• A Real Collective Bargaining Agreement with Strike: The real bargaining power of public workers in collective bargaining processes and the recognition of their right to strike constitute the basis of the trade union struggle. KESK points out that the current collective bargaining system is inadequate and for show, and calls for the right to strike for civil servants as it is for workers.

• Wages Above the Poverty Line: It was stated that the purchasing power of public laborers has decreased due to salaries eroding against inflation, and that most of them struggle to live below the poverty line. KESK demands a wage policy above the poverty line so that they can live humanely.

• Secure Employment, Secure Future: It was stated that the increasing use of contract, agency and subcontractor employment in the public sector is increasing precariousness and raising concerns about the future of workers. KESK calls for permanent and secure employment for all public employees.

• Democratic, Fair Working Life: The demand is to end oppression, meritless appointments and union discrimination in the working environment and to establish a democratic and fair working life.

• A Public Service on the Side of the People: KESK opposed the commercialization and marketization of public services and emphasized that the necessary conditions must be ensured to provide equal, free and qualified public services to the people.

KESK stated that these demands are of vital importance not only for public laborers, but also for the whole society that receives quality public services, and sent the message that they will continue their just struggle with determination.