Türk-İş and Hak-İş Boycott the Minimum Wage Commission! "We will not participate unless there is a fair arrangement"

ANKARA - Ahead of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission's negotiations for 2026, which will start in December, Turkey's largest labor confederations Turk-İş and Hak-İş have made a flash decision. Both confederations, stating that the current structure of the Commission is working against the workers, made a successive statement that "We will not participate in the Commission unless a fair arrangement is made". This decision raised the danger of effectively eliminating the representation of the working class at the bargaining table.

Discussions about the structure of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission, which came to the agenda at the Triple Advisory Board meeting reconvened by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, reached its climax with this harsh reaction from the unions.

Turk-İş: "We Stood by the Unfair Commission for 50 Years"

Turk-İş President Ergün Atalay stated on 25 December 2024 that the current system victimizes workers and harshly criticized the structure of the commission:

"We stood in an unfair commission for 50 years. From now on, we will not participate in the Minimum Wage Determination Commission as Türk-İş unless a fair arrangement is made."

Hak-Is: Talks with Türk-İş, Participation Canceled

Hak-İş President Mahmut Arslan announced on October 27, 2024 that he and Türk-İş had taken a similar position. Emphasizing that the structure of the commission must change, Arslan confirmed that they had discussed this issue with Türk-İş and said, "I reiterated that we will not participate."

Will Workers Not Be Represented at the Bargaining Table?

According to the current legislation, it is a legal obligation for the 15-member Minimum Wage Determination Commission, which includes five representatives each from workers, employers and the government, to convene. However, with the withdrawal of Türk-İş and Hak-İş, it is stated that the labor representatives from the confederations with the highest number of members will not actually be at the table as required by law.

This raises concerns that the minimum wage negotiations for 2026 (the current gross minimum wage is 26,005.50 TL and the net minimum wage is 22,104.67 TL) will be conducted exclusively between government and capital (employer) representatives, without the direct participation of workers. According to the Labor Union Service, the boycott is a historic protest against injustice in the Commission's structure.

source: universal.net