Protesting the increase of 5 liras and 40 kuruş for working hours as “funny”, the officers said, “With this increase, you can only buy half a bagel, half tea or half water.”
Yavuz ALATAN
Release: 05:00 – 03 September 2023 Updated:
Collective With the final decision of the 11-member arbitral tribunal, which determines the fate of approximately 6.5 million civil servants and retired civil servants in the contract negotiations, the civil servant salary increase was 15 percent for the first 6 months of 2024 and 10 percent for the second six months. After the decision, members of the Bureau Service Branch Employees Union (Büro-İş) protested the 5 lira and 40 kuruş increase in working hours, which was brought by a collective agreement, by describing it as “funny”.
WE TAKE A SHARE OF THE POSSIBILITY
The officers gathered in front of the Ankara Courthouse said, “With this raise, you can only buy half a bagel, half tea or half water.” Alay Hamzaçebi, Head of Bureau Business, said, “The overtime wage will increase by 5.40 liras. Is this a win? Only half bagel, half water or half tea can be bought for 5.40 liras. They are messing with us,” he said. Hamzaçebi said: “As a result of the cooperation between the government and the pro and side unions, millions of civil servants and retired civil servants have been condemned to misery. The final curtain of the theater is closed. Ali Yalçın, Chairman of the authorized but ineffective confederation Memur-Sen, says, “They acted as a notary public” for the arbitral tribunal. While the delegation was working as a notary public, did you also act as a clerk? You can’t get rid of your own sin by throwing the ball to the referee. The union does not beg, it resists. We do not accept this raise. We get a share from poverty and misery, not from national income and welfare. In the courthouse, 48.81 liras of clothing aid is given to officer clerks, bailiffs and technicians as apron money. It’s like a joke, but with this money, you can’t even buy socks, let alone aprons.”
‘Shame is a raise’
Members of the Public Confederations Platform protested the increase in civil servants in front of the Atatürk Statue in Ankara Ulus yesterday. The officers said, “The Collective Agreement was a middle game, and the raise was a shame raise.” Platform spokesman Mehmet Yeşildağ said, “The Collective Bargaining negotiations of the public workers resulted in an increase in shame” and said: “The insincerity of those who dream of the Turkish Century and those who say that we will not crush the civil servants with inflation and those who stick to the table are obvious. Both the drum and the mallet are in power. The government has blatantly usurped the right of public workers to fair wages worthy of human dignity. Your offer is poverty, your raise is misery.