Turkey: Trade unions, opposition react to new minimum wage

The new minimum wage announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday has been subjected to criticism by leaders of trade unions and opposition parties.

Erdogan told a press conference earlier in the day that he set the minimum wage at 8,500 TL, with an annual increase of almost 100%.

The chair of the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Turk-is), who had called on the administration to set the minimum wage at 9,000 TL, said:

"It does not meet the public expectations. The minimum wage will likely fall behind the coming price increases. This will have a negative impact on the purchasing power of wage labor."

The chair of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DISK), who had called for a minimum wage of 13,200 TL, said:

"This clearly means imposing poverty on millions of workers and their families. The new minimum wage is way below what it should be."

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), said:

"The palace has announced an increase even five percentage points below the tampered food inflation figure of TUIK [Turkish Statistical Institute], and robbed 33 million citizens of this country. Neither have the minimum wage earners been given what they deserve, nor has the tax burden on small business been alleviated."

Pervin Buldan, the co-chair of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), said:

"HDP had proposed a minimum wage of 12,500 TL. The administration turned a deaf ear to this proposal and to the demands of laborers, and imposed poverty on workers by announcing a wage of 8,500 TL."

Imprisoned former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas reacted from prison, saying:

"In no other country are 80% of the workers forced to work for a monthly wage of $455. It's similar to the situation in times of slavery. The only reason for this situation is the presidential system. Let's join forces and change this system and get rid of slavery. How? By constant struggle, organizing and the ballot."

The annual inflation in Turkey is 84.4% according to TUIK, who is accused by the opposition of tampering with data to provide grounds for low increases in wages. An independent research group put the annual inflation at 170.7% in early December.

The annual inflation in food, according to the official data of TUIK, is 102.5%.