HAK-İŞ President Arslan: A fair minimum wage cannot emerge from the Minimum Wage Determination Commission

The HİZMET-İŞ Union held an awards ceremony at the Emek Guest House for the "Do Not Remain Indifferent to the Story of Invisible Labor"Domestic WorkersStory Competition.Theawards ceremonywas held. Domestic workersorganized to defend the rights of working women and to share their stories,the awards ceremony for the competitionwas attended by HAK-İŞ and HİZMET-İŞ President Mahmut Arslan and guests.At the ceremony, a specialpresentationfocusing ondomestic workers, prepared specifically for the event,The short film preparedwas screened. Following the screening of the short film, the awards ceremony began with the singing of the National Anthem.

Speaking at the ceremony,HAK-İŞ and HİZMET-İŞ President Mahmut Arslan said, "When I examine thepreliminary assessments, there are unique stories. I would like to make a few observations regarding this. Writing is very difficult; talkingis easier. To talk,one also needs to write," hesaid.

"HOME WORKWORKERSA RE DISREGARDEDDECLARING"

Stating that theywilldefend the rights of domesticworkers, Arslan said,"DomesticWe also explain the problems ofworkers. In the squares, they will ask what domesticworkers want. Everyone knowsthem, but they do not recognize them. They have their homes cleaned. They treat them likeslaves,humiliating them and looking downon them. They are subjected to extremely hurtfulattitudes.you are facing difficulties. When you have your organization,people will recognize you," he stated.

"FOR YEARS WEOBJECTWEOBJECT"

Speaking about the Minimum Wage Determination Commission, Arslan said, "Regarding the MinimumWage Determination Commission, our confederation has been objecting to the structure of the MinimumWage Determination Commission for 50 years. Regardless of who is there, regardless of which confederation or which union it is, the MinimumWage Determination Commission's structure is what we object to. We object to the trajectory of theMinimum Wage Determination Commission since the 1970s. We say that a healthy minimum wage cannotemerge from this structure," he said.

Stating that they object to the Minimum Wage Determination Commission, Arslan said, "How should the minimum wagebe determined, what are the conditions, what are the criteria, what are theexamples from around the world, what is happening in our own country, these arewe discussed all of them at the table. Unfortunately, even though 1 year haspassed,sadly, our ministry, our Vice Presidency, the relevantbureaucracy, and the stakeholders of workinglife heard what we said, but theydid not do what wasnecessary," he stated.

"LABORUNIONW AGESTHEFLOORANDCEILINGOF THE MINIMUMWAGE DETERMINATIONPROCESSWEARE OBJECTING."

Arslan added, "The Ministry of Finance is the biggest obstacle we face regarding the minimumtripartite structuredemonstratingthe ministry.Because the minimum wage is not just a minimum wage in thiscountry. Approximately more than 50differentThere are regulations thatrefer to the minimum wage. Unemployment benefitfloors and ceilings are determined by the minimum wage. Penalties, social assistance, certain disability benefits, and many others are based on the minimum regarding the wage" hespoke.

Mentioning that the structure of theminimum wage commissionneeds to be regulated,Arslan said, "Because in our country, minimum wage earners work in the private sectoris working. In that case, the public'sregulatory role mustexist. If we are to establishthe criteria accordingly,the confederations should be represented in the commission's structure according to their membershipnumbers. I am not saying it should be us and no one else. Economic and social confederations should be represented there. Membership numbersbe represented in proportion to their size. We are not excluding anyone. Let the government stay out of it. Let us determine the criteria," he said.

Following Arslan's remarks, Esra Nur Tatar, who won first place in the competition with her story titled "I am a Unionized Domestic Worker," and the other top-ranking contestants were presented with their awards. After the awards were presented, the award ceremony concluded.