DİSK Emekli-Sen President Cengiz Yavuz: 'They want to burden retirees with the cost of the crisis'

Halil Alperen Acar/12punto.com.tr

Poverty and misery wages in Turkey, while affecting broad segments of society, also significantly impact retired citizens who have spent their years working. We asked DİSK Emekli-Sen President Cengiz Yavuz about Erdoğan's 5,000 TL bonus for retirees, the impact of pension payments on millions of retirees, and what retirees will do in the face of these wages. We present the interview with Yavuz, who made critical statements, to 12punto.com.tr readers.

''THEY ARE ATTEMPTING TO LOAD THE COST OF THE CRISIS ONTO THE BACKS OF RETIREES''

While more than 14 million retirees accept the 7,500 lira, which Erdoğan set as the lowest wage, as a 'misery wage', a one-time 5,000 TL bonus that workers cannot benefit from came from Erdoğan. What are retirees experiencing within this vice?

There is a reality in Turkey that the government has forgotten; or rather, does not want to remember. Retirees retired in return for the sweat they shed yesterday. We put in the effort yesterday in the development of the country and in the production of all values; today, we have earned the right to retire in return for the labor we provided. However, the government sees us as a burden on the state, as if retirees had never worked, as if we were not the ones who created yesterday. It is attempting to load the cost of the crisis onto the backs of retirees.

We can summarize the conditions that misguided economic policies and discriminatory, unequal practices towards retirees have dragged us into as follows:

A significant portion of retirees has to get by on 7,500 lira a month. This means: We will pay rent, we will pay bills, we will fill our refrigerators, we will see a doctor... We will do all of this with 7,500 lira. We cannot even count cinema, theater, or the time we would spend socializing with our families and friends because we have 7,500 lira in our pockets. Average rent prices are 16 thousand lira in Istanbul and 13 thousand lira in Ankara. Therefore, today, a pension is not even enough to cover just the house rent. Food inflation for retirees has reached 90 percent. Therefore, it has become impossible to put bread on our tables with salaries that go to rent before they even enter our pockets.

With the situation as it is, a large portion of retirees has to continue working even after retirement. Retirees who have to work to live are also excluded from the 5,000 lira bonus application, which is already given like alms.

In short, retirees spend every day in a struggle for survival. They cannot make ends meet, they cannot find shelter, they cannot access health services; they cannot live a humane life.

''AKP VOTER RETIREES ARE ALSO UNCOMFORTABLE''

Regarding the 7,500 TL salary remaining fixed and not being raised, Erdoğan had pointed to December. Following the 5,000 lira 'symbolic' bonus, Erdoğan spoke again, saying, 'We will put the situation of retirees on the agenda at the beginning of the year'. Is the AKP's retiree base, which cannot see a concrete step regarding retirees, also uncomfortable with this situation, have you been able to observe this?

Retirees may be supporters of different political parties. They may vote for different parties in elections and hold the political stances of different parties. However, all the problems we listed just now are common for retirees. We are millions who experience these problems in our daily lives and spend our days struggling to survive. As a matter of fact, the AKP, in its policies regarding retirees, drags all retirees into poverty and misery without making a distinction between this party or that party. Retirees are being equalized in poverty and misery. Therefore, of course, AKP voter retirees are also affected by inflation and the high cost of living, and they are uncomfortable with retirees being forced to live below the hunger threshold in the face of all this. I would also like to state that retirees in Turkey are witnesses to many historical events and the consequences of previous economic policies. Therefore, the testimony of the past gives retirees the opportunity to analyze the conditions and policies of the day. We can see which policy is the product of which preference. AKP voter retirees, like all retirees, can see that the AKP does not take a stance in favor of retirees in its policies towards them. Because even if we close our eyes, we know that our refrigerators are empty and our bills are scorching.

''ADDRESSING FROM THE PODIUM IS NOT ENOUGH''

We know that especially DİSK and many organizations insistently focus on the problems experienced by retirees and fight for them. So, what is the state of your relations with political parties on this matter? Do you think political parties are taking enough responsibility?

Let us say what we will say last at the beginning: We do not think that many political parties are taking enough responsibility. We do not believe that they are putting into practice anything that goes beyond the level of rhetoric specifically for retirees. The problems of retirees are at a vital level. Therefore, no advocacy that remains at the level of rhetoric is sufficient in fulfilling responsibility. The process we are in is a process in which the state has lost its social character. The loss of the state's social character means seizing the retirees' right to health, right to a safe environment, right to shelter, and ultimately, the right to life. It means the violation of the most basic human rights.

Political parties taking a stance in favor of labor, workers, and retirees does not mean just addressing us from podiums. Being an opposition is not just about analyzing our current situation. We retirees can analyze our situation ourselves, what we expect from political parties is for them to voice our demands with us in parliament, on the streets, and in the neighborhoods. For DİSK Emekli-Sen, this is what taking responsibility means.

''WE FOUGHT WHEN WE WERE WORKERS, WE WILL WIN BY FIGHTING IN RETIREMENT TOO''

DİSK-Emekli Sen has carried out actions in Ankara, Adana, Balıkesir, and many other places. Recently, a large rally was held in Istanbul Kartal with the call of DİSK, with the participation of most retiree associations and left-socialist parties. Considering the current situation, will such actions and rallies continue?

Of course. Retirees will continue to take to the streets to build a life worthy of human dignity and to win their trade union rights and freedoms. Because we know that rights are not given, they are taken. We retirees are the workers and laborers of the past. We won our rights by fighting when we were workers. We will win by fighting in retirement too. At the large Kartal retiree meeting we organized, we gave the message that retirees exist and retirees have rights in a powerful way. In our future actions and rallies, we will continue to say, "Retirement is a right; a humane life in retirement is a right."

We have a rally ahead of us that we will organize in Ankara on December 10. At this rally, we will raise our voices from Anıtpark against the policies of discrediting and impoverishing retirees, and we will strengthen our unity.

''LET US FIGHT TOGETHER FOR A HUMANE LIFE''

Finally, do you have a message you would like to convey to 12punto.com.tr readers?

We retired from working life. But we did not retire from life; we will not. In this context, I would like to remind you of the most vital demands of retirees once again through 12punto.com.tr:

• We want a wage worthy of human dignity in retirement.

• We want pension payments to be indexed to national income, not inflation; we want pension accrual rates to be returned to their former levels and for the entire national income growth to be taken into account in the update coefficient.

• We want the lowest pension to be raised to the level of the minimum wage.

• We want retiree bonuses to be paid twice a year and at least at the level of the minimum wage.

• We want an adjustment law to be enacted in retirement to eliminate the differences between pension payments.

• We want the practice of retirement in the grave to be ended; we want the age requirement for retirement to be rearranged in a fair and gradual manner.

• We want the participation fee that retirees pay for health services to be abolished unconditionally.

• We want our right to a safe environment and a livable nature in retirement to be recognized.

• We want to be consulted when policies regarding retirees are being made.

• And we know that the only way to realize all of this is to grant retirees their trade union rights and freedoms and collective bargaining rights; we want our trade union rights.

I state that all these demands are clear, concrete, and justified demands; I call on all retirees to become unionized to claim their rights. Come, let us shout that we will not compromise our rights against those who steal from our labor and our future. Come, let us fight together for a humane life in retirement.

This is our call to all retirees, labor organizations, and those who take a stance in favor of labor: Come, let us meet at the "Great Retiree Rally" in Ankara Anıtpark on December 10.