Common consensus: The minimum wage is meaningless against inflation!

Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan announced that the net minimum wage has been set at 17 thousand 2 lira as of January 1, 2024.

Following the announcement of the new minimum wage, reactions came one after another, particularly from opposition parties. 

ZORLU: IT WILL MELT AWAY BEFORE THE YEAR IS HALF OVER

Making a statement on his social media account regarding the minimum wage, IYI Party Spokesperson Kürşad Zorlu recalled that their minimum wage proposal was 17 thousand lira for the first 6 months of 2024 and 20 thousand 500 lira for the second 6 months.

Zorlu stated, "The Minister must not have fully understood our proposal, as (!) he announced the minimum wage for the entirety of 2024 as 17,002 TL. In other words, while the minimum wage is becoming an average wage, the labor of millions of our citizens will melt away in the face of the cost of living before the year is even half over. In this respect, the elections to be held on March 31 will be the place where our citizens will give the most effective message against this course of events."

TAŞÇIER: WE WILL STAND WITH THE LABORERS

CHP Deputy Chairperson responsible for the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Gamze Taşçıer, also drew attention to high inflation. 

Stating, "What did we say? This is a wage that will evaporate in a few months and fall below the hunger threshold again," Taşçıer continued as follows:

"Even with the Central Bank's inflation target, which is unlikely to be met, and with it being said that there will only be a single raise, this amount will effectively drop to 10,882 lira by the end of the year, which is even less than it is today. In reality, it is obvious that it will drop to a much lower level. This wage, which means creating a false spring until the elections and then telling people to fend for themselves after the elections, is the desire of those who dream of a Turkey where tens of millions of laborers meet in hunger. As the CHP, we reject this order based on modern slavery and the exploitation of labor! As the CHP, we will continue to insistently voice our proposals regarding the minimum wage and to stand with labor and the laborer."

'IT MUST BE SEEN THAT THE AMOUNT CONDEMNS THE LABORER TO HUNGER'

CHP Deputy Chairperson responsible for the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, Yalçın Karatepe, stated that 64 percent of employees work for the minimum wage or a salary close to the minimum wage. 

"The 17,002 TL amount announced today is at the level of the average house rent in metropolitan cities," said Karatepe, adding, "According to TÜRK-İŞ's calculations, the hunger threshold rose to 14 thousand 25 TL and the poverty threshold to 45 thousand 686 TL in November. The cost of living for a single employee has also risen to 18 thousand 239 TL per month. As can be seen, when we take the minimum wage announced today as a basis, if there are not three employees in the family earning the minimum wage, that household is poor. In this environment of unemployment, it is also a fantasy to think that 3 people from one household are working. It must be seen that this announced amount condemns millions of laborers to hunger and misery."

Stating that the minimum wage increase will melt away against price hikes due to high inflation, Karatepe said, "For this reason, we must oppose the government's insistence on determining the minimum wage once a year and ensure that a wage is determined again in the second half of the year. As the CHP, our stance is clear. We are on the side of the laborers. We will continue to fight to change this system that condemns our laborers to hunger and misery. Instead of accepting poverty, we will implement policies that will eradicate it."

REACTION FROM THE LABOR PARTY

The Labor Party (Emek Partisi) announced that the minimum wage, set at 17 thousand 2 lira, is "at a level of misery, remaining below the hunger and poverty threshold," and stated, "A system where less tax is taken from those who earn less and more from those who earn more can only be possible through the organized struggle of workers and laborers."

The Labor Party's statement is as follows:   

"The Wage Determination Commission has been meeting intermittently for days. For days, it is not even this commission, which does not represent workers and laborers by its formation, but directly government spokespeople who have been giving messages about the minimum wage. Capital organizations announce their proposals regarding the minimum wage as if they were instructions. We have moved from the days when the IMF determined the minimum wage to days when direct international capital watchdogs like Goldman Sachs and Moody's set the direction for the minimum wage.

The regional minimum wage debate, maintained by ITO President Şekib Avdagiç, has been on the capital's agenda for a long time.

Pro-government unions, managed by yellow unionists who are the voice of capital, are making shaky statements as they cannot ignore the reactions of the workers. While Türk-İş Chairman Ergün Atalay pointed to the correct point that the minimum wage should not be a subsistence wage, he pointed to the hunger threshold regarding what the minimum wage should be and said they would open the bargaining at 14,025 lira. Hak-İş Chairman Mahmut Arslan, on the other hand, criticized the formation of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission and said they wanted an increase above inflation without expressing an opinion on whether TÜİK or ENAG should be taken as a basis for inflation.

Differently, DİSK, which organizes actions and events demanding a minimum wage in various provinces, pointed to 30,000 lira, stating that it should be calculated by taking into account the lowest public worker wage and the lowest civil servant salary.

The Medium-Term Program, the 12th Development Plan, and the newly approved 2024 budget, which were announced one after another after the elections, have been the document of the ways and methods of protecting monopolies and capital. While the government presents the values produced by labor and the economic resources created by the people to the command of capital without any room for discussion through incentives, exemptions, tender privileges, and urgent expropriations, the Minister of Finance and the Central Bank Governor are worried about what the minimum wage amount will be. Every measure they propose and every monetary and economic policy they implement has been in the direction of opening new holes in the already tightened belts of the people, including workers, peasants, retirees, and small tradesmen. Now, with the 17,002 lira minimum wage, which is at a level of misery and remains below the hunger and poverty threshold, they want millions of workers and laborers to make ends meet with their families. Workers and laborers are not condemned to a minimum life and a minimum wage. We can change the situation when we unite and fight for humane living and working conditions. Previously, metal workers, textile and weaving workers, and TPI workers changed the signed contract and managed to get an additional raise through struggle. A minimum wage that allows for a humane life and meets the needs of a family of 4 must be above the poverty threshold. Those who deem a misery wage appropriate for laborers do not even take into account the expenses necessary for a laborer and their family for cultural and artistic activities when determining the minimum wage.

A system where the minimum wage is determined above the poverty threshold by considering all these needs, and where less tax is taken from those who earn less and more from those who earn more, can only be possible through the organized struggle of workers and laborers.

Now is the time to unite and fight for this!"

News Source: 12punto