Behind the scenes of the minimum wage meeting revealed! 'They met alone for 1.5 hours...'

Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan announced the new minimum wage, which concerns millions of workers, following the Minimum Wage Determination Commission meeting.

The minimum wage, which was increased by 49 percent, was set at 17,002 TL.

As discussions regarding the minimum wage continue, Türk-İş Deputy Chairman Ramazan Ağar explained the behind-the-scenes of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission meeting.

"EMPLOYERS INSISTED ON 16,300, WORKER REPRESENTATIVES ON 18,000 LIRA"

Stating that the Minister of Labor, Türk-İş Representative Ergün Atalay, and the TİSK Chairman met with AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for approximately 1.5 hours before they joined later, Ağar said that in the Minimum Wage Determination Commission, employer representatives insisted on 16,300 lira while worker representatives insisted on 18,000 lira, and that the employer reluctantly accepted it after President Erdoğan requested it be 17,000 lira.

Speaking to Saygı Öztürk from Sözcü, Ramazan Ağar's statements are as follows:

“We did not provide a figure. Because when we state a figure, we have no chance of going below that figure. As the final days approached, figures of 14,500, then 15,000, and 15,500 were mentioned. These figures came up during the conversation. It was said that 500 dollars equaled 14,500 lira. Furthermore, the employer suggested that the support to be provided should be one or even two thousand lira. In the end, this employer support was set at 700 lira.

"THE MINISTER, ATALAY, AND THE TİSK CHAIRMAN MET WITH ERDOĞAN FOR 1.5 HOURS"

The Minister of Labor, Türk-İş Representative Ergün Atalay, and the TİSK Chairman met with President Erdoğan for approximately 1.5 hours. Later, the General Manager of Labor, myself, and the TİSK Secretary General also joined the meeting. While the negotiations were ongoing, the employer side stated that their final price proposal was to increase the wage to 16,500 lira. The President requested that this be raised to 17,000 lira. Finally, they said 'Yes' to 17,000 lira.

“WE HAD DECIDED THAT THE WAGE SHOULD BE AT LEAST 18,000 LIRA”

We had decided that the wage should be at least 18,000 lira. We said 18,000 lira, but the employer representatives said they could not go above that. We also said that if it was not accepted, we would file a dissenting opinion. With the intervention of the President, the employer reluctantly said 'yes' to the amount being 17,000 lira.

If our Chairman Ergün Atalay had not insisted on it being no less than 18,000 lira, in an environment where the employer was stuck at 16,300, it might not have been possible for us to get that 700 lira raise if the President had not intervened. We also said that we would not accept a minimum wage of less than 18,000 lira, that we would file a dissenting opinion, and that we would not sign if it were less than 18,000. The employer also makes calculations according to their own interests. If there hadn't been an opportunity to meet with the President here, perhaps even this 17,000 lira might not have been achieved.”

News Source: 12punto