The Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) Plan and Budget Committee convened under the chairmanship of AK Party Samsun Deputy Mehmet Muş to discuss the 2027 budget of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. Following the presentation by Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan, opposition deputies took the floor to voice their questions and criticisms on numerous topics, ranging from women's employment to child labor, and from pension payments to workplace fatalities.
YENİ Party Osmaniye Deputy Asu Kaya stated that the budget requested by the ministry for 2027 has increased by approximately 435 percent compared to last year and asked how this increase would reflect on the lives of women. Kaya asked, "How many women will enter insured employment? How many women will be able to retire?"
QUESTIONS ON WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT AND DAYCARE
Stating that 30 percent of working women work informally, and that this rate rises to 92 percent in agriculture, Kaya said that women working in the fields also take on the care of children, the sick, and the elderly when they return home. Pointing to women who cannot retire due to a lack of premiums despite working for years, Kaya said, "A woman's life has already been spent working. What more should she do, Mr. Minister?"
Kaya also asked how many women would benefit from the 353 billion 900 million lira support earmarked for employer premium incentives. Stating that daycare fees significantly erode the income of working women, Kaya said, "It is easy to tell a woman to work. Who will look after her child? How will she pay the daycare fee? What is your solution?" Kaya also raised the issue of how women who cannot work in paid jobs because they care for children, the sick, or the elderly will gain social security coverage.
CRITICISMS ON CHILD LABOR, RETIREMENT, AND OVERSIGHT
YENİ Party Istanbul Deputy Ali Gökçek stated that 65 children under the age of 18 lost their lives in workplace fatalities in the first nine months of the year, and that 23 of these children were under the age of 14. Criticizing the resources allocated by the ministry to combat child labor, Gökçek reported that 33.9 million lira of the 41 million lira allocated in 2023, and 14.4 million lira of the 28.6 million lira allocated in 2024, were spent.
Gökçek reacted to Işıkhan, saying, "In one country, 65 children have died to earn bread money. And you, as the Minister of Labor, are able to continue sitting in that seat." Criticizing the low level of pensions, Gökçek said that 108 people over the age of 65 lost their lives while working in the first nine months of the year; he also asked questions regarding the new minimum wage, stating that the minimum wage falls below the hunger threshold before it even reaches the hands of the workers.
DEM Party Kocaeli Deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu stated that he attended the hearing of the case regarding the perfume warehouse fire in the Dilovası district of Kocaeli and conveyed the reactions of the victim families to the committee. According to Gergerlioğlu's account, the families said that they had applied to CİMER and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security multiple times for the workplace to be sealed or closed before the fire, but no action was taken. Gergerlioğlu asked why the managers who were suspended after the fire were reinstated and called on Işıkhan to resign.
CHP Mersin Deputy Gülcan Kış reminded that Işıkhan announced in his presentation that the ratio of SGK revenues to expenditures is 88 percent, and asked, "Why do the living conditions of retirees not improve while the financial balance of the SGK improves?" Stating that the lowest pension is 23,552 lira, Kış asked how many retirees the regulation prepared for 2027 would cover and what the lowest pension would be.
Kış also requested the schedule regarding the reduction of the premium day requirement for retirement for Bağ-Kur members from 9,000 to 7,200. Reminding that a 17-year-old student in Gaziantep lost his life at a construction site on his first day of work under the Vocational Training Center program, Kış asked how many of the workplaces where fatal work accidents occurred had been inspected previously.
YENİ Party Istanbul Deputy Evrim Rızvanoğlu requested a concrete schedule for a "just transition" plan aimed at protecting the jobs and income of employees during the gradual phase-out of coal. Rızvanoğlu also raised the issue of whether the ministry is conducting studies on the effects of artificial intelligence and automation on employment, and how employees can object to algorithms used in recruitment and performance evaluation.
CHP Ankara Deputy Semra Dinçer requested that insurance records starting during the internship and apprenticeship period be taken as the basis for retirement calculations. Stating that people working under the same conditions can retire years apart due to a one-day difference in their insurance start dates, Dinçer called for a gradual retirement regulation for those who were insured after September 8, 1999.
News Source: 12punto
