Erdoğan's statements:
-We are sharing the joy of iftar with our loved ones, our relatives, and our companions, but there is a humanitarian drama currently unfolding in Gaza where words are insufficient. Our citizens in the countries of our heart's geography, especially in Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Turkestan, and Afghanistan, are going through difficult days.
-I am pleased to see that with the arrival of Ramadan, our nation has increased its aid to Gaza and other oppressed geographies. I started my working life at a very young age as a worker at IETT; I know the struggle a laborer goes through to earn a living and meet their needs; we are also aware of the importance of receiving the fair reward for one's labor.
-The ancestors whose path we follow have always been careful about ensuring workers' rights. There are many exemplary practices in our history and culture. We, too, have strived to ensure the rights of employees wherever we have served. We showed our solidarity with our workers by declaring the day known as the symbol of the heinous events of 1977 a public holiday. We have not compromised on this, despite recent pandemics, wars, crises, and earthquakes. We are continuing this sensitivity in 2024 as well. We are striving to reflect the financial burden caused by crises onto employees as little as possible. The minimum wage became 17 thousand TL. Thus, there was a 100 percent increase compared to the same period of the previous year, and we continued the payment by increasing the support to 700 liras.
RETIREE BONUSES WILL BE DEPOSITED BETWEEN APRIL 2-5
-We also made an increase of nearly 50 percent in civil servant salaries with the inflation adjustment. Despite our increasing number of retirees, we have made significant arrangements in the conditions of our retirees, brought the joy of the holiday to retirees with bonuses, and made a one-time payment of 5 thousand TL to each retiree. We also made a 50 percent increase in the bonus this year. We will deposit it into the retirees' accounts between April 2-5.
-The defense of labor is as important as the reward for labor; in this period, unions have taken a breath of relief. Unionization among civil servants has reached 74 percent, and we continue to improve the rights of civil servants by introducing new opportunities in every collective bargaining session. As with every positive step, there are obstructions from the opposition here as well.
-The regulation that provided a monthly payment of 538 liras was canceled upon the application of the main opposition. More than 2 million public officials will receive 345 liras less per month. This means a loss of 8 thousand 880 liras for our civil servants. The opposition takes these to the Constitutional Court and tries to trim them. They talk big in the squares, but they do not refrain from wearing out the courthouse doors. You must give the necessary response to those responsible for these wrongs.
-With the 3600 additional indicator, we ensured the redetermination of the additional indicators of 5.3 million public personnel, increased the indicators of all public employees by 600 points, and provided additional indicators to auxiliary service workers for the first time. We will also implement our promise to expand its scope in the coming period.
-We last held the Labor Council meeting in 2019 with all representatives of our labor world. We are planning to hold the 13th meeting with the theme of 'The Future Century'.
News Source: AA
