Statement from the TKP on the minimum wage

The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) stated that the 17,002 lira minimum wage set for 2024 means nothing other than telling workers to "die," adding, "Working people cannot make it to the end of the year with these wages. Employers, however, are very pleased with the situation."

Emphasizing that employers are increasing their profits while workers toil day and night, the statement from the TKP said, "We will hold both the employers who drag workers into hunger and misery and this system accountable by organizing."

"WORKING PEOPLE CANNOT MAKE IT TO THE END OF THE YEAR WITH THIS WAGE"

The full statement from the TKP is as follows:

"We will hold those who abandon workers to hunger accountable. The minimum wage for 2024 has been announced as 17,002 lira.

At a time when the hunger threshold is around 15,000 lira and the poverty threshold is around 45,000 lira, this wage means nothing other than telling workers to 'die.' Almost all employers, immediately after the figure was announced, stated that they were happy with the number and supported it, saying, 'our workers were not allowed to be crushed.'

So, how will workers live on 17,002 lira?

Will they pay their rent or their bills, cover their child's school expenses, meet their clothing needs, or feed themselves? Those who announced this wage should live on it for a month and show workers how it is done! Moreover, while the raise given to the minimum wage will melt away again within a few months due to the high cost of living and the minimum wage will only be raised once a year... Working people cannot make it to the end of the year with these wages.

Employers, however, are very pleased with the situation. They are pleased because the wage they will pay to workers is exactly what they wanted, because they continue to receive incentives, and because they can still claim to be 'victims' while doing all this. But all of this is a big lie. Because employers continue to make profits.

While working people work day and night in the country's hospitals, factories, construction sites, and schools to cover their rent, bills, and kitchen expenses, employers are increasing their profits. All of them have multiplied their profits compared to last year. As you can see, things are going well for them.

But for the millions of working people who make this country exist, who produce, and who ensure these riches are created... How will the end of the month come, how will credit debt be paid? We are thinking about which card to withdraw money from to pay off our credit card debt. Yes, these are all on our minds. We will hold both the employers who drag workers into hunger and misery and this system accountable by organizing.

We will hold them accountable so that those who think workers do not see this hypocrisy will be proven wrong.

We will hold them accountable so that the employers and the government who abandon workers to hunger will be afraid.

We will hold them accountable so that we can get rid of the exploiters who usurp the labor of workers.

We do not accept that the labor of workers, who create everything, is left to the profit calculations of employers and the dirty games of political power, and that it is left to their whims.

We know that when we get rid of the exploiters, it is possible to live humanely and to share wealth equally."

Her şeyi var eden işçilerin emeğinin, patronların kâr hesabına ve siyasi iktidarın kirli oyunlarına terk edilmesini ve onların iki dudağı arasında olmasını kabul etmiyoruz.

İşçileri açlığa, sefalete sürükleyen patronlardan da düzenden de örgütlenerek hesap soracağız.… pic.twitter.com/7PDLLuZu9S

— TKP (@tkpninsesi) December 28, 2023

News Source: 12punto