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New minimum wage set to increase by 9.7 percent in 2010
The Minimum Wage Determination Commission late on Tuesday determined the new minimum wage for the next year, which will go into effect on Jan. 1. According to the commission’s decision, the net minimum wage for workers over 16 will increase by 4.3 percent and 5.2 percent in the first and second halves of the coming year, respectively. The gross minimum wage for these workers will be TL 729 and TL 760.50 in the same periods.
The net minimum wage for workers under the age of 16 will be TL 499.62 starting from Jan. 1 until June 30 and TL 518.97 from July 1 to Dec. 31. For the same periods, gross minimum wages will be TL 621 and TL 648, respectively.
The general director of the labor department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Ali Kemal Sayın, noting that even though the new minimum wage is far from ideal, said it was determined taking into account the aftereffects of the global financial crisis. However, he added, the rate of increase is still twice the anticipated 5.4 percent rate of inflation for 2010. The head of the Turkish Confederation of Employers’ Unions (TİSK) delegation, Ali Nafiz Konuk, also said the rise in the minimum wage is higher than anticipated in the 2010 budget.
However, the new minimum wage received harsh criticism from labor unions. The Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Türk-İş), in a written announcement released on Tuesday, asserted that the minimum wage for the next year was not determined according to trustworthy, objective and scientific data but the government’s arbitrary approach. The minimum wage does not even surpass the “hunger wage,” Türk-İş said.
Independent Public Workers’ Union (BASK) Chairman Resul Akay also criticized the new wage, calling for those earning minimum wage to be exempt from income tax.
Labor unions not hopeful
Meanwhile, Turkish Public Workers’ Labor Union (Kamu-Sen) has blamed the government’s policies in the face of the global financial downturn for forcing workers to bear the worst of the crisis in 2009 and expressed their hopelessness about the coming year.
Kamu-Sen President Bircan Akyıldız, speaking at a press conference yesterday, stated that Turkey was leaving behind a year when the severest effects of the financial crisis were felt, when the unemployment level increased to an incredible level and when widespread bankruptcies were seen throughout the country. Due to the government’s failed economic policies, the burden of the recession fell on the workers’ shoulders, he said. He suggested an increase in wages to support people and rejuvenate markets as a way out of this grim situation.
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