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Government adamantly opposes demands of TEKEL workers
Speaking at a press conference in Ankara yesterday about the government's opposition to TEKEL workers' demonstrations, the minister noted that the annual term of employment of workers under the scope of Article 4-C was increased to 11 months from 10 months. Additionally, the wages of 4-C workers who have graduated from primary school were raised by 17.4 percent, or TL 114, to TL 772. The wages of workers with secondary school graduation were raised by 15.8 percent (TL 116) to TL 856 and those with a university degree saw a raise of 14.3 percent (TL 117) to TL 938, Dinçer pointed out.
The minister also recalled that previous governments had done nothing to keep the workers of the privatized state companies and had left 14,000 persons unemployed since 1992. However, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) enacted Article 4-C in 2004 to keep the workers in the labor market after privatization. Currently, there are 20,000 such workers, he added.
Workers want the government to find positions for them in other state institutions or enterprises as well as a six-month delay in the closure of any further TEKEL factories.
The government, however, has rejected workers’ demands and offered instead recruitment within the conditions set out in Article 4-C. It also accuses TEKEL workers of being paid for nearly a year, since the privatization in early 2009, without actually working.
Dinçer also noted that the total amount of wages to be paid to the 4-C workers, after the recent improvements in the wages and conditions, will reach TL 84.26 million annually. “They will continue working despite the economic troubles of the day. No worker will be pushed onto the streets,” he said.
Upon a question on whether they thought the worker unions would accept the recent improvements in conditions, Dinçer said: “We haven’t seen and will not see this issue as part of a negotiation process. We will leave this issue to the common sense of the public. Besides, the improvements in the conditions of the 4-C workers aren’t only for TEKEL workers. All we’re trying to do is to provide them a job with better conditions. During the crisis, 1.5 million people became unemployed and as the government, we pushed the limits to be able to increase their wages.”
Calling on the TEKEL workers who have been demonstrating in Ankara for nearly three weeks to end their protests, the minister said, “We have brought about better conditions, they should accept and stake their claim in this.”
Additionally, Dinçer said the government’s work to increase the pensions of retirees will be finished soon and the relevant statements will be delivered by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the parliamentary caucus of the AK Party next Tuesday.
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