After these developments, the government took a step back, making further evaluations of and necessary amendments to the bill. The government also plans to once again revisit the issue of retirement. The Labor Platform, an umbrella organization of labor unions, includes employees at post offices, schools, hospitals, tax offices, municipalities, universities, land, air, sea and rail transportation services, and many others.
During the strike, which lasted from 10 a.m. to noon, only emergency room doctors remained on duty.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized the industrial action, emphasizing that it had no legal basis.
The Kadıköy district served as the main gathering point for protesters on İstanbul's Asian side. Trade unions such as the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DİSK), the Turkish Public Workers' Labor Union (Kamu-Sen) and the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK) began their rallies in several places, eventually gathering in Kadıköy Square. Meanwhile education union members gathered in front of Marmara University's Göztepe campus to protest the bill.
Trains departing from Haydarpaşa Train Station were disrupted for two hours. United Transporters Union (BTS) İstanbul Branch 1 President Hasan Bektaş said this partial strike was a warning to the government, adding that if the bill is passed by Parliament, a full strike will take place.
In Ankara, Labor Platform trade union representatives and Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Türk-İş) President Mustafa Kumlu gathered at the Türk-İş headquarters and walked to the Başkent Electricity Distribution Company offices. Kumlu gave a speech in which he expressed concerns and objections about the new social security bill, noting the various labor organizations had declared their discomfort many times and at every meeting. He said a decision has been made to use the "right not to work" for two hours across the country.
Kumlu pointed out that the government had listened to them but did not take any concrete steps to meet their demands. He said if their objections are not addressed, they would protest the bill on the day it is to be discussed by Parliament. "Until now we were always in favor of dialogue and compromise, but no steps have been taken," he told a crowd protesting the bill.
Kumlu said they were ready to cooperate with a government that protects justice, democracy and people's rights. "We have a single and innocent aim. We want to keep wage earners at peace and happy under the roof of a socialist state," he said, rejecting claims that ideology was behind the protests.
Education Personnel Union (Eğitim-Sen) Chairman İsmail Koncuk made a speech on behalf of teachers that joined the strike. He said the government should respond to democratic reactions and that they were not only striking for teachers' rights but also for the rights of all wage workers.
In Antalya, workers and civil servants gathered in front of the Department of Revenue to protest the new social security bill
Some of the regulations that the Labor Platform objects to in the new social security bill are:
* Currently the retirement age is 58 for women and 60 for men; the new bill gradually increases this benchmark to 65 and the obligatory number of working days to 9,000 from 7,000.
* The new regulation removes seniority allowances and severance pay in some sectors.
* The minimum amount of time one must have worked to qualify for a disability annuity increases to 10 years from five years and obligatory working days increases to 1,800 days from 900 days.
* The development rate coefficient, used for calculating pensions and other benefits, will be reduced to 0.30 for pensions.
* The base level for work accident compensations is being removed.
* The widows' pension rate for the childless will be reduced to 50 percent from 75 percent of the husband's final salary.
* Maternity payment, paid for six months at the rate of one-third of the mother's monthly salary, will be reduced to a single payment.
* Funeral allowances, currently three times the minimum wage, will equal the minimum wage.
* The types of medical treatment methods and the amount of medicines given that will be covered by state insurance will be determined by the Social Security Institution (SGK) instead of hospitals.
* Health insurance coverage for workers who leave their jobs will drop to 10 days. Workers are currently covered for six months
Prime minister: Strike is illegal
Prime Minister Erdoğan said yesterday the strike was illegal, though did not elaborate. Speaking at a celebration to mark Medicine Day at Gazi University, he said the government's priority is individuals and not the state. He emphasized that the government has tried to protect the rights of individuals with the new bill. Erdoğan said trade unions were tyrannizing other people by halting services, noting that people may suffer because of walkouts at hospitals, toll roads, bridges and transportation facilities. He said these kinds of issues must be discussed in formal talks and that this had already taken place.
Minister of Commerce and Industry Zafer Çağlayan also said yesterday that Turkey must implement the social security reform regardless of circumstance. Speaking at a general assembly meeting of the Turkish Aluminum Producers Association (TALSAD), Çağlayan said there may be no other country paying YTL 37 billion of its YTL 220 billion total budget for deficits in the social security system.
Education Minister Hüseyin Çelik also believes that yesterday's nationwide partial strike was not legal. "Civil servants have a duty to provide services to our citizens and to make their lives easier. I do not approve of any act that may impose more difficult conditions on the people," he told reporters yesterday. Upon a question over whether the Ministry of Education would take legal action against teachers who participated in the strike, Çelik said legal action should be taken against every illegal act. "We will do what is necessary. Teachers don't have any excuse for staging a slowdown," he added.
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