Second session of collective bargaining convenes

State Minister Hayati Yazıcı presided over the session, while Ahmet Gündoğdu, head of the Civil Servants' Trade Union (Memur-Sen), represented the civil servants. A commission from the Turkish Public Workers' Labor Union (Kamu-Sen) was also present at the meeting, which took place at the Prime Ministry. The Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK) had left the first of the sessions on Monday, claiming the talks were “illegitimate.”

Prior to the meeting, Gündoğdu told reporters that they expect to discuss possible solutions to the problems of civil servants from various public sectors. Recalling that the results of the second session will directly affect some 185,000 temporary public workers, he said their first priority is to address the problems effectively. “There are still major drawbacks in the current labor law. First, there are still some public workers who receive different wages although they do the same job. We have to address such discrepancies and end unfair treatment in the public sector,” he said. Gündoğdu said they expected to start discussions on wage increases starting Aug. 25. “However, the government has not yet introduced their offer; we expect to hear from them shortly,” he said, noting that the decision makers should bear in mind that some 2.2 million public workers will be directly affected. Also speaking to reporters before the meeting, Kamu-Sen head Bircan Akyıldız said they expect the government to “show good intentions” and know their responsibilities when dealing with the problems facing civil servants. “We need to see the government meet our demands with serious determination. Last year, the government failed to solve our problems, and public workers were discouraged by this fact. We do not want to experience the same thing this year,” Akyıldız stated.

Mentioning studies done by a joint commission established during the previous collective bargaining session, Akyıldız said Kamu-Sen is not satisfied with the content of the commission's report, underlining that the government should exert extra effort to maintain the “credibility” of the meetings. “The commission report does not include the government's offers for a solution. You cannot address problems simply by enumerating civil servant's demands in a report. The political will is responsible for not letting down the civil servants to this end,” Akyıldız said. In addition to their demands for higher wages and extended workers' rights, civil servants will also ask the government to address some other problems they face in different sectors. The unions' demands concern the needs of civil workers from various public sectors.

Meanwhile, Finance Ministry officials stated on Wednesday that the government had not yet specified the wage increase rates. Speaking during the meeting, the officials said it is impossible to announce a specific wage increase for the time being, underlining that the commission is still working on the issue. The parties agreed on Monday to establish a joint commission to conduct the necessary studies during the 15-day collective bargaining process.