Main opposition CHP asks 84 pct increase in minimum wage
As the new year approaches, the debate on the increase of minimum wage has begun. The main opposition CHP demanded an 84 percent increase in the minimum wage, making it 10,182 liras from 5,500.
Duvar English
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has asked for an 84 percent increase in the minimum wage as citizens struggle to keep up with soaring inflation.
Announcing the CHP’s proposal, Vice Chair Veli Ağbaba said that the minimum wage should increase to 10,128 liras from 5,500.
In July, minimum wage rose by 30 percent for a second time this year. Before that, Turkey hiked its minimum wage in December 2021 by a massive 50 percent to 4,250 liras per month in the wake of a currency crash and inflation spike.
Other parties, unions and institutions also proposed their figure for the new minimum wage. The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) asked for 12,500 liras, whereas the İYİ (Good) Party demanded 9,600 liras. Turkey’s Revolutionary Workers’ Union (DİSK) demanded 13,200 liras with a massive increase.
On the other hand, representatives of Turkey's biggest trade union confederation Türk-İş started to negotiate a new minimum wage with The Labor and Social Security Ministry.
Türk-İş head Ergün Atalay said that their red line is 7,785 liras. “The hunger threshold is 7,785 liras. In our commission, bargaining will start from the hunger threshold, 7,785 liras, to whereever it increases. Let's see what the government will propose,” Atalay said on Dec. 7.
In November, the government-run Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) reported an annual inflation rate of 84.39, whereas the independent inflation group ENAG put the figure at 170.70 percent.