Turkey's main opposition leader calls for layoff ban following 50 percent minimum wage hike

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has called for a layoff ban following a 50 percent minimum wage hike. "The government should adopt measures to protect the jobs of Turkish citizens," Kılıçdaroğlu said.

Sunday December 26 2021 01:17 pm

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has called for a six-month layoff ban following a 50 percent minimum wage hike.

Kılıçdaroğlu on Dec. 26 said that he has been meeting with housewives in the past few days and that they're afraid of their husbands losing their jobs that they work with minimum wage.

"It's time that we secure the jobs of those earning minimum wage," the CHP leader said on Twitter.

Hükümet, derhal Türkiye Cumhuriyeti vatandaşının işini koruyacak önlemler alsın, sığınmacıların kaçak çalıştırılmasına göz yummasın. Ayrıca acilen işletmelere destek paketleri açıklansın ve 6 ay boyunca işten çıkarma yasaklansın.
— Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (@kilicdarogluk) December 26, 2021

"The government should adopt measures to protect the jobs of Turkish citizens and prevent migrants from being employed illegally," he added.

Kılıçdaroğlu also called on the government to announce support packages for businesses and impose a layoff ban that would last for six months.

Turkey hiked its minimum wage by 50% to 4,250 liras per month to address a currency crash and inflation spike, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Dec. 16. The hike created concerns over layoffs, with workers saying on Twitter that businesses started to fire them in the face of the increase.