Minister Bilgin gave figures for the minimum wage: Our work is ready

Vedat Bilgin, Minister of Labor and Social Security, answered questions in Haber Global’s live broadcast. Here are the headlines from the statements of Minister Bilgin, who made critical assessments on the raise bargaining of public workers, the minimum wage, the EYT and the increase in pensions:

BARGAIN FOR PUBLIC WORKERS

“As you know, the collective bargaining processes that we carry out with a mass of more than 700 thousand workers are a negotiation. It is not only a negotiation, it takes place in an atmosphere of contention. Our unions have reached a certain point, they have come to a certain point, they have revealed the points that they can and cannot agree on. At that stage, we step in. In favor of labor. We have to intervene because the social state has to protect the workers against both the capital and the state. We looked at the issue with our duty, and the issue has almost come to an end, to the point of reconciliation. Tomorrow, with the participation of our President, we will share with the public how this reconciliation was shaped. May our workers be well-rested, workers against inflation. We have always tried to protect it until today. We will share the figure tomorrow.

$500 MINIMUM WAGE LIMIT

The minimum wage does not just determine the lowest wage. As you raise the minimum wage, all wages go up. They say, “When you increase the minimum wage by 70 percent, those at the top expect a 70 percent increase”. We took a historical step regarding the minimum wage, we excluded income from taxes. The minimum wage has not been taxed for a year and a half. In July, we will arrange it in such a way as to preserve its real purchasing power. We made an arrangement that raised it to the highest level of over 455 dollars in the history of the Republic, in January, and we will do the same in July. My approach there is that we need to make a minimum wage adjustment of roughly $500, equivalent to it. Our work is ready.

SALARY AND HOLIDAY BONUS AT EYT

EYT was a problem for about 20 years. Our President asked me to do a study on this issue almost 3 years ago. At that time, the average age was low, the system was not in a position to handle it. People do not understand this, they say nonsense. We started the preparation before the pandemic. The average age was 50, we couldn’t have done it if it was lower. This is the right time, it could have been expected a little longer, but we wanted this injustice to be rectified as soon as possible. 50 is an age where we can balance. The salaries of approximately 1 million people have been tied, those who cannot be tied up quickly, and they will receive their bonuses. Those who are not connected will receive both their bonuses and their accumulated salaries. No one has any loss of rights.

“INTERNSHIP” POLEMIC AT EYT

Apprenticeship is a slightly different subject, an evaluation can be made about them, but internship is a completely different subject. Internship is not something that covers the employment contract, it is a part of education.

INCREASE IN PENSIONS

We apply a gradual increase in pensions. We will increase the ones over 7 thousand liras by a certain rate up to 10 thousand. There will be positive discrimination between 7 thousand and 10 thousand.