Civil servants’ salaries to be increased, says minister

ANKARA 

The government will increase the salaries of active and retired civil servants more than the six-month inflation rate, Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Bilgin has said.

“We will make an additional raise of social protection for public servants above the inflation rate,” he said, adding that the increase will also include retired civil servants.

“As we have protected and granted additional rights, we will also arrange the social regulation to be made as of July in a way that will protect not only working but also retired public servants against inflation,” he said.

“We must protect our working and retired workers. I have talked to labor unions and employer unions,” the minister said. “I will share our work with the public this week.”

Economy to grow more than 7 percent

The country’s economy will grow over 7 percent, Bilgin said, while stating that all developments in the economy should be supported by social policies.

“The unionization rate in the public sector is very high, but there is a serious problem in the private sector,” he said.

“More than 15 million people are employed as workers [in the private sector], but just around 1.5 million of them are unionized, we have to change this,” the minister said.

“We cannot continue this production without achieving social consensus. If we want to further the performance of Türkiye in industrial production and export figures, the workers must be respected. I call out to all of them, do not stand in front of the workers,” he added.

The minister also pointed out that 50,000 young people with higher education will be employed by the end of the year.

“We are responsible for implementing social policies that protect production, employment and the labor,” he said. The minimum wage and other regulations will be in such a way as to protect the rights of workers, as it should be in a democratic society, Bilgin said.