Collective bargaining for public servants’ wages begins as police intervene in union members’ march

ANKARA

AA photo

As the collective bargaining process for public servants’ wages began in Ankara on Aug. 3, police intervened in a group of union members, who wanted to march to the Labor Ministry to make their demands heard on the first day of the negotiations.

Police intervened in a group of Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK) members who wanted to march to the Labor and Social Security Ministry, where the negotiations on public servants’ wages has started, in Ankara’s Beşevler neighborhood. 

Police used tear gas and shields to disperse the group, which gathered before the AŞTİ metro stop, before which KESK Head Lami Özgen asked police officers for permission to march. 

Following the intervention, police allowed the group to march only if it was conducted on the pavement, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. 

During an announcement at the march, Özgen said the talks between the government and the workers’ unions should be postponed until a permanent government is formed, as the current one is an interim government and cannot make any decisions other than mandatory ones. 

Meanwhile, talks started in Ankara for the 2016 and 2017 wages, as Labor Minister Faruk Çelik said he hoped for the best result to come from the negotiations. 

Public servants’ wages are set to increase in 2016 and 2017 thanks to a collective bargaining process, which will affect around 2.3 million public servants and 2 million retired public servants. 

The talks feature representatives from the Public Employer Delegation, the Civil Servants’ Trade Union (Memur-Sen), the Turkish Public Workers’ Labor Union (Kamu-Sen) and KESK. 

The body of Memur-Sen’s proposals will be composed of a raise percentage, a raise on base salary, a welfare share and inflation differential. 

Memur-Sen, which is the authorized confederation in the talks, will offer an 8 percent raise in salaries for the first six months of 2016 and 8 percent in the second half of 2016, totaling 16 percent. The offer will be 7 percent for each half of 2017, totaling 14 percent. 

Kamu-Sen will ask for a compensation raise, saying public servants lost an average of 2,000 Turkish Liras in the collective bargaining contract for 2014-2015. 

KESK is set to ask for the collective bargaining process to be delayed until September or October this year. 
KESK wants a raise of around 25 percent in public servants’ salaries.