Minimum wage increases 4.1 pct in 1st half

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Hürriyet photo

Turkey increased the minimum wage by 4.1 percent in the first six months of the year, before a further 4.4 percent rise in the second half, Labor Minister Faruk Çelik announced today, after bargaining in Ankara between labor and business representatives.

The deal, which was reached by a majority of votes, was not unanimous and failed to satisfy either party.

The net minimum wage, which is 739.79 Turkish Liras today, will rise to 774 liras starting at the beginning of the year, before rising to 804.70 liras by July. Both figures are below the 985-lira hunger threshold for a family of four, set by Türk-İş, one of the three trade union confederations in the country. Türk-İs says the poverty threshold stands at 3,208 liras.

The minister calculated the annual increase in minimum wage at 8.61 and said this was above the inflation target of 5.2 percent and the growth forecast of 4 percent.

Continuing to create jobs and protect laborers against inflation were the main motives during the bargain, Çelik said, saying that the real increase in the minimum wage stood at 65 percent for the past decade.

He said the labor side was expecting a higher increase, while the employer side said their expectation was a 3 percent increase for each half of the year.