Officials to meet to lay ground for minimum wage talks

ANKARA

Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Bilgin will meet later this week with representatives of the labor union (Türk-İş) and the Turkish Confederation of Employers’ Association (TİSK) for preparatory talks on minimum wage discussions.

The ministers and officials from the workers’ and employers’ sides will hold a meeting on Dec. 1, rescheduled from yesterday.

Bilgin said he invited the heads of Türk-İş and TİSK. “At the [upcoming] talks, we will work to organize the meeting on the minimum wage. We will decide on a timetable together,” the minister told reporters following a cabinet meeting.

The minimum wage commission, which includes 15 members from the government and unions, will set the new wages to come into force in 2023.

The minimum wage in Türkiye was increased by 30 percent in a midyear adjustment to a net of 5,500 Turkish Liras in July. The increase came on top of the 50 percent hike in January, which brought the minimum wage to a net of 4,250 liras.

In response to a question whether the minimum wage could be hiked by another 50 percent for 2023, Bilgin said last week: “We should be realistic. We are looking for a wage that companies could afford to pay.”

Şekib Avdagiç, the head of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO), said last month that the increase in the minimum wage for 2023 should be high enough to compensate for losses in purchasing power.

“Our responsibility as public and private sector is to keep the standard of living of working people at a certain level. This is particularly the case for those whose pay is relatively lower,” he said.

Considering the current level of inflation, the minimum wage should be hiked to compensate for the loss in purchasing power, Avdagiç said, adding that business circles would see such a hike as “reasonable.”

The annual inflation rate accelerated from 83.45 percent in September to 85.5 percent in October.