Turkish government to offer cadres to 900,000 subcontracted public workers

ANKARA

Some 900,000 Turkish subcontracted workers in the public sector will be offered permanent staff positions as part of a three-month plan, Labor Minister Jülide Sarıeroğlu has said.

“Our plan is to finalize transfers to staff in three months after the draft passes in parliament,” she told journalists in parliament on Dec. 5.

“We will offer full staff positions to 450,000 people working as subcontractors at public institutions regulated under the general budget without any conditions. In addition, we are removing subcontractors in municipalities and provincial administrations and providing permanent employment at companies in municipalities,” she said.

The regulation will not consider any age or education limits and will cover employees performing both their essential and subtasks.

“All subcontracted employees working in the public sector as of this morning will have full staff,” Sarıeroğlu said.

The study will also cover demands by seasonal workers to be employed for longer terms, the minister said.

The existing trade union membership of the concerned employees will be secured, she added.

“Within this scope, we will continue the transfer under trade union membership and the collective bargaining process to avoid any problems in terms of labor peace. We will annul existing contracts with subcontractors. We will also bring in some regulations about them,” said Sarıeroğlu.

The Prime Ministry and the Finance Ministry have been working tightly to coordinate the plan.

The minister’s statement came after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared a new regulation for subcontracted employees was in the pipeline during the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) parliament group meeting.

The government had previously attempted to abolish subcontracted employment in the public sector, which had not yielded results.