İzmir metro, tram workers go on strike

İZMİR

Metro and tram workers in the western province of İzmir on July 31 went on strike as the negotiations between the municipality and the unions over a new wage increase failed to reach an agreement.

The talks concerning 625 employees had been ongoing among the municipality, the Social Democrat Public Employers’ Union (SODEM-SEN) and the Railway Workers Union (Demiryol-İş) since Feb. 27 and ended at 4 a.m. on July 31.

As the sides could not reach an agreement on the wage increase, metro and tram services came to a halt as of 5 a.m. on July 31, leaving Izmir residents to rely on buses or taxis on the first day of the week.

İzmir Mayor Tunç Soyer stated that the wage proposals offered by the municipality were significantly higher than that in many public institutions and private companies in the country.

Soyer announced that the municipality proposed a 105 percent increase in the highest net wage, from 12,157 to 25,009 Turkish Liras, while the unions demanded 33,813 liras for the lowest salaried worker and 39,685 liras for the highest.

“Izmir does not deserve to have the only public workers' strike in Türkiye. There were other ways for workers to express their demands without going on strike, especially on the first day of the week, causing considerable inconvenience to the city and its residents,” Soyer said.

He also announced that the number of bus services along the metro and tram routes increased to alleviate the grievances of Izmir residents.

The lowest salary of Türkiye’s civil servants increased to 22,000 Turkish Liras last month.

Earlier, the government also announced a mid-year 34 percent hike in the minimum wage from 8,506 liras to a net of 11,402 liras for more than 7 million workers.