Turkish public workers’ strike shut railways, schools

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

DHA photo

Turkish public workers went on a one-day strike early this morning after collective bargaining between three union confederations representing them and the government failed over the weekend.

The inter-city railway in Istanbul stopped operating at 5 a.m.

Confederation of Public Servants’ Trade Unions (Memur-Sen), Public Workers’ Union (Kamu-Sen), and the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK) have announced that the government’s 3.5 percent raise for the first half of the year and a 4 percent for the second half is insufficient.

Teachers who are members of the three unions participated in the strike, closing schools across the country.

Doctors also walked out in some cities, sources have reported.

Thousands of KESK members hit the street in the capital city of Ankara. Protest meetings were also scheduled in Istanbul and İzmir.

A vast majority of railway workers are supporting the strike, Doğan news agency quoted United Transportation Workers Union General Manager Genel Başkanı Yavuz Demirkol as saying.