72% of civil servants' salaries stolen

Millions No agreement could be reached on the civil servants' salary increase, and the process was left to the Public Officials Arbitration Board. Orhan Yıldırım, President of the United Public-Workers Confederation, the only confederation not to attend the meeting of the committee, which was largely comprised of members of the government, spoke to Sözcü.

Yıldırım, recalling that they were blocked by police while attempting to march to the presidential palace last week, also shared with Sözcü the report they will present to President Tayyip Erdoğan. The report emphasized that when comparing the increase in civil servant salaries and pensions to the increase in current national income prices, the average civil servant salary has increased by 35-72 percent less.

MINISTERS FOR SHOW

"If we could have marched to the palace, everything would have been very different," Yıldırım said. "We would have presented a comprehensive dossier and articulated the losses suffered by workers over the past 23 years. Seeing and examining these figures, he couldn't have ignored this situation and these demands. Erdoğan is the sole decision-maker on every issue in the country. Ministries have become a mere facade. That's why we requested an appointment with Mr. Erdoğan. The office we wanted to meet with should also be one that could provide solutions. By marching to the presidency, we broke a taboo. We will definitely go to that door in the coming period."

No decision was made at the first meeting

When civil servants' raise negotiations with the government stalled, the decision was left to the Public Servants Arbitration Board. Memur-Sen later changed its mind and joined, so the board met yesterday. With Birleşik Kamu-İş's non-participation, the 11-person board met with 10. The first meeting didn't produce a decision, with the announcement that a decision would be made within five days. Without Memur-Sen's participation, the board wouldn't have convened, and the decision would have been left to the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

United Public Workers' Party encountered police obstacles while trying to march to the Presidential Palace.

National income increased by 16,000 times and salaries increased by 6,000 times

Unity The report, which Kamu-İş failed to submit to the President, exposed the erosion of workers' rights in the country. Highlights from the report include:

- Between 2002 and 2025, national income increased by 16,995 times, while the net minimum wage increased by 11,997, the average civil servant salary by 9,919, the highest civil servant salary by 6,459, and the lowest civil servant pension by 5,074 times.

Since August 2023, when collective bargaining negotiations were held, natural gas prices used in residences have increased by 794 percent, water prices by 144.1 percent, and electricity prices by 91.2 percent.

- The food price index of the United Public Workers' Union has increased by 110 percent since August 2023. During this period, meat and fish prices increased by 152 percent, fruit prices by 398 percent, and vegetable prices by 402 percent.

During this period, when rent prices increased by 233.8 percent and food prices by 402 percent, the increase in public workers' salaries was 114 percent.

- The share of the income received by the richest 20 percent, which was 46.72 percent in 2021, increased to 48.09 percent in 2024, while the share received by the remaining 80 percent decreased from 53.3 percent to 51.9 percent.

Only 3,016,495 of 4 million public sector workers have the right to join a union. One in four civil servants, or 25 percent, cannot join a union.