A critical day for public workers: The third meeting of the Arbitration Board is today

After an agreement on a raise could not be reached in the 8th Term Public Collective Agreement negotiations concerning civil servants and retired civil servants, the Public Officials Arbitration Board stepped in upon the application made by the Public Employer Board.

The Public Officials Arbitration Board is meeting for the third time today to determine the financial and social rights of approximately 6.5 million civil servants and retired civil servants for the years 2026-2027.

The board had convened for the first time the day before. The meeting, which lasted approximately two hours, discussed and decided on the board's work schedule, procedures, and principles. It was reported that no decision was made regarding civil servant raises.

The second meeting took place yesterday. Public employers and unions once again sat down to discuss matters.

The meeting, which lasted approximately an hour and a half, did not address the raise rate. Confederation representatives explained the rationale behind their collective bargaining agreement demands. They requested that a third meeting be held with a raise proposal.

The arbitration panel will hold its third meeting today. The final decision must be made by Wednesday, August 27.

WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSAL?

In its initial proposal for 2026, the government proposed a 10 percent raise for the first half of the year and a 6 percent raise for the second half. For 2027, it proposed a 4 percent raise for both halves.

In the second proposal submitted on August 15, an increase of 1,000 TL to the base monthly salary was proposed in addition to these rates.

In the meeting held on August 18, the government updated its raise proposal to 11 + 7 percent for 2026 and 4 + 4 percent for 2027.