KESK demands a 35 percent additional raise and strike for public workers

Public Workers' Unions Confederation (KESK) has turned the signature campaign it has been carrying out across our country into a concrete set of demands. The Confederation, stating that public employees are being crushed under economic difficulties, emphasized that the raise to be made to salaries as of July is no longer sufficient. For this reason, in addition to current raise rates, they demand that all additional payments given under names such as welfare share or similar, without minimum subsistence allowance or similar deductions, be reflected directly to the base salary. This demand aims to preserve the purchasing power of civil servants and prevent them from being crushed against the cost of living. KESK has conducted an extensive field study to inform its members and the public in order to support these economic demands, and thousands of signatures were collected during this process.

Among the demands announced by the Confederation, along with economic rights, the expansion of union freedoms and collective bargaining authority also occupies an important place. In particular, the right to strike within collective agreements stands out as a title that KESK has been insistently defending and keeping on the agenda for many years. It is known that public employees currently work under a limited collective bargaining regime without the right to strike. Union management argues that this situation places public workers in a weaker position against the employer and limits their negotiation power. Collective bargaining with the right to strike means that workers and civil servants can use the strongest pressure tools in cases where disputes cannot be resolved. This demand indicates a search for a wider field not only in economic but also in democratic rights and freedoms.

The demand for a 35 percent additional raise, grounded on econometric and social grounds, is closely linked to recent inflationary pressures and the increasing cost of living. It is observed that official inflation figures and the rise in the cost of living are progressing much faster than the raises made to public employees. KESK states that even the last collective bargaining raise has been eroded and public workers are being pushed towards the hunger threshold, therefore making an additional regulation essential. The signature campaign launched across the country is also an action organized to concretize the victimization caused by this economic crisis in the eyes of the public. The Union states that dialogue channels with the government and relevant authorities regarding these demands should be kept open, but sufficient response has not been received so far.

In this period when KESK voices its economic and union demands, it has also shown its sensitivity to social events and reacted harshly to the security measures taken due to the NATO summit. In this context, it has opposed the bans brought by governorships, especially in Ankara and Istanbul, regarding holding meetings and demonstration marches. The Union announced that it cannot tolerate the closing down or prevention of the use of squares and areas used by democratic mass organizations to make their voices heard under the pretext of international meetings. Although these bans are under constitutional guarantees in the context of freedom of expression and assembly rights, they are subject to restrictions in practice. KESK argues that international events like the NATO summit should not be used as an excuse to suspend democratic rights within the country.

Consequently, KESK's these initiatives are seen as a part of the struggle to improve the current economic and social positions of public employees. Both the demand for an additional raise to be reflected to the base salary and the right to collective bargaining with strike aim to raise the living standards of public employees and increase their organizational power. On the other hand, their opposition to NATO summit measures shows that the Union is concerned not only with the economic rights of employees but also with the general democratization and rights struggle. In the statements, an implicit message was also given that if these demands are not accepted, the level of action will be escalated and different struggle methods might be resorted to. KESK calls on the relevant authorities to take these demands seriously and take concrete steps to meet the expectations of public workers.