On the fourth day of the 8th round of Collective Bargaining Agreement (TIS) negotiations, the Confederation of Public Workers’ Unions (KESK) held a statement in front of Çankaya Municipality.
KESK set up an alternative collective bargaining table in front of the municipality and voiced the demands of public employees. Gathered around the table, KESK members shared their demands. KESK’s term spokesperson Tülay Yıldırım made a statement, vowing to continue expressing their demands and calling on all segments of society to join the struggle.
Yıldırım stated that workers and retirees are being ignored and said: “Since July 28, as young people, we have been voicing our demands, suggestions, and objections in all provinces. We don’t want a ‘sale contract,’ we want a wage that allows for a humane life and a democratic Turkey! Annual inflation has reached 33.52%, yet the government turns a blind eye—playing the three monkeys. It manipulates to offer fewer services to workers and spreads lies. The easiest way to understand where a government stands is by looking at its budget. Because the budget shows who the revenue is collected from and how the resources are distributed. Since coming to power, the AKP has sided with affiliated religious sects, congregations, and mafias, clearly showing its class preference by ignoring workers and retirees.”
Budget for workers, not for capital
Yıldırım underlined that as long as a true collective bargaining system is absent and rights are surrendered to employers and their affiliated unions, the problems won’t be resolved: “We say this: As public workers, we are facing poverty, job insecurity, discriminatory interviews in hiring and promotions, mobbing, and hundreds of other issues. For a real collective agreement, the right to strike must be recognized! We will not be complicit in staged negotiations. We are expanding our struggle for a collective agreement with the right to strike, a living wage, secure employment, a safe future, and public services that serve the people. We will win by uniting, we will win by resisting!”
Yıldırım added: “Our artists, mayors, students, academics, in short, all opposition, is being silenced; worker deaths are increasing; our land is being taken under the guise of mining, and our nature is being plundered. In this system where hope is being erased, no one is safe anymore. But the torch of justice in this country will not be extinguished! The public conscience will stand firm through organized struggle. Long live our organized struggle!”