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Turkish public sector workers strike

By Jennifer Thompson
About 850,000 public sector workers -- members of the Turkish trade union confederation Turk-Is -- stopped work on August 8, disrupting communications, transport and power generation. The government's offer of a 5.4% annual wage increase for the 682,000 workers whose contracts are up for negotiation prompted the strike. With inflation running at about 80%, union officials said they would settle for nothing less than inflation-indexed increases. Contracts up for negotiation started expiring at the end of last December.
Bekir Sami Dace, the state minister conducting the government's negotiations, attempted to stop the strike by declaring it illegal on the day before. Turk-Is spokesperson Yildirim Koc said, "We have also taken the decision to peacefully occupy workplaces until Wednesday. This is all justified under [international labour] conventions Turkey has ratified."
The average monthly salary among workers whose contracts are up for negotiation is US$407.

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