Minimum wage in Turkey raised by 26 pct

ANKARA

The monthly minimum wage in Turkey has been raised to 2,020 Turkish Liras ($381) by a 15-member commission led by Family, Labor and Social Services Minister Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk.

“It is an increase of 26.05 percent compared with last year… The decision has been made unanimously,” Selçuk said in a press briefing on Dec. 25 to announce the 417 Turkish Lira hike in the minimum wage.

With family assistance, the minimum wage for a married worker with three children will effectively be 2,150 TL, she added, vowing to compensate the losses of the laborers caused by the inflation rate which had been calculated as 25.25 percent in October and 21.62 percent in November.

Ergün Atalay, chair of the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş), said they had targeted to pass the threshold of 2,000 liras.

“We aimed at a sufficient wage for a humanly life. This level of wage is not perfect but it is a better one,” he said.

Aksanel Koç, the general-secretary of the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TİSK) said: “We have a common responsibility in the matter of Turkey’s sustainable development.”

Koç thanked the representatives of the unions and the minister.