MEMUR-SEN announced its 8th term collective bargaining agreement proposal

Memur-Sen Chairman Ali Yalçın held a press conference ahead of the 8th Term Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations, which begin on August 1st. Yalçın stated that civil servants' salaries and wages are squeezed between the hunger and poverty lines, markets are shrinking, income distribution is fundamentally eroded, interest burdens are rising, tax bases are being set lower than they should be, fixed-wage workers are being suppressed to reduce inflation, and mandatory expenses are being reflected daily on employee labels. Yalçın said, "As you know, we were unable to reach an agreement on the general provisions of the 7th Term Collective Bargaining Agreement. Despite all our insistence, the public employer did not raise its offer. We also refused to accept the offer they submitted below the inflation target. We were forced to appeal to the arbitrator. Due to the figures approved by the arbitrator through notary procedure, our salaries have been suppressed for two years, and our income losses have continued to increase. The collective bargaining table is extremely important to reverse this negative situation and to ensure workers' rights are met. It is essential to compensate for our lost income."

Yalçın, emphasizing that a significant portion of the 8th term collective bargaining agreement proposals will also contribute to the elimination of distortions in the public personnel system, said, “2025 has been declared the Year of the Family. On this occasion, we demand that the symbolic spousal support, currently at 2,660 TL based on indicators, be increased to a significant amount of 11,700 TL. We demand that the child benefit, currently paid at 585 TL for ages 0-6—which is not enough to buy diapers or milk—be increased to encourage the number of children. We demand that paid maternity leave be increased from 16 weeks to 60 weeks for each child. We also demand that contracted personnel be given the right to relocate to ensure family unity. We demand that our civil servants, the only group without bonuses, be given a bonus of 23,400 TL during Ramadan and Eid al-Adha. We had ensured that additional degrees were granted in the 3rd collective agreement. We also demand that those who begin their duties after that date be granted an additional rank. We propose an increase in the collective bargaining bonus and improvements in the financial rights of public personnel holding various titles, including engineers, veterinarians, branch managers, university department heads, assistant general secretaries, directors, assistant directors, specialists, chiefs, and chiefs, including special service compensation, supplementary payments, and additional responsibility payments. We demand rent assistance, the abolition of the YHS (Auxiliary Services) and its transfer to appropriate Technical Services or General Administrative Services, and an increase in supplementary payment rates. We demand the removal of the seniority salary limitation, the fulfillment of the expectations of disabled, female, and retired public servants, the improvement of their rights, and the implementation of the principle of the social state. We demand that promotion and title change exams be held periodically, overtime pay be paid in a way that ensures uniformity of practice and establishes labor peace, clothing allowances, amnesty for disciplinary penalties with specific limits, and the income tax rate be fixed at 15 percent.

"WE PROPOSED AN 88% INCREASE IN 2026 AND A 46% INCREASE IN 2027"

Yalçın said, “We prepared our raise proposal for 2026 and 2027 after evaluating it with our provincial representatives and our expanded board of presidents, and finalized it by our board of presidents. In order to compensate for losses caused by inflation, compensate for the referee’s erroneous decisions, and affect retirement salaries; we are proposing a 25 percent proportional raise, including a 10,000 TL increase in the base salary in the first half of 2026, plus a 10 percent welfare share, and a 20 percent proportional raise in the second half of 2027. We want a 20 percent proportional raise, including a 7,500 TL increase in the base salary in the first half of 2027, and a 15 percent increase in salaries and wages in the second half. We want the inflation difference to be increased by 2 points starting from the previous month. "We proposed a cumulative raise of 88 percent for 2026 and 46 percent for 2027. With our proposal, the lowest salary for a single union member public servant will increase from 47,500 TL net to 74,930 TL in January 2026. We determined these amounts and rates to eliminate the discrepancy between statuses and ensure wage equity and labor peace. We have prepared a proposal consisting of 956 articles in total, 171 of which are in the general collective bargaining agreement and 785 in our service branches," he said.

DHA

Reporter: News Center