Solidarity, Collective Bargaining, Türkiye
South East European unions see high energy prices eating into purchasing power
The message of the unions in South East Europe was the same as at the other 3 constituency meetings in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: high prices for energy and how these are passed on to other products and services, impact on people’s bills and purchasing power.
Confederation organises strike protest over collective agreement
On 27 August the KESK public services confederation organised a national strike in protest at the collective agreement signed by the government and the Memur Sen trade union. KESK has a range of key demands which the agreement fails to address and is angry that it was shut out of the negotiations. The confederation argues that the pay rises foreseen in the agreement are inadequate to ensure protection against inflation and it doesn’t include any measures to deal with employment security, workplace democracy or the right to proper collective bargaining. EPSU sent a solidarity message.
Solidarity with Turkish Public service workers on strike for higher pay, better conditions and more workplace democracy
The Turkish Public Services Confederation KESK and its affiliates are on strike 27 August. EPSU supports the strike and the demands of the unions for decent wages and fair working conditions.
Confederation sets out main bargaining demands
The KESK public sector confederation has set out its main demands for the public sector negotiations that started at the beginning of August. The priority will be restoring the 8.5% loss in purchasing power for public sector workers over the last two years and along with a further increase to cover inflation that the confederation estimates to be higher than 50% in contrast to the official figure of just over 30%. The other key demands include ending privatisation, increasing public investment and public employment, reducing working time and strengthening job security. KESK also wants action