24.06.2025 15:50
In a period when expectations for a raise in the minimum wage are at their peak, a striking statement came from CHP Chairman Özgür Özel. Özel said, "If we raise the minimum wage from 22,000 lira to 30,205 lira, minimum wage earners won't celebrate, but they will be able to breathe. Half of the pages in their debt ledgers will close, if not all."
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Recently, İYİ Party Chairman Müsavat Dervişoğlu stated, "According to our calculations and proposal, the minimum wage should be at least 29,850 TL today." Lastly, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel made a statement regarding the minimum wage.
CHP'S MINIMUM WAGE DEMAND IS 30,205 TL
Speaking at his party's group meeting, Özgür Özel announced that the CHP's minimum wage demand is 30,205 TL.
Özel's remarks regarding the minimum wage are as follows:
"We have been trying to keep the minimum wage on the agenda for a long time. When this government came to power, the minimum wage was enough to buy 7 quarter gold coins, but now it can barely buy 3 quarter coins. In 2022-2023, there was also an increase in the minimum wage in July. During the elections, Erdoğan said, 'If inflation is in double digits, we should consider updating the minimum wage 4 times a year.' After making this statement, he did not update the minimum wage at all. He came to power, took the authority, and did not increase the minimum wage of 17,200 TL at all. This year, we said we would determine a fair and just figure for the minimum wage and stated, 'We are not here for anything below 30.' Despite that, he left the minimum wage at 22,000 TL because he raised it according to his targeted inflation, not the actual inflation that occurred. Since the Bursa rally, we have been expressing both the demand for an interim increase in the minimum wage and the demand for a flat increase for retirees, growing together with workers and retirees."
"IF WE SET IT AT 30,205 TL, MINIMUM WAGE EARNERS WILL BREATHE"
"We visited both TISK and DISK, both Türk-İş and HAK-İş, and for small tradesmen, we also visited TESK and thought about what we could do. In fact, it has become clear how right we were about what we said in the past. On the one hand, we saw how far behind the dreams of the CHP are, and how far behind the possibilities would be if the CHP were in power, as both workers and retirees have witnessed. If we take the minimum wage of 22,104 TL that this government has deemed acceptable and add the actual inflation according to TÜİK, we reach a minimum wage of 28,267 TL. Furthermore, when we add the 3.2% growth rate that this government announced last year and the 2% they announced for the first 6 months, it still won't be enough; what we said in January, which has been eroded by inflation since then, comes out to 30,205 TL. If we raise the current minimum wage of 22,000 TL to 30,205 TL, minimum wage earners won't celebrate, but they will be able to breathe. Half of the pages in those credit books will close, if not all."
"MINIMUM WAGE WILL NOT COME OUT OF THE STATE'S POCKET"
"30,205 TL today is actually about returning what this government has taken away. It is about giving the actual inflation and the 3% and 2% share of growth. For those who wonder how 30,205 TL will be given, it is undoubtedly not going to come out of the state's pocket. It will come from the pockets of small tradesmen, SMEs, industrialists, and exporters, but when the minimum wage increases, the state will receive social security premiums. We sat down and worked with academics, relevant MYK members, and experts from the relevant unions, and here is the calculation that emerges: When the minimum wage is 30,205 TL, the state collects 51.5 billion TL more in social security premiums. If this 50 billion TL, which would not enter the treasury if the minimum wage did not increase, is directed as a protective measure, as an incentive, for those employing between 1 and 10 people - tea houses, pharmacies, tailor shops, paint and renovation businesses - we will pay an incentive of 6,250 TL to the employer. For those employing between 10-50 people, it will be 3,150 TL, for those employing between 50-100, it will be 2,100 TL, and for those employing over 100 workers, it will be 1,500 TL. However, there is one thing. Everyone we spoke to mentioned the difficulties in the textile sector, and based on their suggestions, regardless of how many workers they employ, we will pay all companies in the textile and ready-to-wear sector 6,250 TL per employee, just like small tradesmen. Thus, when you look at this 6,250 TL, the minimum wage rises to 30,000 TL, and for the small tradesman and textile worker who gives it, a few thousand TL burden remains on their shoulders. But on the other hand, a process begins where the employee works under humane conditions, is not condemned to credit books, and can keep an eye on their child's eyes. Therefore, the CHP's minimum wage demand is 30,205 TL."
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