01.12.2025 17:15
The General President of DİSK, Arzu Çerkezoğlu, announced the minimum wage demands for the year 2026. Çerkezoğlu stated, "The minimum wage should be updated at least twice a year until inflation falls to single-digit figures. Contrary to the government's statement of 'We did not let our workers be crushed by inflation,' the minimum wage has already been subjected to inflation at the beginning of the year."
The Minimum Wage Determination Commission will meet this week. Before the meeting, which has drawn all eyes, the DİSK Executive Board also announced the DİSK-AR's 2026 minimum wage research report and demands.
Speaking at a press conference held at the Istanbul Bar Association's building, DİSK General President Arzu Çerkezoğlu said the following:
"Although the Minimum Wage Determination Commission has become a mere formality, and even though the minimum wage is determined unilaterally by the government and employers, and the Turkish-İş, which represents the workers in the commission, has announced that it will not participate in the negotiations, the discussions for the 2026 minimum wage will be held in December or will be made to seem as if they are held. Due to the undemocratic structure of the minimum wage determination process, we have not been able to sit at the negotiation table for years as DİSK, but even if we are not part of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission, we have been fighting for a wage that allows people to live with dignity, aware that the determination of the minimum wage is not limited to the table. Therefore, as we have done for years, our struggle continues for the minimum wage to be a wage sufficient for a decent living and for Turkey to stop being a country of minimum wage earners. Even if we are not at the table, we will be in workplaces, streets, and squares today just as we were yesterday. We will continue to amplify the voices and demands of all class brothers, whether they are our members or not, unionized or not."
"THE 10-MONTH LOSS OF MINIMUM WAGE AGAINST INFLATION REACHED 6,322 LIRA"
As a reminder, unlike the years 2022 and 2023, when high inflation was experienced, the minimum wage was not increased in the middle of the year in 2024 and 2025 despite all our insistence. However, both in 2024 and 2025, high inflation and the cost of living continued. Increasing the minimum wage only once a year under high inflation conditions has caused a significant loss in real wages. Therefore, the minimum wage should be updated at least twice a year until inflation falls to single digits. As you may recall, although the official year-end inflation for 2024 was announced to be around 45 percent, a 30 percent increase was made to the minimum wage in line with the target inflation. Contrary to the government's statement that 'We did not let our workers be crushed by inflation,' the minimum wage was already crushed by inflation at the beginning of the year. With the continuation of high inflation, new losses were added throughout 2025. This year, the 10-month loss of the minimum wage against inflation reached 6,322 lira. If the official inflation for 2025 is realized at 33.8 percent by the end of the year, the loss in the minimum wage will rise to 7,471 TL. The loss experienced by those working for the minimum wage throughout 2025 will exceed 50,000 TL. In other words, we will be discussing the 2026 minimum wage based on a minimum wage that has declined to around 14,000 lira in purchasing power. It is essential to address these losses when determining the 2026 minimum wage.
"INCREASE DEMAND BASED ON TARGETED INFLATION CANNOT BE ACCEPTED"
As is known, the government, employers, and international financial circles insist on wage increases based on expected inflation. The inflation target in our country was last achieved 16 years ago in 2009; this tradition has not been broken, and the inflation for 2025 is also higher than targeted. If this imposition continues for the 2026 minimum wage, it will mean that the entire burden of inflation will be placed on workers and laborers. The demand for wage increases based on targeted inflation, which will put immense pressure on labor incomes, is absolutely unacceptable. The minimum wage is not the salary of an exceptional, small group in Turkey; it is an average wage that directly concerns almost half of the workers. The obstacles to unionization and the limited scope of collective bargaining in our country condemn millions of workers to the minimum wage and bring all wages closer to the minimum wage. While the average wage was 2.25 times the minimum wage in 2012, it has decreased to 1.56 times in 2022. Half of the workers in Turkey work for minimum wage or around it. 53.2% of all private sector workers earn below the minimum wage, and 10% earn slightly above it. Those earning 5% above or below the minimum wage constitute 49.6% of all private sector employees. It is also observed that working for minimum wage is much more common among women. While the proportion of those earning minimum wage or below is generally 46.7%, this rate is 60.1% among women.
"THE COMMISSION PROCESS IS BEING CARRIED OUT COMPLETELY ARBITRARILY"
The proportion of those earning 5% above or below the minimum wage among women is 63.7%. 67.4% of female workers can access at most 10% of the minimum wage. In 2023, the average monthly salary and wage income of men is at a level 1.9 times the minimum wage, while the average for women is 1.5 times the minimum wage. In other words, the minimum wage is a women's worker issue. When we talk about the minimum wage in our country, we have been discussing the general wage in its narrow sense for a while. Therefore, the minimum wage is becoming more of a topic in our country than ever before. Under these conditions, it is essential that the minimum wage is determined not as an exceptional wage but as a wage that allows for a decent living; however, the Minimum Wage Determination Commission unilaterally determines the minimum wage in partnership with employers and the government, disregarding the necessary conditions for a decent living, universal standards for minimum wage, TURKSTAT data, and economic growth. The commission process is being carried out completely arbitrarily, and in fact, it is no longer possible to speak of the commission's existence today. Therefore, the process of determining the minimum wage and the structure of the Commission are being discussed in this year's minimum wage process."
Çerkezoğlu also listed their demands as follows:
"The minimum wage should be calculated in accordance with international standards, not only for the worker himself but also for the people he is responsible for supporting. The minimum wage should be determined through collective bargaining, taking into account not only inflation but also the general wage level and economic growth in the country. In fact, as a concrete proposal, the minimum wage should not be set lower than a certain percentage of the gross domestic product per capita. In summary, the minimum wage should be determined considering living conditions and economic growth in the country. In this context, the poverty line should also be taken into account in minimum wage discussions. When determining the minimum wage, it should be assumed that at least two people work in a household, and the household should be able to earn at least the poverty line income. The gap between the minimum wage set by the state for public workers and the minimum wage in the private sector is also unacceptable. The lowest public worker wage and the lowest civil servant salary should also be taken as a reference when determining the minimum wage. In contrast to our approach, the government and employers want to confine the minimum wage to inflation, worse still, to official inflation, and even worse, to the targeted inflation that never holds."
As a result of this approach, the share of the minimum wage in the gross domestic product per capita continues to decline.