29.07.2025 17:17
While Turkey continues to fight against wildfires, Settar Aslan, the General President of the Öz Orman İş Union, stated that they will decide to strike if the process regarding collective bargaining agreements is not completed within 15 days. In response to the question, "Can a strike decision be made in the midst of these fires?" Aslan said, "If you don't decide to strike, your authority diminishes. The collective bargaining agreement must be urgently concluded at the negotiation table."
The President of the Öz Orman-İş Union, Settar Aslan, expressed his condolences to the workers who lost their lives in the fight against forest fires during a press conference held at the union's headquarters. Highlighting that one-third of Turkey is covered by forests, Aslan stated, "We must protect the forests. If we cannot protect them and benefit from the oxygen they produce, if we destroy nature and wildlife, we will pay the price for it."
"THERE IS NO INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICIENCY IN THE GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF FORESTRY"
Aslan stated that there is no deficiency in the technical infrastructure of the General Directorate of Forestry in responding to fires, mentioning that 105 helicopters, 27 planes, 1776 fire trucks, 831 heavy machinery, nearly 2000 first response vehicles, over 1700 observation towers, thermal cameras, and 14 drones were used to combat the fires.
"WE MAY HAVE TO DECIDE TO STRIKE IF IT DOES NOT END IN 15-20 DAYS"
Emphasizing that ground teams are more effective than planes and helicopters in firefighting efforts, Settar Aslan said, "We say let's strengthen the ground teams on-site. The Minister of Treasury and Finance must urgently allocate the 15,000 worker positions requested by the General Directorate of Forestry."
Recalling that the TÜRK-İŞ Confederation has decided to strike regarding the Collective Bargaining Agreement process, which covers approximately 600,000 workers in the public sector, Aslan noted:
"As Öz Orman-İş Union, our deadlines are expiring within 15-20 days. If it does not end in 15-20 days, we will also have to decide to strike. A question may arise: 'Can a strike decision be made in the midst of these fires?' If you do not make a strike decision, your authority diminishes. The collective bargaining agreement must be urgently concluded at the negotiation table."
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Collective bargaining agreements in the public sector are made for a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years. Despite five months having passed since the public collective bargaining negotiations began in February this year, no consensus has yet been reached. The government had proposed a 16% raise for the first six months of 2025 for 600,000 public workers, and an 8% raise for the subsequent six-month periods. The workers' side rejected this offer. The proposal was changed in recent weeks to a 24% raise for the first six months and an inflation-based raise for the subsequent six-month periods. Recently, the government withdrew the inflation-based raise part of this proposal and replaced it with a 10% raise.