Organised struggle is good!

Discussions regarding the interim pay rise, which concerns millions of labourers, are ongoing. Prior to the June inflation data that will be decisive in the raise for labour incomes, the Research Centre of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Türkiye (DİSK-AR) announced a new report. The Working Class's Cost of Living Crisis Report revealed that the homeland has turned into a country of minimum wage earners. An interim raise for the minimum wage, which remains below the starvation line, was not on the agenda of the AKP regime, which spent millions of liras for the Ankara summit of the imperialist war organisation, the NATO.

COUNTRY OF MINIMUM WAGE EARNERS

In the report, whilst Türkiye ranked first among EU countries within the scope of minimum wage coverage, it became the fourth country with the lowest minimum wage applied among 21 countries. The fact that the Collective Labour Agreement rate is 60 per cent in EU countries while it is at the 10 per cent level in Türkiye demonstrated that the minimum wage has become widespread whilst Collective Labour Agreement coverage is narrowing. While the report showed that trade union organisation and Collective Labour Agreement in working life are of vital importance for wage earners, Türkiye failed in this area as well.

Workplace Expert Prof. Serkan Öngel stated that the barrier erected in front of trade union organisation was built 46 years ago with the 12 September military coup, and that the threshold placed on workplaces and branches of activity with the amendment made in the trade union legislation has been an obstacle to the organisation process.

TİS INCREASED WAGES BY 91%

The study by the DİSK showed that while the average earning of workers outside the scope of a collective labour agreement is 35,821 TL per month, it rose up to 68,730 TL for workers within the scope of Collective Labour Agreement. Thus, the average monthly gross earning of workers covered by Collective Labour Agreement was recorded as 91.9 per cent higher than that of workers outside the scope of TİS.

While laying bare the impact of the chasm between the wage level of unionised workers and the average wage on income distribution, expanding the scope of collective bargaining means the improvement of the wages, working, and living conditions of all labourers.

Organisational power, which is directly related to the minimum wage, also remained below Europe. While Collective Labour Agreement coverage in Türkiye is 10 per cent, this rate was recorded as 49 per cent in Germany, 91 per cent in Spain, and 100 per cent in Italy.

THE MIDDLE CLASS HAS BEEN DESTROYED

In the report, it was expressed that when comparing the year 2002, when the AKP came to power, with the year 2025, the structure of employee wages fundamentally changed, and by destroying the middle class, the gap between the lower class and the upper class has progressively widened. While the proportion of those working for 5 per cent above the minimum wage and below in Türkiye was 28 per cent in 2002, this rate went down in the records as 35 per cent in 2025.

According to the data, 15 out of every 100 employees are made to work for a wage even below the minimum wage, which is far from the starvation line. While the minimum wage can buy 27 kilograms of beef in a month in Türkiye, it equates to 107 kg in the Netherlands, 84 kg in France, 56 kg in Germany, and 47 kg in Greece and Mexico.

ONE IN THREE PENSIONERS IS AT WORK

In its study, the DİSK noted that one in every 3 pensioners has to work. It was stated that the proportion of pensioners working or looking for a job due to low monthly pensions increased from 36.6 per cent in 2002 to 69.5 per cent in 2025. While the ratio of the average monthly pension to the minimum wage was 122 per cent in 2002, this ratio regressed to 84 per cent in 2025. According to the data, while the premium incomes of pensioners have increased 273-fold since 2002, pensions and health expenditures increased 211-fold.

THE ANGER OF THE WORKING CLASS NEEDS AN ORGANISED POWER

The number of workers covered by collective agreements being this low is a situation related to the "trade union regime" in Türkiye. There is trade union legislation introduced to prevent the organisation of the working class. Fundamental obstacles such as branch of activity thresholds and workplace thresholds continue. Therefore, it is not possible to fully speak of trade union freedoms. At the same time, this crisis of representation is not solely limited to workplaces or trade unions; confederations also have structural problems that they experience within themselves.

It does not seem very easy for the current trade union order to produce a clear response to this situation. The monthly gross earning of workers covered by a collective labour agreement is 91.9 per cent more compared to workers outside the scope. This is a massive chasm. Despite everything, the trade union order in Türkiye is an issue that provides a contribution in terms of workers' income. The collective agreement is an application that advances the gains of the worker, despite the flaws in the system.

The fundamental issue is the popularisation of the collective agreement order and moving the trade union movement to a more functional point. Trade unions still possess vital importance as a mechanism to limit exploitation. When we look at the rate of organisation, we can speak of multiple intertwined processes. On one side, there is a trade union legislation built after 12 September and restricted by laws. On the other side, we are experiencing one of the biggest waves of migration in Türkiye's history, that is, a new "proletarianisation" process. There is a need for flexible and new forms of organisation that will bring together the increasingly fragmented structure of the class. The current trade union order now needs to update itself and develop new tools that will increase the organisational capacity of the working class. It is very difficult to foresee this right now, but we cannot predict when and in what form the anger of the working class will surface. This is a kind of period of struggle for survival. There is a need for a will that can transform this reaction into an organised power. The trade union structure in Türkiye will also inevitably have to transform. The existing trade union and confederal structures need to have a much stronger say at this point.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Örgütlü mücadele iyidir!, published in BirGün newspaper on June 30, 2026.