Due to May 1 Labor and Solidarity Day, "Hak-İş" Confederation organized an event with the theme of "Universal Power of Labour: Hak-İş" in Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of the earthquake.
Mahmut Arslan, Chairman of Hak-İş, "We want the structure of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission to be redefined with a participatory approach," he said.
Hak-İş Chairman Mahmut Arslan attended the event held in front of the station in the Station District.
Arslan, who visited the Kahramanmaraş Metropolitan Municipality Fire Brigade Department for the first time in the city, met with the firefighters who participated in the search and rescue efforts in the earthquake and celebrated the 1 May Labor and Solidarity Days.
Arslan, who came in front of the station later on, addressed the workers from many provinces of Turkey, especially Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Şanlıurfa and Elazığ, which were affected by the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş on 6 February.
Explaining that they want to organize the May Day program here in order to share the pain of Kahramanmaraş and put out the heart fire, Arslan stated that as Hak-İş, Kahramanmaraş and 81 provinces are in the squares today.
Emphasizing that they are experiencing the pain of the biggest earthquake disaster in the history of Turkey in their hearts, Arslan summarized the work that Hak-İş has been doing since the first moment of the earthquake as follows:
In coordination with Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), we sent 3 separate rescue teams to the earthquake zone, Maraş. By establishing the Disaster Coordination and Crisis Center in Hak-İş, we ensured the delivery of needed aid materials to the region. By conducting inspections in the earthquake area, we identified the needs on the spot and delivered our aid to the region under the coordination of AFAD. In addition to our in-kind donations from the first moment of the earthquake, we provided nearly 250 million liras to our citizens, especially our members, who were affected by the earthquake. This is the highest figure among civil society and trade unions, confederations in Turkey. We are at the forefront, we are the first, we are the leader. We don't just talk. We don't just joke. We are doing."
"WE WANT THE LOWER LIMIT OF PENSIONERS SALARY TO UP TO THE MINIMUM WAGE"
Arslan also stated that as Hak-İş organizations, they opened their hearts and homes to citizens affected by the earthquake.
Explaining that they work under different titles in order to solve the problems of the workers, Arslan continued as follows:
"We want an effective fight against unregistered employment and unemployment. We want our share of national income, economic growth and welfare increase to be increased. As workers, we are experiencing the pandemic, then the Russia-Ukraine war, and finally natural disasters and the effects of all these on national and international markets. We want more workers to be protected against inflation. We want the structure of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission to be redefined with a participatory approach. We want wage arrangements that will protect all employees, will not disrupt the collective bargaining order, and allow employees to live humanely with their families. Today is the time for that. We want the public and the state to take more initiative against those who do not reduce prices despite the high inflation we are experiencing. We want the lower limit of the pension to be reduced to the minimum wage level. We want new systems and models to be developed for this purpose in order to find a solution to the unemployment problem. We want an individual-based, regular minimum income assistance system to be established as soon as possible."