Hak-İş President Mahmut Arslan evaluated the data indicating that the unemployment rate, which was declared as 12.2 percent by TURKSTAT, decreased.
Drawing attention to the way data is calculated, Arslan, "Workers have not been legally laid off since the pandemic process. Those on unpaid leave are not considered unemployed. Therefore, there is no increase in relative unemployment rate. However, the situation is not what it seems," he said.
The President of Hak-İş Confederation, Mahmut Arslan, evaluating the situations of working life during the pandemic period, especially the recently announced unemployment figures, Arslan made striking statements.
Those who took the free leave are not counted as unemployed
Arslan, who evaluated the unemployment data announced by TURKSTAT as 12.2 percent for January, stating that unemployment has decreased recently, "There are several reasons why unemployment did not increase during this period. The first is that there is a dismissal ban. Workers have not been legally laid off since the pandemic process. Those on unpaid leave are not considered unemployed. Therefore, there is no increase in relative unemployment rate. However, the situation is not what it seems. Injustices committed in the private sector by circumventing the law are never acceptable for the labor world," he said.
Arslan noted that there is a need for regulations to increase employment.
FREE LEAVE APPLICATION VICTIMS MILLIONS OF WORKERS
Referring to the problems experienced by employees during the pandemic period, Arslan noted that the main problem was the unpaid leave application.
Stating that nearly 2 and a half million workers have been on unpaid leave since April last year, "The number of workers on unpaid leave in January is 884 thousand. If we include our friends who benefit from short work, around 3 million 800 thousand of our friends are far from normal work. This situation causes a serious grievance. Therefore, the unpaid leave application, which has turned into serious injustice especially in the private sector, should be stopped as soon as possible when the normal period is passed," he added.