İSTANBUL - Stating that they cannot live on the salary that is considered high for teachers, Education Sen Istanbul Branch No. 3 Chairperson Ayfer Koçak said: "Those who leave the workers below the hunger limit will not be voted."

 

Following the inflation data announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), the 25 percent increase rate announced for civil servants and pensions in January was later increased to 30 percent after the reactions. Teachers, whose salaries vary according to the title and the year of duty, including paid, contracted and permanent staff, went to many cities last week and asked for a raise in the real and current inflation rate.

 

The Confederation of Public Workers' Unions (KESK) Istanbul Branches Platform Term Spokesperson and Education and Science Workers' Union (Egitim Sen) Istanbul Branch No. 3 Head Ayfer Koçak made evaluations on the subject.

 

THE FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES OF TEACHERS

 

Stating that teachers have serious problems in making a living in metropolitan cities like Istanbul, Koçak said: "The food inflation comes first. Another problem is housing. For example, it is not possible to find a house under 10 thousand TL in Istanbul. Even our friends in central regions cannot find a place to rent. Former tenants are being evicted from their homes due to the exorbitant increases in rents. In particular, the rents of most of our tenant friends who have been over 5 years were asked to increase their rent by more than 300 percent. Those who did not want to leave the house; therefore, the issue of house and rent arose."

 

TUİK DOES NOT REFLECT THE FACTS

 

Adding that teachers do not have the income to cover the rent, Koçak said: "The average rent in Istanbul is 12 thousand TL, while the salary of new teachers is 12 thousand TL. This rate is even below the minimum wage of 8 thousand 500 TL. According to the definition of minimum wage, when a worker is employed with the minimum wage, a worker is also given a bonus, meal allowance, and travel allowance. None of this applies to teachers. Teachers do not receive food or travel allowance. Not only teachers, but none of the public servants can get along. The figures of TUIK do not reflect the truth, but they were realized in line with the data of TUIK(Turkish Statistical İnstitute). The whole world now knows that the figures of TUIK do not reflect the truth. When we go to markets, bakeries and greengrocers, it is not difficult to understand whether these numbers are real or not.”

 

THE SALARIES

 

Stating that the salary of newly recruited teachers was taken as the basis for the raises made in the past, Koçak said: "The salary of expert teachers was taken as the basis for the increase in January. The salaries of the new teachers are not on the agenda because there is a serious difference between the salary of the new teacher and the salary of the teacher they define as an expert."

 

Speaking about their demands, Koçak continued as follows: “The actions we have taken and will take are increasing wages and reducing inflation in line with the demand for additional hikes and real inflation data. Of course, reducing inflation does not solve everything, because even if your salary is increased, that increase loses its meaning with the new increase that comes a month later. Now, salary increases should be arranged with current figures instead of every 6 months. The tax bracket needs to be lowered.”

 

MAY 14 ELECTIONS

 

Reminding that they have the May 14 elections ahead of them, Koçak stated: "We, as KEKS, announced a position document for the election period and added: We tried to spread it. We will continue this.”