Raise Negotiations Accelerated for Public Workers: 2025-2026 Protocol Process Begins
TÜRK-İŞ and HAK-İŞ accelerated the work for the Public Collective Labor Agreements Framework Protocol, which will determine the wages and social rights of approximately 600 thousand workers working in the public sector in the 2025-2026 period. This critical process will shape wage increases in the public sector as well as the private sector and civil servants. The protocol, which will directly affect the economic and social rights of workers in public institutions such as highways, railways, power plants, ministries, universities and hospitals, will be decisive for a large mass of workers.
Protocol Preparations Intensify
TÜRK-İŞ has called a meeting of the Public Coordination Board, led by Vice President Ramazan Ağar, for January 22. The decisions to be taken at this meeting will be discussed at the TÜRK-İŞ Presidents’ Assembly to be held on January 23. HAK-İŞ, on the other hand, continues its work under the chairmanship of Vice Presidents Devlet Sert and Halil Çukutli. HAK-İŞ Coordination Board completed its first meeting on December 26, 2024 and will meet again soon.
Private Sector and Civil Servant Salaries Will Also Be Affected
The Framework Protocol for Public Collective Labor Agreements will not only concern public sector workers, but will also have an impact on collective labor agreements in the private sector and civil servant salary increases. This situation is also closely related to the negotiations for the 8th Term Collective Bargaining Agreement for the period 2026-2027, which will determine the salary increases for approximately 4 million civil servants and 2.5 million civil servant pensioners. Negotiations on raises for civil servants are expected to start on August 1.
Completing Documents
The unions are preparing to submit an authorization application to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to complete the documents related to the protocol process. This application will officially start the process and pave the way for negotiations on the protocol. The protocol is also expected to serve as a guide for private sector agreements such as the Turkish Metal Industrialists’ Union Group Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Trade Unions’ Demands Taking Shape
The primary goal of both unions is to achieve an inflation-proof raise and comprehensive social benefits for public sector workers. Union officials state that they are determined to make arrangements that will increase the purchasing power of workers during the protocol process.
Importance of the Process
The protocol will play a critical role in improving economic conditions not only for existing public sector workers, but also for those working in other sectors. Experts emphasize that these negotiations are a decisive process in labor-management relations.
