ANKARA - Confederation of Public Workers Trade Unions (KESK) Chairman Sami Evren said on Thursday that they had withdrawn from the collective bargaining with the government since it was useless.
State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin met for the second time with directors of Turkish Public Workers Trade Union (Kamu-Sen) and KESK.
Addressing journalists following the meeting, Evren said, ''we expected the government to put forward a proposal about our request. However, we could not receive a satisfactory response. As KESK, we have come to a conclusion that it was useless and wrongful to continue the collective bargaining with the government. Therefore, we have withdrawn from the collective bargaining.''
When asked whether or not the government would act in line with the letter of intent signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Evren said, ''State Minister Sahin did not clarify it. If the government acts in line with the letter of intent, salaries of public workers should be increased by 12 percent. Unfortunately, the government did not put forward any figure. It means that the government preferred IMF.''
Evren added that tens of thousands of public workers would convene in Ankara on August 23, and that the government should well-understand this rightful reaction of them.
(UK-AÖ) 21.08.2003