ANKARA - Turkish Public Workers Trade Union (Kamu-Sen) chairman Bircan Akyildiz and 10 chairmen of trade unions began on Sunday hunger strike in Abdi Ipekci Park as a compromise could not be reached between the government and trade unions in collective bargaining talks.
Trade unions chairmen who gathered in Abdi Ipekci Park in Ankara chanted slogans saying, ''we are civil servants, we are right, we will win.'' Akyildiz recalled that the government and unions could not reach a compromise in Saturday's meeting of collective bargaining talks which started on August 15 and stated that the confederation did its utmost for protection and improvement of rights of civil servants at the collective bargaining table.
Stating that they could not understand attitude of the political will, Akyildiz said that the decision which was taken by the Conciliatory Board in 2002 was legal and the government had to comply with it.
Akyildiz recalled that the government proposed 160 million Turkish liras as increase in wages of civil servants for the year 2003 and stated that if the decision of Conciliatory Board was put into practice, there was 420 million TL that they should get as of July for six months. He said that they told the government that 160 million TL of increase could not be accepted.
Akyildiz said that political will could not save itself from pressure of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
Noting that nearly 5,000 people in 70 provinces began hunger strike today, he said that they wanted to warn the political will with this action and they would carry on this action till a compromise was reached. He added that hunger strike would continue.
(EÖ-AY) 31.08.2003