ANKARA - The Conciliatory Board, which intervened in the collective bargaining talks between the government and civil servant unions as no compromise was reached, listened to views of Turkish Public Workers Trade Union (Kamu-Sen) and Confederation of Public Workers Trade Unions (KESK) on Thursday.
Prior to the meeting, KESK Chairman Sami Evren told reporters that the real compromise could be reached on a salary which could enable a humanly living.
Evren said that a board comprised of academicians should calculate an economic budget by which a person could make his living within 30 days and noted that the board should not be affected by the statements of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin and the so-called stability program.
''If the board feels itself under such an interaction, it can't act objectively. Therefore, the Conciliatory Board should calculate a salary which can enable a humanly living. The government may or may not obey it. It is another issue. But, this should be the scientific work,'' Evren said.
Evren stated that demands of public workers were on the agenda of the Council of Ministers which convened in central Sivas province the same day.
The Council of Ministers should make a statement which perceived democratic reactions of public workers and took into consideration their demands, Evren said.
Evren pointed out that there would again be a meeting with the government after the meetings of the Conciliatory Board and they would evaluate whether or not they would obey the report of the board in that meeting.
If the Conciliatory Board acted objectively, positive results could be taken, Evren added.
Turkish Kamu-Sen Secretary for Collective Bargaining Nazmi Guzel made a statement after they informed the Conciliatory Board about their views.
Guzel said that they informed the board about their demands like eliminating losses of public workers in 2003, putting into practice the decision taken by the Conciliatory Board last year, envisaging 26.5 percent rise as of July, and taking into consideration that rate in calculation of average salary.
Net 200 million Turkish liras (TL) of rise should be made to salaries for the year 2004, Guzel added.
The Conciliatory Board also listened to views of the representatives of Finance Ministry and Treasury Undersecretariat.
(BRC-AÖ) 04.09.2003