Osman Kaya, Chairman of the Public Union Confederation and Young Health Union, evaluated the inflation on behalf of civil servants after TUIK announced the inflation figures for March. He included the following words in his statement:
Civil Servant Remained Below Inflation
“Accordingly, inflation rose to 3,16 percent on a monthly basis and 68,50 percent on an annual basis in March. After the announcement of TUIK's March inflation figures, we see once again that the purchasing power of civil servants continued to decrease and their salaries continued to decrease this month, as it did last month. The 15% salary increase given to civil servants at the beginning of the year remained below inflation, once again dragging the civil servant into poverty and financial difficulties. The civil servant has neither the strength nor the patience to endure in the face of the increasing cost of living and rising inflation... The civil servant is no longer able to pay the house rent and has been dragged into the credit/debt swamp to meet his basic living needs. Our public employees, who represent the reputation of the state, are struggling to survive. "We reiterate our demand for the inflation difference to be reflected in salaries on a monthly basis, and for all our public employees to have a single salary item above the poverty line that will be reflected in retirement."
