On Thursday, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) announced that inflation in January was up 11.1 per cent. Annually, it reported that inflation had reached 48.69 per cent. This is why the minimum wage hike of 50.5, which was called 'unprecedented', is almost completely invalidated by the December and January inflation figures.

The wage hikes by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBAs), which concern civil servants and pensioners, public workers and metal workers, have been swallowed up by the inflation figures - and in fact, fallen behind by 20-25 percentage points.

According to the Independent Inflation Research Group (ENAG), the figures are much higher. ENAG has calculated that the January inflation figure was 14.17 per cent and annual inflation was at 114 per cent.

Even with the apparent manipulations of figures by TÜİK, monthly inflations announced in December and January were the highest in the last 20 years.

The impact of this on public life is the extraordinarily rapid increase in people’s main living expenses such as food, rent, clothing, transportation and education.

THE WORKERS ARE ORGANISING!

Both bosses and the one-man regime used 2021 as the year to place the burden of the economic crisis and pandemic on the people by shutting down CBAs for public workers' and metal workers’ - affecting some 130 thousand workers in the metal industry.

In mid-December, 2021 came to an end without any incidents after an “unprecedented increase” to the minimum wage of 50.5 per cent was announced. Or rather, it only appeared so. In fact, by turning the minimum wage hike into a show, propaganda was raised that "the government has opened its pocket for the workers and labourers", therefore the country was entering a duration in which people will be relieved economically.

However, the fact that the cost of living hikes in December and January turned into a tsunami and worsened the living conditions of all segments of the population at an unprecedented rate, shows that the CBAs did not actually resolve any problems. The workers at Çimsataş, located in Mersin, rejected the metal industry CBA - which was signed by the unions without consulting the workers on January 12 - and became the representatives of the 130,000 metal workers who were dissatisfied with this contract.

They also suggested that the next "additional raise demand" and "the returned raises" struggle could strengthen.

As seen by the protests by workers from Yurtiçi Kargo, Yemeksepeti, Trendyol, Hepsi Ekspres, Scotty, Aras Kargo and Digitürk from across the country last week, workers are not willing to bow down to the conditions imposed on them by the bosses and will continue to demand decent wages, the recognition of union rights and for improved working conditions.

Workers of the Alpin Sock Factory in Istanbul also took strike action to demand a decent wage. With so many workers walking out, bosses were forced to accept their demands. It has been reported that similar acts of resistance are also being considered at the company’s other branches.

Following calls by the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), the Health and Social Service Workers Union (SES) and various other health professionals organisations, health workers also took strike action in Ankara last week. On February 8, healthcare workers will be taking a 1-day strike action nationwide.

At a time when the increases to the cost-of-living effect not only employees, public sector workers but also traders and crafters, it has become increasingly clear that collective action may be needed to address workers complaints and issues.

Most recently, in Gümüşhane, a province that is typically a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) stronghold, traders took to the streets to express their demands while in Hopa, which is known for its opposition to the government, protesters marched against rising electricity bills.

This indicates that the demands of workers have reached a stage where an unlikely unity has been formed.

THE BUREAUCRATIC UNIONS AND THE CAPITALIST OPPOSITION ARE A BARRIER TO THE LABOUR STRUGGLE!

In short, the rise in prices of goods suggest that the chips are down for workers and people from all walks of life, and discontent and complaints are evolving into protests. Moreover, support and solidarity initiatives for these protests, both from the workers and local labour forces close to resisting groups, and from various segments of the public, are increasing remarkably.

The bureaucratic unions and capitalist opposition parties have taken it as their primary duty to prevent workers from taking initiative and taking action against their demands. These unions want to prevent a possible labour struggle by citing and using laws, practises and the duration of CBAs as reference points.

The bourgeois political parties, on the other hand, are acting as barriers to the labour struggle and to workers by sitting on the fence and extending their solidarity to within the limits of their own rallies. They condemn taking action to the streets by claiming they are “traps” and “unrecognised protests” and refuse to make statements such as “no to rising costs”, “better wages for workers” or “the right to unionise.” And this is exactly what the one-man regime wants.

THE RESPONSIBILITY AND OBLIGATION TO JOIN FORCES

The one-man rule and the ruling class cliques supporting him use the current crisis and challenges of the pandemic against the common struggle of all workers, public workers and sections of the people who live by their labour, and this has expanded like never before.

This is why we have entered a duration in which it is vital that cooperatives are created by campaigning unions, labourers, democratic platforms, workers, pro-labour parties, local labour forces, professional organisations and more must be established in order to bring forward their collective demands.