The Turkish Metal Industrialists' Union (MESS) and the trade unions Türk Metal, Birleşik Metal-İş and Özçelik-İş signed the MESS Group Collective Agreement (CBA) yesterday, which covers more than 150 thousand workers. With a 98% increase, the average wage in the metal industry has reached 30 thousand TL. While most of the wages in the metal industry are 40% below the poverty line, none of the wages reached the poverty line. The balance sheets of 6 MESS member companies in the metal sector showed that the metal bosses made an average monthly profit of 157 thousand liras per worker in 2023.

While a strike decision was taken in the metal sector, the first of which was to be implemented on 19 January, MESS called the unions Türk Metal, Birleşik Metal-İş and Özçelik-İş for talks yesterday. The parties met at 4 p.m. yesterday and announced the signing of the contract at 8.30 p.m.

According to the agreement, which will take effect on 1 September 2023, the wages of workers whose hourly wage is less than 65 TL have been raised to 65 TL. Türk Metal explained that this concerns about 90 thousand members and that after the application of the withdrawal, the hourly wages of all workers were increased by 32 per cent, followed by a diluted increase of 30 TL. According to the agreement, each year of seniority was increased by 2 TL (hourly), limited to 15 years.

According to the agreement, wages were increased by an average of 98 per cent in the first 6 months, 30 per cent in the second 6 months with inflation protection, inflation plus 3 points in the third 6 months and the inflation rate in the fourth 6 months. Social benefits were increased by 140 per cent in the first year and by the annual rate of inflation in the second year.

38.5% BELOW THE POVERTY LINE

While Türk-İş announced the starvation threshold for a family of four as 14,431 TL and the poverty line as 47,9 TL in December 2023 according to the MESS group agreement, none of the workers in the metal sector reached the poverty line. According to the rates in the labour sector

- The newly hired worker is 40% of the poverty line,

- 35 per cent of the 5-year worker poverty threshold

- 28 per cent of the 10 year old worker poverty threshold,

- 19 per cent of the 15 year old worker poverty line,

- 20 year old workers were 14 per cent below the poverty line.

Türk Metal, which directly represents 120 thousand workers under the contract, announced that 90 thousand of its members are 3-year workers. According to this ratio, the wages of the majority of the workers were 38.5 per cent below the poverty line.

The tax exemption on the minimum wage also helped to move workers away from the 'poverty line' in a positive sense. The tax exemption of 2,700 liras, which is not taken from each worker, goes into the workers' pockets. Without this exemption, the newly hired worker would have been paid 45 per cent below the poverty line.

On the other hand, the demands of the workers to fix the tax rate at 15 per cent and to provide complementary health insurance for the family were not met.

THE BOSSES' PROFIT PER WORKER IS 157 THOUSAND LIRAS PER MONTH

While the wages of the metal workers do not reach the poverty line despite the increase in the collective agreement, the balance sheets of the 6 MESS member companies operating in the sector showed that the metal bosses made an average monthly profit of 157 thousand liras per worker in 2023.

FORD OTOSAN
In the first 9 months of 2023, it made a net profit of 25 billion 93 million 847 thousand TL.

In the same period (9 months of 2023), it made a net profit of 1 million 58 thousand TL per employee and 117 thousand TL per employee in one month.

TOFAS
In the first 9 months of 2023, it made a net profit of 12 billion 465 million 509 thousand TL.

In the same period (9 months of 2023), it made a net profit of 2 million 206 thousand TL per worker and 245 thousand TL per worker in one month.

SARKUYSAN
In the first 9 months of 2023, it made a net profit of 1 billion 411 million 86 thousand TL.

In the same period (9 months of 2023), it made a net profit of 1 million 107 thousand TL per worker and 123 thousand TL per worker in a month.

FEDERAL MOGUL
In the first 9 months of 2023, it made a net profit of 47 million TL.

In the same period (9 months of 2023), it achieved a net profit of 979 thousand TL per worker and 108 thousand TL per worker in one month.

TURKISH TRACTOR
In the first 9 months of 2023, it made a net profit of 6 billion 295 million 874 thousand TL.

In the same period (9 months of 2023), it achieved a net profit of 2 million 185 thousand TL per worker and 242 thousand TL per worker in a month.

ANADOLU ISUZU
In the first 9 months of 2023, it made a net profit of 1 billion 53 million 640 thousand TL.

In the same period (9 months of 2023), it made a net profit of 944 thousand TL per worker and 110 thousand TL per worker in a month.(EVRENSEL DAILY)