‘Targeted Unionization Rates Not Reached’

* Photo: Anadolu Agency

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Republican People's Party (CHP) Vice Chair Veli Ağbaba has released a report on the activities of Ministry of Labor, which is now called the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services in the Presidential System.

The report has shown that the Ministry has reached none of the targets that it set for itself when it was first established. Comparing these targets with the current situation, the report has manifested that "the Ministry has forgotten the laborers" though it has the word "Labor" in its name.

As reported by Mahmut Lıcalı from daily Cumhuriyet, some highlights from the report can be listed as follows:

Targeted unionization rates not reached: While the 100-day action plan of the Ministry of Labor set 21 percent as its targeted rate of unionization across the country, the official figures have shown that the current unionization rate in Turkey has been 13.76 percent.

Women's and youth unemployment on the increase: Among the targets of the Ministry were also a financial support of 1 billion 84 million Turkish Lira (TRY) so that women, young people and people with disabilities can have higher participation in workforce. However, the current unemployment rates show the exact opposite. That is, according to the labor force statistics of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the number of unemployed has increased by 1 million 65 thousand people in a year, which amounts to over 4.5 million people. Moreover, while youth unemployment has been calculated as 27 percent, the unemployment rate of women is 34 percent.

Unemployed could not benefit from the fund: The Ministry of Labor also planned to stretch the conditions for benefiting from the unemployment fund, thereby ensuring that 12 thousand 500 people can use it. However, official figures have shown that it is especially the employers who have benefited from the fund. While 1 billion TRY was paid from the unemployment fund in September, the total amount transferred to employers was 1.8 billion TRY.

'There are irregularities'

Ministry does not answer questions of MPs: Entering into force with the new system, the Ministry has left the questions of MPs unanswered. The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services is one of the ministries that have left the highest number of Parliamentary questions submitted by MPs unanswered. While 495 questions were addressed to Minister Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk, she has only answered seven of them so far.

Ministry is making the Social Security Institution (SGK) bankrupt: According to the figures announced by the SGK, while the total number of insured decreased by over 500 thousand people, the total income-expense deficit of the SGK, which was 15.7 billion TRY in 2018, has been calculated as 20.2 billion TRY in the first five months of 2019.

Irregularities have not ended: According to the reports of Supreme Court of Accounts, the yearly loss of the Ministry has reached 28.9 billion TRY, which is equal to 140 thousand minimum wages. Since the Ministry was renamed in the new system, at least 2 thousand 745 workers have lost their lives in occupational homicides. (EMK/SD)