‘Sometimes, we also get surprised at how we live’

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Chaired by Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk, the Minimum Wage Determination Commission has started discussing the pay rise to be made in the minimum wage. Amid these talks and discussions, we have spoken with two minimum wage earners.

Kader Genez is 30 years old, she works as an accountant in Sultanbeyli, a district on the Anatolian side of İstanbul. As for Samet Barsan, he is 29 years old, he works as a forklift driver in a warehouse in Gebze, a district in Turkey's western province of Kocaeli. Both are workers and both get minimum wage, which means that they both earn 2,324.70 Turkish Lira or approximately 297 US Dollars a month.

Kader graduated from two universities, she did her MA degree; Samet says that he dropped out of high school. This is not the story of two different persons doing different jobs in different cities. This is the story of 10 million people trying to make ends meet with the minimum wage in Turkey: Economic crisis, increasing prices, unemployment, financial difficulties, concerns for the future and, now, the COVID-19 pandemic...

Genez: I don't know if we have a life

Both their requests and problems are similar. The moment Kader starts to speak, she says, "We do not make a living anyway; we are just saving the day." Then, she tells bianet the following about herself:

"I first graduated from international relations. I could not find a job for a long time. Then, I studied occupational health and safety. I did an MA degree in this field. I, again, could not find a job in my field. I did a lot of jobs. I am now working as a bookkeeper in a company.

"I am not married. I have a mother and father for whom I am responsible. I have two siblings younger than me. One of them is doing his military service and the other one is engaged. Conditions are really hard. In fact, sometimes, I also get surprised at how we live.

"I think I would be unable to make ends meet if I did not live with my family. I do not pay rent; but I cannot imagine the ones married with children and paying rent. How can you possibly make ends meet? What can you possibly afford with 2,324 lira a month?

"The only thing that we do is to go to work in the morning and to come back in the evening. There is nothing about life, there is no social activity. There is a society built with unhappiness. Because we do not have a penny in our pockets that we can spend.

"I do not know if there is a life that we live. It is winter now, but I am still going to work in my summer shoes. I need to buy boots. I am thinking about how I can buy them, but I cannot find an answer.

"I was unemployed for six months at the onset of the pandemic. I went to daily jobs for a daily wage. I used my credit card a lot at that time. I deferred my debts. It would be safe to say that I am now working to pay my credit card debt. I want to support my family, but I cannot. I only send money to my brother in the military. When I send him 200 lira a week, it means that one third of my salary is already gone.

"The company where I work gives us 11 lira as a daily food allowance. But what can you eat for 11 liras in the current situation? We now also bring our own food from home. We have breakfast in the morning and afternoon.

'The state owes us a good life'

"I am lucky that I do not pay for the transportation. I cannot even imagine paying for it. It was just last week that the Marmaray [underwater railway system] ticket prices were increased. My friends were making calculations, they were thinking about how they could afford it with the wage they got.

"They will now give us a pay rise, but nothing will change in my purchase power. In just the second month, inflation will swallow that rise. If I know that they really care about us, I will hope that something will change; but, I know that it will not. In this country, they only care about bosses. It is the bosses who benefit from the unemployment fund, just as they are the ones whose taxes are reduced. There is again nothing for minimum wage earners.

"As I have said, I was unemployed for six months. They did not give me unemployment pay as I had not worked for 600 days. They did not pay me anything from the fund that I had filled, but they paid the bosses. It is also the case with the taxes. I only get 2,324 lira from a total wage of 2,943 lira. While the boss who lives a much much better life then me benefits from tax abatement, we - the ones who live in poverty - pay taxes. Bosses are already exploiting our labor, the state is also trying to exploit us through our wage.

"The only thing that we want is a humane life. I do not know how they will make it happen. I do not know whether they remove the taxes or make a pay rise of 1,000 lira. But the state owes us a good life."

Barsan: You would say it is just 200 lira, but...

Samet also says that he has been working for a minimum wage for six years. His first sentence is similar to that of Kader. "It is hard to get by," he says and adds: "It is much harder for me; I care for my three nieces and nephews."

Samet also notes that, just like Kader, he lives with his family and does not pay rent. But he adds that he still cannot make ends meet:

"My father is retired. My mother cannot work due to health problems. We received a loan for a need. My father pays 1,200 lira rent every month. What is left is around 1,000 lira. He buys the basic needs of the household. I pay the bills. Or, to put it more precisely, I am trying to pay them. Because while we used to pay 50 lira for the electricity, it is now 150 lira. It is winter now, I do not want to even mention the natural gas bill.

"As for the other needs of the household, I spent my money with the amount that I will give to my family in mind. There is always something that comes up and we are always giving so much of ourselves. I used to smoke; I have quitted it as I could no longer afford. I need to buy myself a coat, but I cannot. I went there and found myself a coat, it is just 200 lira. You would say it costs only 200 lira, but I do not have it now. If I buy it now, I cannot make ends meet until the end of the month. If I cannot, my family will be in dire straits. That is why I have to take my every step by considering beforehand. I keep my basic needs waiting, I suspend them.

"If you ask me what was the last time when I made time for myself and did something for fun, believe me, I cannot remember it. Buying books, going to the cinema... We cannot do any of this anyway. I really cannot remember what was the last time when I went to a cinema. We do not have a social activity. As for a vacation, we cannot even dream of it.

'I don't expect any good news'

"This is how all minimum wage earners live, if we can call it a life, of course. We are just getting by. We want the state to stand with the worker. Especially in such a period as this when low income groups have been affected by the pandemic... But it does not. The company applied for a short time working allowance at the onset of the pandemic, it indeed received it. But we were made to work for normal working hours. The company made profit through us in an illegal way. As for us, we risked our health.

"Now, they should just stop seeking publicity in the commission. Only a worker can understand what another worker is going through. No one believes in their praises. We no longer have any hopes to believe, either. Just we can no longer hope, no one is psychologically fine, either.

"The commission has convened or not; it does not make much difference. They will give a pay rise which is a few points higher than the inflation rate; that is all. Everyone knows it. But this is not what workers are curious about. No one is dead set on TV screens, wondering what they will announce.

"The questions in people's minds are these: Will they exempt us from the tax? Will they give us a rise that will not drop below the starvation line in just the second month? These are the questions in people's minds. As no one believes, I do not believe, either. Whatever happens, it happens to us; we are losing our youth. What can I say?" (HA/SD)