Turkey’s minimum wage is becoming the average wage, contrary to the global norm, according to the country’s Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DISK).

Around 50% of workers in Turkey earn a wage similar to the minimum wage, and that percentage reaches around 70% in the private sector, according to DISK chair Arzu Cerkezoglu. She spoke ahead of tri-party minimum wage negotiations between government, employer and union representatives due to get under way this week. Alarmingly, added Cerkezoglu, DISK’s information shows that there are 7.3mn workers in Turkey who receive a wage below the minimum.

Cerkezoglu emphasised the need for a wage that allows for a dignified life, pointing out that the poverty line for a family of four is at more than Turkish lira (TRY) 45,000 ($1,553), while the starvation threshold for a family of four is at TRY 14,025 ($484). The minimum wage in Turkey, received by around 8mn workers according to labour union Turk-Is, stands at a net TRY11,402 ($394 at the current exchange rate).

Criticising the government, Cerkezoglu said: "In Turkey, wages are not even at a level sufficient for basic survival, let alone a dignified life."

She also stressed: "In 2013, there were 14 countries in Europe with lower minimum wages than Turkey; however, by the end of 2023, there are only four. The people of this country, the working class of Turkey, do not deserve this situation."

The particularly harsh reality for women, added Cerkezoglu, was that 61.4% of working women in Turkey work for a wage around the minimum, while a very substantial number do not even receive the minimum.

The fact that Turkey has become a country with a high proportion of minimum wage earners was caused by obstacles erected to trade union rights, and the situation should be seen as an intentional choice made by the government, the head of DISK said.

Ergun Atalay, president of Turk-Is, which will represent the workers in the pay talks, said: “It is impossible to make ends meet with the current minimum wage.”

Rampant inflation typically means that the worth of a pay hike in Turkey is rapidly diminished.