Deputies reacted to the fact that the problems experienced by workers and the loss of rights in working life were not included in the ministry's presentation.
While the 2027 budget of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security was being discussed in the GNAT Planning and Budget Commission, opposition MPs criticized Minister Vedat Işıkhan regarding worker deaths, inadequate inspections, unionization rates and working conditions.
ERKAN BAŞ: “38 THOUSAND 216 WORKERS LOST THEIR LIVES”
TİP Chairman Erkan Baş stated that 38 thousand 216 workers lost their lives in work accidents during the AKP government and criticized Minister Işıkhan for not mentioning occupational murders in his presentation.
Baş said, "This period of power was also the period of power in which a class war, a class massacre took place. There is not a single line in the huge speech about the deaths of thousands of workers in Türkiye."
Stating that the richest 1 percent in Turkey owns 40 percent of the total wealth, Baş stated that workers are becoming poorer despite working more. Baş said, "The country is getting richer, but the workers are getting poorer. The cream at the top of the country is collapsing on the values we have produced with our lives and blood."
Stating that the employment targets were not realized, Baş pointed out that the employment data, which was announced as 32 million 500 thousand last year, decreased to 32 million 400 thousand this year. Stating that workers had to walk to Ankara, sleep in the park for days and face police intervention in order to get their wages, Baş said, "People in Türkiye are now struggling to become workers. Because you have created a system of slavery."
BAYHAN: “94 OUT OF 100 PEOPLE ARE UNUNION”
EMEP Istanbul Deputy İskender Bayhan also stated that the concept of labor was mentioned only once in the Ministry's 22-page presentation and argued that the presentation ignored the problems of workers.
Bayhan said that there are approximately 2.5 million workplaces in Turkey, 1 million of which are in the dangerous and very dangerous class, and noted that the number of labor inspectors has been reduced to 875. Stating that the Ministry's reports stated that 5 thousand 573 inspections were carried out and 1,549 of them were fined, Bayhan said that data on occupational homicides, the number of workers benefiting from strike and collective bargaining rights, and hunger and poverty line data were not included in the presentation.
Stating that the unionization rate has decreased from 15.2 percent to 13.8 percent in the last three years, Bayhan said, "The truth is that 94 out of 100 people are not unionized."
Bayhan stated that the ministry did not address the workers who were dismissed because they were unionized, the workers in the strike areas, and the families who lost their relatives in workplace murders, and called out to Işıkhan, "Stop blowing the horns of the vampire called capital, which sucks the blood of labor."
PALA: “HOW DO YOU SIT COMFORTABLY IN THAT SEAT?”
NEW Party Bursa Deputy Kayıhan Pala said that Turkey ranks second in the world in fatal work accidents and first in non-fatal work accidents.
Stating that the fatal work accident rate in Turkey in 2024 is 11.5 per 100 thousand, Pala noted that this rate is 1 per 100 thousand in Germany and 1.6 per 100 thousand in Hungary. Stating that even if the target of 6.4 per 100 thousand determined by the Ministry for 2027 is achieved, Turkey will rank fifth in the world in fatal work accidents, Pala said, "How do you sit comfortably in that seat?" he asked.
Pala stated that there are 0.3 labor inspectors per 10 thousand employees in Turkey and said that the ministry should increase occupational health and safety inspections. Addressing occupational diseases, Pala criticized the fact that not a single death due to occupational diseases will be recorded in Turkey in 2025.
Pala also asked how many people the 325 billion lira General Health Insurance premium receivable will be collected from and who the 1 million 710 thousand 93 people in the "other" category among those whose premiums are paid by the state consist of.
NURSERY INSPECTION QUESTION FROM ESEN
DEVA Party Istanbul Deputy Elif Esen pointed out that child care responsibility affects women's participation in working life. Esen stated that in 2024, only 26.9 percent of women in the 25-49 age group who have children under three years of age are working, while this rate exceeds 90 percent for men in the same situation.
Bringing up the problems experienced by mothers who cannot find a well-paid and reliable nursery after maternity leave, Esen asked Minister Işıkhan how many mothers will be given care support in 2027 and how many workplaces that have the obligation to open nurseries have been inspected.
CALL FROM ARSLAN FOR SENSOR SUPPORT FOR THOSE WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES
NEW Party Izmir Deputy Ednan Arslan requested that the glucose measurement sensor support provided to type 1 diabetics under the age of 18 should also be given unconditionally to those over the age of 18.
Stating that type 1 diabetes does not end after the age of 18, Arslan called for the scope of support to be expanded, saying, "There are university students. There are pregnant women."
