Trade union: minimum wage below breadline
THE Cyprus Turkish Public Servants Union (KTAMS) advised that as of March 31, 2022, the breadline for a family of four was calculated as 7,149TL — more than 1,000TL above the net monthly minimum wage of 6,090TL.
KTAMS chairman Güven Bengihan said in a written statement that according to a report they prepared, the figure was determined by taking into account the “healthy nutritional” needs of a family of four and the average prices of the items used sent from official inflation figures.
According to the KTAMS report, an adult woman needs to spend 61.24TL per day or 1,837.20TL per month to eat healthily while the figures for an adult male, person aged 15-19 and a child aged four-six are, respectively: 64.25TL per day and 1,927.50TL per month; 67.45TL per day and 2,023.50TL per month; and 45.36TL per day and 1,360.80TL per month.
“The monthly food expenditure for a family of four to have a healthy, balanced and adequate diet is 7,149TL,” Mr Bengihan said.
“While the March 2021 gross minimum wage of 4,400 TL was equal to £382 . . . the gross minimum wage as of January 1, 2022 of 7,000TL is only £361 due to the depreciation of the Turkish Lira.
PURCHASING POWER
“Considering that the prices of many goods and services in our country are indexed to foreign currency, a minimum wage earner’s purchasing power has not increased, but rapidly decreased instead.”
According to the Statistical Institute’s official figures, monthly inflation in the TRNC was 13.01 per cent in March, 27.73 per cent in the last three months, and 83.19 per cent in one year.
Mr Bengihan added that the high price hikes on electricity, fuel, bottled gas, bread, milk and dairy products in particular are “weighing heavily on the people” and that “even public and private sector employees and their families, let alone minimum wage earners, are unable to eat healthily under these conditions”.
He continued: “Instead of taking precautionary measures to protect the purchasing power of low and fixed income segments, the government is dragging those already suffering towards poverty by giving with a spoon and taking with a ladle.
“The breadline calculations were based only on the prices of obligatory food expenditures. Because people are social beings, the increased prices of goods and services other than the compulsory food expenditures has caused their purchasing power to constantly decline.
“In short, the increase in the minimum wage and
the salaries of public employees have been swallowed up by inflation.”
Mr Bengihan emphasised that due to the high cost of living, the government should take “urgent radical measures” to protect the purchasing power of employees, low and fixed income segments of society.