The voices of citizens all over the country who cannot get by nor pay their bills are rising. We are here to make our voices heard from Eskisehir. The workers who do not want to surrender to the “misery wages” meet in the same square with the citizens who burn their bills for exorbitant raises. It is our call to the people of Eskisehir; Let’s stand up against the price hikes, let’s make our voices heard, let’s reverse the price hikes together
Those unable to get by take it to the streets of Eskisehir, Turkey: “We don’t pay the bills”
In Eskisehir, citizens gathered to get the raises back, saying we can’t get by, we can’t pay our bills.
In Eskisehir, citizens marched against the rising cost of living and high increases of utility bills.
A police barricade was set up in front of the crowd marching along Porsuk Boulevard.
The police refused to lift the barricade to prevent the march from moving forward. Speakers expressed their frustration on not being able to afford to live a decent life in front of the barricade.
The summary of opposition voiced to the AKP government at the rally:
The wrong economic policies of the political power, which has become unable to govern the country, have completely reset our income and purchasing power to zero. The annual inflation rate of 36% announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute in December was the highest in 20 years.
69% of our country’s working population receives the minimum wage, and 20% of workers are forced to work below the minimum wage. President Erdogan’s 50% increase in the minimum wage melted away in the early days of the new year with the inflation. Despite the 30% increase, even the civil servants’ salaries remained below the poverty line.
The wrong policies that left the city of Isparta cold and dark for days after a snowstorm caused bills as big as our rents to pile up. Extraordinary increases in diesel and fertilizer have discouraged the farmers from harvesting. Small tradesmen and businesses are dying, pulling down their shutters, closing their businesses. Businesses in the tourism sector have become unable to cover even the utility costs. Public cheap bread queues are getting longer. Women are most affected by the crisis. Women’s poverty is deepening, women are the first to be laid off. Unpaid debt files are growing like an avalanche in collection agencies. Pensioners’ paychecks have fallen below the poverty line. University students cannot find a home or dormitory to shelter. Unemployment has rendered young people without a future. The reaction of citizens who cannot pay their bills and get by is accused by the government as making a fuss. Those who say we are saying they are looking into the matter and are making gradual arrangements take no steps to put out the fire in every household.The voices of citizens all over the country who cannot get by nor pay their bills are rising. We are here to make our voices heard from Eskisehir. The workers who do not want to surrender to the “misery wages” meet in the same square with the citizens who burn their bills for exorbitant raises. It is our call to the people of Eskisehir; Let’s stand up against the price hikes, let’s make our voices heard, let’s reverse the price hikes together.
Demands
• Withdraw the price increases to basic necessities, especially food and energy.
• Ensure a fair wage policy ensuring a decent life.
• In the face of high inflation, legislative arrangements for wage and wage improvements should be made urgently.
• Ban layoffs.
• Let the burden of the economic crisis be placed on the capital, not on the people.
• End privatization policies in energy, public works, and basic public services.
Sendika.Org News (MB)