Metro and tram services stopped in Izmir after workers went on strike Monday as the municipality and unions could not mutually agree on a new wage raise.
The talks concerning 625 employees had been ongoing between the municipality, the Social Democrat Public Employers’ Union (SODEM-SEN), and the Railway Workers Union (Demiryol-Iş) since Feb. 27 and ended at 4 p.m. on July 31.
As the sides could not agree on the wage increase, metro and tram services stopped at 5 a.m. on July 31, leaving Izmir residents to rely on buses or taxis on the first day of the week.
Izmir Mayor Tunç Soyer stated that the wage proposals offered by the municipality were significantly higher than that of many public institutions and private companies in the country.
Soyer announced that the municipality proposed a 105% increase in the highest net wage, from TL 12,157 ($451) to TL 25,009. However, the unions demanded TL 33,813 for the lowest salaried worker and TL 39,685 for the highest.
“Izmir does not deserve to have the only public workers’ strike in Türkiye. There were other ways for workers to express their demands without going on strike, especially on the first day of the week, causing considerable inconvenience to the city and its residents,” Soyer said.
He also announced that the number of bus services along the metro and tram routes increased to alleviate the grievances of Izmir residents.
The lowest salary of Türkiye’s civil servants increased to TL 22,000 last month.
Earlier, the government also announced a midyear 34% hike in the minimum wage from TL 8,506 to a net of TL 11,402 for more than 7 million workers.
In addition, just as people turned to buses in the absence of the metro, the municipality hiked the prices.
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality increased public transportation and minibus fares by 48%.
As per the hike, the full first ride, which was TL 8.78, increased to TL 13. While the first transfer was determined as TL 6.50, and the third transfer was determined as TL 3.26.
The student fare, which was TL 3 in public transportation, increased to TL 5.14. The above 60-year-old commuter's first boarding is TL 11.50, first transfer is TL 5.76, the second transfer is TL 2.88.
While the rise in the minibus and hop-on hop fee, which was TL 10, becomes TL 15, and the fee as per distance became TL 19-TL 25, respectively.
