Government and Labour Unions Deadlocked in Negotiations

The labour unions then accused the bureaucracies at the Public Employment Committee of being under IMF and World Bank pressure, and left the meeting.

The negotiations, which began August 15th, are at a standstill. Yesterday’s meeting, which started at 11:00 AM, ended at 16:20 PM after the lunch break after an agreement could not be reached.

The government had agreed to hand out 160 million liras, after an initial offer of 140 million liras. The unions had asked for 260 million liras for the loss of civil employees in the year 2003.

The unions said that they would accept the proposal of 160 million liras, only if this reflected salaries, and if something was done about extra payments for social aid. The government was insisting on 160 million liras as a one-time handout.