Turkey will increase the minimum wage by 26 percent in 2019, for a monthly minimum wage of 2,020 lira ($381), the labour minister said on Tuesday.
Zehra Zumrut Selcuk made the announcement at a briefing that was broadcast live on television.
The commission made up of the labor ministry, trade and employer unions decided on minimum wage to be applied in Turkey for 2019 as 2,020 Turkish liras ($380), Family, Labor and Social Services Minister Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk announced Tuesday.
The decision came after the fourth meeting of the Minimum Wage Commission held in capital Ankara. The commission decided to increase the net pay by with a rise of 26 percent from TL 1,603 year-on-year, while the new gross minimum wage, before deductions such as social security premiums and income taxes, is TL 2,558 ($482).
“The minimum wage for married people with three children is 2,155 Turkish liras,” she added.
Some 7 million workers are estimated to work on the minimum wage out of a workforce of 29.63 million.
For 2018, the minimum wage was increased late Dec. 2017 by 14.2 percent to TL 1,603, equal to $422 with the currency rates in that period.
Minister Selçuk said the commission unanimously decided on the minimum wage. Ergün Atalay, the chairman of the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-Iş), the largest trade union in the country representing the workers in commission meetings, said the decision was not “perfect” but “agreeable.”
