2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement

2025 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT

With the 2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the government has once again condemned 6.5 million civil servants and retirees to hunger and poverty. Law No. 4688 on Public Officials' Unions has lost its force in the eyes of workers.

Poverty for Workers, Comfort for Capital

The Public Officials' Arbitration Board process — initiated by the government's appointed "Arbitration Board" on 23 August 2025 and concluded on 26 August 2025 — has once again demonstrated that it is a decision-making mechanism that disregards the sweat of public workers and deepens poverty.

Summary of Arbitration Board Decisions:

During the Term Collective Bargaining negotiations, agreement was reached on 58 articles.

Salary increases for public officials: 2026: 11% (1st term), 7% (2nd term) 2027: 5% (1st term), 4% (2nd term)

A 1,000 TL increase was applied to the base salary in the first term of 2026.

Concrete Effects in the Culture and Arts Sector

The ceiling wage increase for contracted artists is a mere 1,463 TL. Based on an average ceiling of 45,000 TL, this increase amounts to approximately 3.2%.

Given that the 2024 TÜİK inflation rate was 44.38% and the ENAG inflation rate was 83.40%, this figure represents a significant loss in real income.

The Arbitration Board's general pay increase rate (18% total for 2026; 9% total for 2027) remains below even the official inflation rate.

The government-aligned authorized union, Türk Kültür Sanat Sendikası, signed the collective bargaining agreement with the government without even exercising its right to object.

Given the difficulties in recruiting and retaining artists and technical staff at arts institutions, a special salary demand and regulation is imperative.

We do not accept wage increases below real inflation and poverty wages!

As cultural workers, we declare once more:

OUR WILL SHALL NOT GROW AT BARGAINING TABLES — IT WILL GROW IN WORKPLACES, ON STAGES, IN WORKSHOPS, IN WINGS, IN HALLS, THROUGH SOLIDARITY, AND IT WILL RISE IN THE STREETS!

Because we know:

ART DOES NOT EXIST IN POVERTY — IT EXISTS THROUGH FREE LABOUR!

Cultural Workers' Union August 2025