Members and leaders of the BWI-affiliated Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TURK-IS), including TURK-IS President Ergun Atalay, YOL-IS President Ramazan Agar, and union members, marched to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance in Ankara  on 18 June to protest the government's recent wage offer to public sector workers. To express their opposition, the delegation issued a strong statement to the media, declaring that they “will not surrender to poverty.”

The protest came after a meeting on 13 June at the Turkish Employer Union of Public Institutions (TÜHİS), where public workers were presented with a proposed wage increase of 16 percent for the first six months, followed by 8, 7, and 5 percent increases in the subsequent six-month periods. TURK-IS affiliates deemed the offer small, unjust and unacceptable.

The confederation continues to call for fair and reasonable wage increases for public workers. YOL-IS has prepared a “roadmap of workplace actions” spanning June to July to demand a decent wage increase. These actions include public readings of statements at workplaces and half-day work stoppages. Union leaders warned that unless their demands are fully met, they may soon escalate their campaign into a full-blown strike.