More than 250 thousand members of the Public Workers' Unions Confederation (KESK) either quit or slow down work today all around Turkey, in reaction to the government's 2007 budget proposals.

Teachers in public schools, health workers and others blocked workflow mainly in Istanbul while a public demonstration was organized in the capital Ankara.

KESK Chair Ismail Hakki Tombul said that their struggle for "humane life and work conditions" will continue until the government acts for improvements.

He criticized the 2007 budget proposal as serving the business world while diminishing the social security system, further impoverishing mass working populations.

Social and economic demands

Tombul demanded the inclusion of NGOs and unions in the budget negotiations and listed their requests as follows:

* International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank's structural accordance and stability programmes must be rejected. Stand-by agreements with the IMF should be cancelled, interior and exterior debts must be restructured.

* Privatizations and the sell off of social service facilities must stop.

* Black market economy should be taken under registration; illicit labor use, tax fraud should be sanctioned severely; tax control should be tightened.

* Public resources should be devoted to the production of quality public services. Resources for universal, equal, free public services should be included in the budget.

* A single unions act, including the right to strike and collective bargaining in accord with international standards, should be put in force.

* Wages and working conditions should be decided through a collective bargaining process. Job security shouldn't be scrutinized.

"Public resources return to the public"

Tombul called on all MP's to object to the government's 2007 budget proposal saying, "a budget in favor of the workers and the poor is possible".

The talks on the budget start tomorrow (December 15) at the National Assembly.

92.1 percent of the 650 thousand people objected to the 2007 budget proposal during a street referendum conducted by NGOs on December 5.

A report by the KESK Research Center showed that the percentage of resources devoted to public workers' wages steadily drops since 1993.

At 6.97 percent of the GNP on the 2007 budget, Turkey ranks way behind European countries.

In addition, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data state that the number of public workers in relation to the population is way too lower than developed countries while consecutive governments argue for a reduction in numbers to ease its burden on national budget.(KÖ/EÜ)