The striking figures come on the heels of arecent statement by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who accused
some employers in the textile sector of abusing the rights of their
workers. Erdoğan called the employers’ actions “labor exploitation.”
Some of the sector’s representatives rejected Erdoğan’s remarks;
however, labor unions said they supported the prime minister’s
statement, adding that the issue needs to be addressed. Erdoğan said
companies should contribute to efforts to fight the unregistered
economy, stressing that the government also needs the support of labor
unions”The SGK data revealed that of the 2 million textile
workers in Turkey, only 689,000 are registered with the SGK, while
textile firms avoid paying social security premiums for the remaining
workers, meaning a huge loss for the institution. Around 250,000 of the
689,000 registered textile workers in Turkey are women, while the
percentage of women among unregistered textile workers is higher. The
average number of workers in each of Turkey’s 40,961 textile companies
stands at 16..”Another interesting factor the SGK data shed light
on with regard to the current “exploitation” in the textile industry is
that the sector, along with the construction and leather manufacturing
sectors, leads the list of sectors with the lowest salary paid to its
workers. The average daily payment per worker stands at TL 30 in the
textile industry..”Companies mostly opt to keep the salaries at
low levels so they can pay the lowest possible SGK premium to the
state. The lowest premium is paid for workers who receive the minimum
wage, a factor that leads many firms to falsify accounts and register
workers within this category. Employers pay between TL 50 to TL 100
less per SGK premium for each worker in this category..”Of the
9.03 million registered workers in all sectors combined, 4.34 million
are registered in the minimum wage category. If a worker’s SGK premium
is paid in the minimum wage category, it creates certain disadvantages
for that employee in the long run. These workers receive lower
unemployment benefits if they lose their jobs. They also receive a
comparatively lower pension in their retirement than those who earn
more than the minimum wage..”Unregistered employment has reached
43 percent of the overall employment in Turkey, recent data compiled by
the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) have revealed. The
estimated loss to the SGK due to unregistered employment is TL 25
billion..
Date:4/22/2010
Source:The Internationla News