Turkey’s sole communist mayor Fatih Maçoğlu has given municipal employees in the central province of Tunceli a 20 percent pay raise, Diken news site reported on Tuesday.
The new salaries follow an agreement signed between the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unionsof Turkey(DİSK) and the Tunceli municipality, the site said, which brings the average monthly pay of staff to 8,000 liras ($1,066), more than double the amount of minimum wage in the country.
The agreement includes 63 permanent employees and Maçoğlu has also increased aid for food and rent support for staff by between 50-100 percent, according to Diken.
Maçoğlu of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) became mayor of the central district of Tunceli in the March 2019 local elections, which saw President Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lose capital Ankara and Turkey’s business hub, Istanbul.
The mayor has made headlines over his pro-labour practices since coming into office, including annual raises far above the average and paid days off for staff participating in LGBT protests and women on International Women’s Day.
Ahval