Let’s Unite as a Class and Say No to Poverty and Exploitation!

A German philosopher who lived centuries ago once said: “One thinks differently in a palace and in a hut.” This saying tells us the worlds of the rich and poor, their ways of thinking and acting are very different from each other. People know this fact through their own life experiences and intuition. For example, as workers of these lands, we mean the same thing when we say, “The well-fed do not understand the hungry one.” Likewise, the leaders of the working class have put forward on scientific grounds that the material conditions in which people live determine their ideas, perspectives, way of thinking and acting. In other words, human beings are shaped by the society and conditions they are born into, the social class they belong to, and the period they live in. For example, since the lives, conditions and interests of the slave and the master are not the same, their ways of thinking and acting cannot be the same. Keeping this fact in mind, let’s think of society today, which is divided into two basic classes: the capitalist class and the working class. Is it possible that the life, interests and worldview of a boss who manages a billion-dollar company and a worker in that boss’s factory can be the same? Are not the interests of these two people completely opposite? Now let’s try to understand this reality and its consequences by taking a closer look at Turkey and at what is going on in the country.

Statistics, figures and reports show that Turkey faces the biggest wave of impoverishment in its history. The working people, who feel the impoverishment to the bones, who are crushed under the cost of living, under the struggle to make a living, want to breathe easy and their problems to be solved. However, the government is planning to further exploit the working class and to rob them even more. What is the aim? To further fatten the companies that grow through exploitation, unearned income and plunder, and reporting profit records after one another!

The economic programme implemented under the leadership of Treasury and Finance Minister, Mehmet Şimşek aims to keep workers' wages and pensions low, limit the consumption of the working class; and transfer abundant resources and credit to large companies, save them from the economic collapse and increase their profitability. Within the scope of this programme, in the 2024 budget planning, it was decided that the 1.8 trillion liras of taxes to be paid by the capitalist would be left in their pockets. VAT and SCT on the backs of workers have been increased to record levels under the pretext of raising funds. Income tax rates were not set according to the inflation rate, thus appropriating a larger portion of workers' wages. The minimum wage, which has been eroding in the face of high inflation and the cost of living, was not increased in July. Pensions were limited to 12,500 liras. While high-interest loans and investment opportunities were sought abroad, the workers were made to pay for it.

The government's mouthpieces recently told foreign capital that their inflation expectations for 2025 are around 20 per cent and that they will keep the minimum wage increase at this rate. In other words, the minimum wage, which has been increased according to the fake inflation rates announced by TurkStat (Turkish Statistical Institute) and further reduced in real terms, will be increased in 2025 with a meaningless increase. The ‘expectations’ of the rulers will be the basis, not the realities and needs of the workers. The government is also targeting pension rights. Nihat Zeybekçi, a former Minister of Economy, shamelessly says: 'VYT (Victims of Delayed Retirement Age) means consuming the opportunities and resources of future generations today’. AKP group deputy chairman, meanwhile, claims that people in Turkey retire in their 40s and 45s and that the pension age should be raised to 65-70. Unashamedly, he lies that there is 1 pensioner for every 2 employees in Turkey and that the system is making losses. He claims they will bring a ‘fairer’ pension scheme by increasing the pension age, premiums and duration!

It’s clear that what the government is implementing is shoving down the throats of the working people and strangling them for the capitalist class interests. It is an utterly brutal IMF austerity programme of the heaviest kind. Publishing a report recently, the IMF stated that they found the government’s plan to raise the minimum wage in line with inflation expectations and to regulate the pension scheme very positive. The IMF praised the economic policies implemented since 2023 and sent a ‘keep it up’ message to the government. Not long ago, Erdoğan and his ruling partners, boasted in the squares that they had saved the country from the IMF and that they would never apply to the IMF again. Today, they are implementing the heaviest IMF programmes without the need for the IMF, so much so that they are even receiving the IMF's highest praise!

The bosses’ organisations also often express their gratitude to the government, saying that this programme must be implemented without compromise in order for the country’s economy to recover. They say that if the minimum wage is raised they will not be able to compete with their competitors, if they have to pay taxes they will not be able to create jobs, if they do not receive subsidies they will not be able to invest. In other words, they are saying that all the burden should be on the backs of the workers and the bosses should enjoy themselves to the utmost!

This shows us the following: The capitalist class, local or foreign, government and bosses, all think the same way and react with the same reflexes. They attack the working class with united force from all sides. They destroy even the tiniest shreds of rights and impose slavery conditions on the working class!

It is simply inevitable for the workers to react while the attacks are so wide-ranging. And so it is happening; more and more workers are seeking solutions to their problems and are taking the path of unity and unionisation. But here, too, the government and the bosses are hand in hand, trying to suppress the worker’s reaction and crush their struggle. As in the cases of Agrobay, Özak Tekstil, Polonez, CarrefourSA, Akcanlar, etc., workers who cannot make ends meet are fired when they join the union, they are faced with police violence when they take up resistance, and the courts issue fines not to the bosses but to fighting workers and unionists. This shows how strong this cooperation between the government and bosses is. What a recklessness it is that the police attack the CarrefourSA workers who are fighting for their rights with the words 'We bring you greetings from Sabancı (CarrefourSA boss)'. Farmers who protest because they cannot sell their crops, women who speak out on the streets to Youtube interview channels, and local villagers who want to protect their nature and trees face the same attacks. As in Hopa, the companies that plunder nature can go even further, shooting and killing people who try to protect it. Meanwhile, the rulers of the country where all this is happening can say that ‘the old days of bans, oppression, poverty and deprivation are now completely over, never to come back again’.

These are the aspects of the conflict between the capitalist class and the working class, and everyone acts in the manner of the class they belong to and represent. What is important and decisive is not the differences between people such as race, nationality, religion, language, and culture, but the class difference. The important thing is to come together with people of the same class, unite on the same demands, embrace the same struggle methods and stand in solidarity. As people of the same class, we must become one fist to stop the attacks of the capitalists and the government. If we can stand together against the attacks, we will find ways to make our unity stronger, mobilise and take back our rights.