Over 20,000 municipal workers on strike in Turkey's Izmir

ISTANBUL: Some 23,000 staff of an opposition-held municipality in Izmir, Turkey's third-largest city, hit the streets for a seventh day Wednesday in a massive strike demanding higher wages.

The strike, which was called by the Confederation of Progressive Workers' Unions (DISK), is seeking the elimination of wage differences between municipal staff from other unions. The Izmir municipality, a traditional bastion of support for the main opposition CHP party, has proposed a 30 percent increase on July 1, followed by a 19 percent rise on January 1, 2026. Some of those on strike were due to vote on the proposal on Wednesday. The strike comes as Turkey struggles with an annual inflation rate that is over 35 percent, according to official figures which are disputed by some independent researchers who claim it is much higher.With many municipal services suspended, piles of rubbish have amassed on the roadsides, with local media showing footage of Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay joining rubbish collection efforts on Sunday. CHP mayors have been hit by a string of legal probes in recent months, the most high profile of which was the arrest and jailing of Istanbul's powerful mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on March 19 over allegations of graft which he denies.

Izmir's mayor has also been targeted by another investigation into alleged vote-buying at a party congress in 2023. Observers say the government is seeking to weaken the CHP, which scored a huge victory against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP party in the 2024 local elections.In a report published on Monday, the International Trade Union Confederation ranked Turkey among the world's 10 worst countries for workers, alongside Bangladesh, Egypt and Burma.Researchers expressed concerns about the pressure on trade unions and a lack of respect for the right to strike in Turkey.