BBC Turkish staff strike over pay
Workers at the BBC's Istanbul bureau are taking action after the corporation denied a salary increase in line with inflation.
Staff at the BBC’s Istanbul bureau have gone on strike over what union negotiators say is the broadcaster’s refusal to meet reasonable demands amid Turkey’s surging inflation.
Prices in Turkey rose 36% year-on-year last month, according to the government’s statistics agency, leaving the BBC staff, whose last raise was a 7% hike in 2020, facing a drastic shortfall in their earnings.
Staff are all paid in Turkish lira, which has fared even worse over the last year, losing nearly half its value against the US dollar.
Gokhan Durmus, president of the Journalists Union of Turkey, said five months’ talks broke down as BBC negotiators in London “didn’t really understand the situation” of their Turkish service employees. He said the corporation showed an intransigent approach to the discussions.
