 failed to reach a collective bargaining agreement, with the union saying management offered raises even below Turkey’s official inflation rate.){kind=link}
Journalists and media workers at Agence France-Presse’s Turkey bureau went on strike Monday after AFP management and the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) failed to reach a collective bargaining agreement, with the union saying management offered raises even below Turkey’s official inflation rate.
Workers hung a banner reading “This workplace is on strike” at AFP’s office in İstanbul’s Şişli district and called on management to respond to their demands.
The dispute follows months of talks over a fourth collective bargaining agreement between AFP management and the TGS, which has been organized at the bureau since 2021.
The TGS said negotiations ended without agreement and accused AFP of offering a raise below official inflation at a time when salaries in Turkey have lost value under years of price increases.
Again #AFP strike, we are fighting for our basic rights, thank you for all your solidarity 🙏 pic.twitter.com/oETEGK36lP
— Fulya Özerkan (@FulyaOzerkan) July 6, 2026
The workers said Turkey is facing a cost of living crisis and that official inflation data no longer matches the costs faced by employees.
“There is a huge gap between TurkStat figures and the reality of life,” the statement said, referring to the Turkish Statistical Institute, the state statistics agency.
The union said March was the reference month for wage talks, when annual inflation stood at 30.87 percent according to TurkStat and 54.62 percent according to ENAG, an independent group of economists.
The workers argued that employees were being asked to accept raises based on the lower official rate even as their costs had risen closer to the independent estimate.
Official figures have become a point of contention in wage talks across Turkey, where public and private pay increases are often tied to inflation data. TurkStat put annual consumer inflation at 32.11 percent in June.
The International Federation of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists said collective bargaining talks between AFP and the TGS began in February. TGS offered two options — a 32.4 percent raise with a one-time bonus or a 40 percent raise — while AFP countered with a 25 percent raise and a one time €1,500 payment, the federations said.
The TGS rejected the offer. A mediation process under Turkey’s Ministry of Labor and Social Security also failed, the federations said.
TGS General Secretary Banu Tuna said a living standard that protects workers’ dignity is part of press freedom, adding that journalists cannot work freely while worrying about rent and bills.
AFP workers in Turkey also staged a strike in 2023 after pay talks with the agency failed. The nine day strike ended after the union said management accepted workers’ demands.