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Train services on the Marmaray line, a major commuter rail system connecting the European and Asian sides of Istanbul and serving around 600,000 passengers daily, experienced disruptions on Thursday. This followed a work stoppage by drivers protesting the government's latest public sector wage proposal.
The slowdown began early Thursday, with short delays reported on multiple routes.
Marmaray, operated by the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry, attributed the disruptions to “general maintenance” in an official announcement posted on its social media account.
According to the post on Marmaray's X account, trains between Pendik and Atakoy would instead operate between Sogutlucesme and Zeytinburnu for one day.
Additionally, the surface-level Sirkeci–Kazlicesme line would be suspended for the same period due to what was described as maintenance work.
According to the Turkish media, the protest was prompted by the government's proposed wage increases for public sector workers: a 17% raise for the first half of 2025 and 10% for the second half. Drivers employed on the Marmaray line, represented by unions participating in ongoing collective bargaining talks, refused to operate trains in response.
The protest is part of a broader labor dispute as unions push back against the government’s wage proposals. The umbrella trade union, the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Turk-Is) said in a statement that negotiations over the public sector framework agreement had not yielded a positive result, confirming that protests would continue.
The dispute stems from stalled negotiations between the government and trade unions over the framework agreement covering wage increases for more than 600,000 public employees. Turk-Is, which represents a large segment of the workforce involved in the talks, reported that discussions held with a government commission failed to yield an agreement.
On Monday, Turk-Is Chairman Ergun Atalay warned that over 600,000 public sector employees in Türkiye could launch a nationwide strike starting Aug. 26 if wage negotiations do not result in a deal. He added that ongoing sit-in protests—during which employees remain at their workplaces after hours—would continue, noting that such actions have been reported across all 81 provinces in Türkiye.
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