Kurdistan teachers strike over unpaid salaries
Shafaq News/ Teachers in Al-Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region,have set up tents in front of the United Nations headquarters, amid ongoingsalary delays.
In an exclusive statement to Shafaq News Agency, protesterShana Ali described the open-ended sit-in as a last resort after months ofunheeded demands.
“We have been living under severe financial strain due todelayed salaries. With no response from authorities, we were left with nochoice but to escalate our protest in front of the UN,” she said.
She further noted that teachers have yet to receive theirsalaries for December and January, with no clear assurances on when paymentswill be made, adding, “This uncertainty has deepened frustration amongeducators.”
Beyond salary delays, teachers are also protesting thesuspension of job promotions for over a decade, calling it a violation of theirrights as public sector employees.
Protesters have also urged the implementation of a FederalSupreme Court ruling that mandates the transfer of Kurdistan’s public sectorsalaries to federal banks, arguing that such a move would prevent futuredisruptions caused by political and financial disputes between Erbil andBaghdad.
Appealing to the international community and human rightsorganizations, teachers called for urgent intervention to pressure theauthorities into resolving the crisis.
The ongoing strike has already disrupted classes in manyschools, raising concerns over the academic future of students should thecrisis persist.
Kurdistan’s education sector has repeatedly suffered fromfinancial instability due to the region’s budget disputes with Baghdad.
Teachers in Al-Sulaymaniyah and other cities have stagedprevious strikes demanding financial and administrative rights, but a lastingsolution remains elusive.
