SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Teachers and employees in parts of the Kurdistan Region have gone on a strike due to salary delays, as the Kurdish government has yet to distribute their monthly payment.
Teachers’ disgruntled council said late on Saturday that there was no “excuse” for the government not to distribute their salaries, citing rising oil prices and revenues.
“The price of oil is rising day by day and the domestic revenues, customs and taxes have also increased dramatically, and the price of all basic necessities of life has also increased,” the council added.
“There is no justification for not distributing salaries and stopping the promotion of teachers and employees,” it said.
Oil prices have soared above $118 a barrel since Thursday on fears over disruption to Russian oil exports in the face of Western sanctions.
On Thursday, Kurdistan Region’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said half of the revenue generated from oil exports would go to the oil production companies.
The Regional government spends 41% of oil revenues for salaries and 43% of the revenue will go to the oil companies, he said during a press conference in Erbil. It also allocates 7% of the Region’s oil revenue to pay back its debts and 9% is spent for oil exportation, he added.
“We refuse the prime minister’s remarks, and we believe that there was nothing new except justification for their theft and corruption,” the teachers’ council said.
The council also called on the other teachers and employees to join them in boycotting classes in schools, universities and institutes in the Region.
On Sunday, dozens of employees at the general directorate of municipalities gathered outside their office in Sulaimani to protest salary delays.
“Our only demand is salary. It is out right and we call for it,” a protester told Esta Media Network.
“The government collects a lot of taxes. It still says it is bankrupt, even though the oil prices have increased dramatically.”
Employees from the directorates of electricity and public prosecutor have also gone on a strike in Sulaimani city.
Elsewhere, teachers and employees in Halabja, Penjwen and Said Sadiq have also gone on a strike in protest of salary delays.
Ongoing budget disputes between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad have fueled salary delays and education workers are yet to receive payment for the month of February.
The KRG needs 784 billion Iraqi dinars per month to make payroll and pay all the public employees including teachers, said a member of the Kurdistan Parliament Ali Hama Saleh.
The Kurdistan Region’s revenue for salaries almost completely depends on oil exports, foreign funds and 200 billion Iraqi dinars ($137 million) promised by the federal government.
The federal government, however, has yet to transfer the money to the Kurdistan Region.
