SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Sulaimani branch of the Kurdistan Teachers Union said on Tuesday it would go on a strike in the province’s schools in protest of salary delays.
Head of the union’s branch in Sulaimani Dilshad Majid said teachers would not reopen schools until their demands are met, including financial entitlements and promotion.
“Teachers agree that we won’t resume teaching until our demands are met,” Majid said in a press conference.
Teachers’ demands include payment every 30 day in full, resumption of promotion which has been halted due to economic crisis, and employment.
On Sep. 21, teachers in Sulaimani threatened that they would go on a strike in schools scheduled to reopen in October.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Education postponed teaching in class one and two in primary schools until October 10, and resume studying online for the other classes.
The Kurdistan Region is facing an economic crisis due to falling of oil prices, Baghdad’s decision to halt sending salaries of the Region’s civil servants and the coronavirus pandemic.
As a large portion of the Region’s revenue relies exclusively on oil exports, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has failed to pay salaries of the months of April, May, June, July, August and September to its civil servants.
