Shafaq News- Baghdad/ Babil/ Kirkuk (Updated at 17:57)
Employees and contract workers protested in Baghdad, Babil and Kirkuk, demanding overdue salaries, permanent jobs and action on long-running labor grievances, Shafaq News learned on Sunday.
In Baghdad, workers at the General Company for Construction Materials Trading, part of the Ministry of Trade, staged a demonstration over months-long salary delays and other financial entitlements. They also sought clarification about plans to shift the company to an investment model, while renewing demands for land allocated to workers in Basra, an issue they have pursued for more than five years.
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Separately, contract workers from several provinces gathered outside the Finance Ministry in Baghdad, requesting permanent employment after years on temporary contracts. Anwar Hamid, a representative of contract workers at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, told Shafaq News that some had waited more than three years for permanent positions. He estimated that about 150,000 workers are covered by the contracts, with many earning 280,000 Iraqi dinars ($214) a month.
Also in Baghdad, hundreds of contract workers at Iraq’s Oil Ministry assembled outside its headquarters, urging authorities to make their jobs permanent after years of service. The protesters called for a swift resolution to their employment status, with many having spent years working for the ministry while waiting for permanent appointments.
In Babil, protesters blocked the Hilla-Baghdad highway as they headed toward the capital, pressing for permanent positions for contract workers and action on food security concerns.
In Kirkuk, meanwhile, dozens of unpaid lecturers closed a road outside the Provincial Council headquarters, asking to be included in the local contract hiring program after years of service without contracts.
Iraq recorded a 671% year-on-year increase in protest incidents in the second quarter of 2026, reaching 44,763 from 5,806 a year earlier, according to Verisk Maplecroft's Civil Unrest Index.
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