Al-Sulaymania’s medical staff announce official strike over unpaid salaries

Shafaq News / Physicians at Shar Hospital in al-Sulaymaniya declared an official strike on Tuesday, asserting that they would take stricter measures if their salaries were not paid.

Dr. Raber Hameed, a representative of the physicians, stated, "54 days have passed since we received our last salary, and the fate of February's salary remains unknown. Therefore, we are facing a difficult financial situation."

He added, "We will boycott all healthcare facilities in al-Sulaymaniya and beyond the city. Only emergency and urgent surgery departments will operate. We demand the government expedite the payment of salaries."

Over 1000 physicians warned that if their salaries were not distributed, they would take stricter measures, including closing all emergency departments, and hold the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) accountable for the risks posed to people's lives.

This strike comes at a time when the Health Cadres Union in al-Sulaymaniya announced their boycott on Monday, confirming that they would not return to work until their salaries are distributed.

Hawzin Osman, the head of al-Sulaymaniya branch of the Health Professionals Union, stated, "Health professionals in Iraqi cities outside KRI are promoted and given land, whereas health workers in the Region have to worry about their monthly salary, which are among their essential privileges."

Osman added, "We can no longer work without wages, so we have declared a boycott of all healthcare facilities until the status of our salary is established. This choice was made under the strain of our health professionals, as we can no longer handle the predicament we have been in for years."

He demanded KRG’s Council of Ministers, which is scheduled to hold its regular meeting next Wednesday, to "settle the issue of paying salaries for February, expediting the delivery of the March payment before the Eid al-Fitr holiday, and clarifying the future of prior salaries."

Meanwhile, a confidential source informed Shafaq News Agency that health workers have announced a boycott of all hospitals in Halabja, except for sensitive departments and emergencies, and they will not return to work until they receive their salaries.

KRG has yet to decide on the distribution of salaries for February to the Ministry of Health and other ministries due to financial problems between Baghdad and Erbil over the past period.

Notably, KRG's Council of Ministers had called on the Federal Ministry of Finance in Baghdad to send the dues of salary recipients to the Ministry of Finance and Economy in the Region in full and without discrimination.

On Wednesday, 21/2/2024, the Federal Supreme Court, the highest judicial authority in Iraq, decided to obligate both Prime Ministers Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and Masrour Barzani to localize the salaries of employees and workers in the public sector at federal banks.

Salaries are among the main outstanding issues between the Iraqi and the Kurdish governments, along with the oil export and disputed areas.

The Court's new decision has sparked anger and criticism among Kurdish politicians, with some claiming that the decision is unconstitutional and politically motivated and that it undermines the autonomy and finances of the Kurdistan Region.

However, some observers and experts argue that the decisions are correct and consistent with the law and the constitution and that they will ensure the rights of everyone and end the suffering of the Region's employees.