Iraqi teachers launch nationwide strike for better pay

Thousands of teachers across Iraq launched a nationwide strike on Sunday, significantly escalating their demands for improved salaries, working conditions, and financial allowances, despite official warnings about the strike’s potential negative impact on the educational calendar.

The strike was called by the Coordinating Committee for Teachers, which has urged the government to include educators under a new educational service law similar to the existing legislation benefiting university professors. The committee also demanded increased financial allowances covering cost-of-living, professional expenses, transportation, and child support.

Teachers mobilised extensively via social media platforms, stressing their long-neglected rights and the necessity of collective action to achieve their demands.

“The demands presented are legitimate,”  Abu al-Ghaith, a retired educator from Baghdad, told The New Arab.

“For years, we heard promises of support, yet conditions have worsened. Patience has run out, and these demands reflect genuine needs. Some teachers on contracts haven’t been paid for nearly two years, while others receive only 300,000 Iraqi dinars (nearly $200) per month. This is insufficient under current economic conditions. Teachers, particularly in rural and remote areas, often spend more than they receive in allowances,” he added.

Sami Majid al-Tamimi, another retired educational supervisor, echoed the sentiment, describing the demands as fair. “This is truly a legitimate demand,” al-Tamimi told TNA.

“Teachers are marginalised, with no allowances, risk compensation, or housing support. Since the 1980s, no new residential area has been dedicated to educators. I retired after 36 years of service without receiving any land or significant benefits. Teachers earn only 300,000 dinars (around $229), while other ministries pay their employees millions. Teachers have become cheap commodities,” he said.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani recently announced an initial measure to allocate residential plots to educators. However, teachers and union representatives questioned whether this step alone would sufficiently address their broader grievances.

To address the issue, Education Minister Ibrahim Names al-Jabouri announced that Teachers’ Union head Uday al-Issawi would be invited to the upcoming cabinet session scheduled for Tuesday to discuss educators’ demands further.

Additionally, Minister al-Jabouri, Union representatives, and Hamid Naeem al-Ghazi, Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, held a meeting on Saturday to review the concerns raised by teachers.

The strike significantly disrupted school operations nationwide, leaving classrooms largely empty as teachers adhered to the call for industrial action. School administrators expressed deep concern regarding the strike’s potential implications for the completion of the planned curriculum.

Responding to the disruption, the Education Ministry urged all schools and educational directorates across Iraq to continue official working hours and ensure the completion of the scheduled syllabus.

In February, teachers from Sulaymaniyah have been on hunger strike for nearly two weeks, demanding their unpaid salaries and protesting worsening living conditions in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Later in the month, the teachers blocked trucks smuggling fuel to Iran, a nation under stringent US sanctions. 

Security forces in Sulaymaniyah and Erbil dispersed the teachers with force and arrested tens of them. Teachers’ salaries in Iraq remain among the lowest compared to other public sectors, prompting many educators to seek additional jobs to supplement their income amid rising living costs.