Health workers in Kurdish north demand more benefits

Health workers in Iraq's northern Kurdish Region have said they would stage a mass strike unless the regional authorities pay them extra benefits.

Earlier this month, five of the region’s health-related professional unions announced their intention to go on strike on 9 July if the government failed to pay benefits to their members. The strike was averted, however, until 19 July, after government officials held talks with union representatives.

Physicians and dentists currently receive 150,000 Iraqi Dinars (roughly US $100) because they are subject to daily contact with sick people, some of whom have transmittable diseases.

They argue that some other professionals, like police, receive similar benefits for risks taken to their wellbeing.

Health unions complain that they have already set several deadlines for the government, which has so far failed to respond to their demands. “Consequently, we were obliged to take a decision to go on strike if the government doesn’t accept our demands for restoring the benefits of health employees,” said Khunaw Hassan, secretary-general of the syndicate for health professionals.

Prior to the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in March 2003, health employees received regular monthly benefits.

These were decreased considerably, however, in the wake of the war.

But since early this year, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has restored the work benefits of its physicians, dentists and pharmacists, but not for lower-ranking health employees. This infuriated health unions, which now insist that all staff be paid equitably.

Talks between government and union representatives – with the aim of resolving the crisis – are currently underway. “Things are going positively, and some sort of agreement has been reached between the two sides,” KRG health minister Dr Ziryan Othman Yunes told IRIN.

“I hope there won’t be any strikes, as there is now some common ground.” He declined, however, to reveal details about ongoing negotiations.

Yunes went on to warn that a major strike by health employees would negatively impact the lives of the local population, although he added that planned strikes would not include the staffs of hospitals or health clinics.

MS/AR/AM