Najaf educators strike over university service allowances

NAJAF — Thousands of employees from the education and higher education sectors demonstrated Sunday at five locations across Najaf city, protesting the cancellation of university service allowances, a day after official assurances that a Cabinet decision does not affect legally protected benefits.

Protesters suspended work at universities and education directorates to reject decisions issued by the Ministerial Council for the Economy and Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2026, which they say directly affects employee rights and holders of advanced academic degrees.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Najaf Governorate building, the Directorate of Education, Jaber bin Hayyan University in Kufa and Imam al-Kadhim University, while staff at the University of Kufa blocked the road leading to Najaf city center.

Higher education employees crossed al-Sadr Hospital Bridge to join education staff outside the governorate building, demanding the “immediate and complete cancellation of the decision,” the “full legal calculation of advanced degrees,” reopening transfers between institutions, and canceling deductions to university service allowances with their full payment. Protesters said the strike would “continue and escalate by all legal means until the demands are met without delay or evasion.”

The protests followed the implementation of Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2026, approved as part of broader government measures to reduce public spending and increase non-oil revenues. The decision regulates the payment of university service allowances, which are granted under the University Service Law No. 23 of 2008 to academic, technical and administrative staff in higher education institutions.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Finance instructed spending units to submit payroll lists to implement the decision, clarifying that university service allowances at the ministries of higher education and health would be limited to employees “fully dedicated to teaching,” while payments would be halted for non-full-time staff. The ministry said the decision “does not affect administrative staff at 75% and technical staff at 100%” as defined by law.

The ministry further explained that Paragraph 7 of Decision No. 40 applies existing legal provisions and “does not in any way affect university service allowances granted to administrative staff at 75% and technical staff at 100%” under Article 14 of the University Service Law, stressing that the Cabinet decision does not amend existing legislation.

Earlier Saturday, protests were held in Basra, Diyala, Kirkuk and Dhi Qar, where university employees demonstrated against decisions related to withholding university service allowances. Some universities postponed examinations due to ongoing sit-ins by staff.

Following those demonstrations, the Ministry of Higher Education said its advisory body “assures all employees in its institutions that the Cabinet decision does not in any way affect university service allowances granted to full-time university service employees in accordance with the law,” adding that “the decision also does not affect allowances granted under Article 14 of the University Service Law to technical and administrative staff.”

Despite the official statements, protesters in Najaf said the measures have created confusion and financial pressure, prompting continued strikes and demonstrations across several governorates.