Iraqi employees protest “mandatory” salary deduction, citing end of Lebanon war

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, many Iraqi government employees expressed dissatisfaction with the government's “mandatory” 1% salary deduction, questioning its sincerity.

“I was surprised to see a 1% deduction from my salary without my consent,” employee Yusuf Naif told Shafaq News, noting that “the deduction, according to the government, was supposed to be voluntary, not mandatory.”

He added, “The government was not honest with employees by claiming the deduction was voluntary after Parliament rejected mandatory deductions.”

Mohammed Saleh, an employee in the Ministry of Finance, told our agency that "the government's mandatory salary deduction is a violation of the law and the constitution," calling on "employees to file a lawsuit against the government for violating previous decisions."

“The deduction announced by the government was intended to aid Lebanon, which was involved in a war with the Zionist entity [Israel], and therefore, the end of the war removes the need for this deduction,” Saleh explained.

On November 19, the Iraqi Council of Ministers decided to “voluntarily” deduct 1% of government employees' salaries as a donation to Gaza and Lebanon, allowing employees who did not wish to donate to request removal from the donation list.