Employees of Autonomous Administration dissatisfied with recent salary increase as it does not meet high cost of living
SOHR sources have reported that the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES) issued a decision on October 30, raising the monthly salaries of employees working in the Autonomous Administration’s institutions by 100,000 SYP as of November.
The decision No. 384 covers all employees working in institutions affiliated to the Autonomous Administration under labour law, excluding those employees with consultancy contracts.
The recent salary increase comes after studies and discussions which lasted for months, where the increase in salaries was expected to reach 40 up to 50 percent of the fixed salary. However, most of the Autonomous Administration’s employees have seemed unhappy with the latest salary increase, and they explained that this increase does not meet the high cost of living, especially with the freefall of the Syrian currency against the US dollar.
Speaking to SOHR, a woman known by her initials as M. M. who works in an institution affiliated to the Autonomous Administration in Al-Hasakah city has expressed her dissatisfaction in the latest salary increase, clarifying that it does not match with the stifling economic hardship. The woman says, “my salary is 260,000 SYP, and it has been increased to 360,000 SYP. The increase of the salary estimated to be 18 USD, and this is a very small share in light of the prohibitively high prices of all essentials and high cost of living, especially since the relevant authorities have failed so far to control prices.”
In the past few months, several areas controlled by the Autonomous Administration experienced broad protests, especially by teachers in educational complexes, where they called for fulfilling several demands, including salary increase, improvement of living conditions and decrease of prices.
On October 19, many teachers of the Euphrates educational complex in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor staged protests, calling for improving the living conditions of teachers, increasing monthly salaries and paying teachers’ salaries in US dollar as the Syrian pound plummets against the US dollar and appointing school guards.
Also, on October 10, teachers in the SDF-controlled town of Theban in east Deir Ezzor countryside staged a vigil to express their solidarity with other educational centres in Deir Ezzor countryside. The teachers called upon the Education Committee to increase teachers’ salaries, pay the salaries in US dollar, improve the education sector, activate teachers’ unions, allow organisations to operate in the educational sector and appoint school guards.