"We are calling on all the Kurdistan Region health workers to return to their work for the public interest, saving the lives of the honorable families of martyrs and people,” the Kurdistan Health Syndicate stated Thursday evening.
The return to work is encouraged so that the medical professionals do not become a factor in punishing the people of Kurdistan, the syndicate added.
Their resumption of work is conditional on regular payment of their wages without reductions, they added.
The syndicate described the KRG's decision to make changes to the salary-saving system as positive, saying the government has to implement the decree as soon as possible.
It also urged a complete end to the salary-saving system in the near future.
The syndicate also asked for a mechanism in order for the government to repay the funds they had deducted from the wages of health workers under the austerity measure.
The KRG on Wednesday announced it was abolishing salary cuts to low-earners — people whose wages are less than $336 — and capped the highest salary cuts to high earners to 30 percent, down from about 60 percent.
Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said the long-term objective is to cancel the salary cuts entirely for all civil servants.
Striking teachers have rejected the KRG's decision and have said they will continue their strike action until the salary-saving system is cancelled altogether.
The syndicate had earlier rejected the KRG’s decision, calling for a full cancellation of the measure that was introduced in 2016 in response to the financial crisis.
Health and education sectors in the two provinces of Sulaimani and Halabja are virtually shut down because of the strikes.
Some civil servants in Erbil and Duhok have also joined the strike action this week.
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