Kurdish-Turkish ties stronger than ever - Kurdish Globe

The Kurdish Globe No. 349, Monday, April 23, 2012 11Unemployed receive partial salaryAbdulsalam Barwari,head of the Social, Childudren and Family Commumission, says that thereare plans to establish asocial security commissusion and guarantee thatpublic and private sectoremployees benefit fromunemployment insuranceand pensions.Barwari stated in an intuterview with The Kurdiuish Globe that employeeswho lose their jobs wouldget up to 60 percent oftheir salaries dependingon their years of service.According to Barwari,the relevant institutionsand ministries are workiuing on a draft for theamendment of the Laborand Social Security Lawin the Region, which “hasbeen submitted to Parliamument” for considerationand legislation.“The Iraqi RetirementLaw was decreed in1969, and was amendedtwice afterward in 1971and 1989,” said Barwari.“According to this law,any person who works inthe government is calledan ‘employee,’ and theyhave certain employmentbenefits.”However, according toBarwari, in Kurdistan theprivate sector does notprovide all the benefitsthe government offers toits employees such as uneuemployment fund, pensusions and social security.Although the currentlabor and social securitylaw obliges the privatesector to provide similarbenefits to its employees,this is not strictly follulowed by the private sectutor. This is a major reasonwhy most of the peoplewant to be employed bythe government ratherthan the private sector.“Although the privatecompanies pay betterthan the government, it isless-secure employmentwith fewer benefits andsocial insurance,” arguesAhemd Abdulrahman, auniversity graduate whohas been looking for ajob in the public sectorfor two years since hegraduated in 2010. “Besusides, private sector jobsare more demanding thangovernment jobs, withlonger working hours andmore difficult tasks.”Barwari argues that theirproposed amendment isto enforce the law on theprivate sector as well,which will encouragepeople to seek employmument there. He added thatif the private sector offersmore benefits, there willbe more job opportunituties, less load on the publulic sector, and it will helpeconomic growth and devuvelopment.“In 2011, the Ministerurial Council submitted adraft law to Parliament,but it had a lot of shortcucomings,” explainedBarwari. “Therefore, theA worker at the Tawke field in Iraq's Kurdistan region, where oil was struck in 2005. The Kurds are claiming control of their oil.ministry [of labor and socucial affairs], social secururity commission, workerssyndicate and civil socieuety organizations draftedanother project after sixmonths of meetings, confuferences, seminars andreceiving feedback, andwe, as the commission,prepared the final reportand submitted it.”One of the points raisedin the project is reemphasusizing the social securityfund and forcing the privuvate sector to pay socialsecurity contributions andput it in the fund, whichwill be used in case ofdiseases, unemploymentor retirement to be paidback to the employees.“According to the draft,the government is alsorequired to contribute 30percent to the fund everyyear,” Barwari told theGlobe.The project preparedby Barwari’s commissusion only addresses thosepeople who used to beemployed in the past andcontributed to the socialsecurity fund, but theylost their jobs for variouous reasons. Only thosepeople, according to Barwuwari, will be entitled tobenefit from the unempuployment fund.According to the draft,those unemployed peoplewill get paid up to 60percent of their salariesfor the duration of theirunemployment and untilthey find a new job.The head of the Social,Children and FamilyCommission stated thatthey have requested thislaw to be applied to privuvate sector companies ina way that all the adminiuistrative staff of privatecompanies would contutribute to the fund.“Besides the benefit tothe employees, it willalso increase the moneyavailable in the fund.”Azad Lashkari/ReutersKurds celebrate 114th anniversary of first Kurdish newspaperA festival and photo exhibitution was held today at Pesushawa Qazi Muhammad Hallin Erbil to mark the 114th annuniversary of the first Kurdishnewspaper.Many photographers particiuipated in the exhibition andmore than 50 photos wereon display. The gatheringwas opened by speaker of theKurdistan Region's parliamument Arsalan Bayiz.He said at the exhibition: "Ibelieve that police and secururity forces should know howto deal with journalists inthe Kurdistan Region. Fromnow lessons should be taughtat police academy and intelluligence departments aboutfreedom of the press in orduder to provide a better atmosusphere for journalists."Kurdish poet Chnar Namiqsaid: "On the 114th anniversusary of the first Kurdish papuper, I congratulate Kurdishwriters and journalists, butregrettably we see daily a lotof unprofessional magazinesand papers. The main reasuson [is because] these papersare issued by unprofessional[people]."Kurdish writer and journaliuist Wushiar Aswad meanwuwhile added: "Because of thedemocratic atmosphere inthe Kurdistan Region, journunalism developed but stillthere is a lack of professionalpapers."Also we can see that oppuposition and private mediaappeared in Kurdistan. Thispoints out that the Kurdishmedia stepped forward."The first Kurdish newspapuper, Kurdistan, was issued onApril 22, 1898 in Egypt byMiqdad Medhet al-Bedirxan.AKnews