Shafaq News- Basra
Dozens of former workers of theFluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) project —a key oil refining unit at the SouthRefineries Company— blocked the facility’s gates in Basra on Monday for asecond consecutive day, preventing staff from entering as they demanded formalemployment within Iraq’s Ministry of Oil.
The protest representative, AhmedShaker, told Shafaq News that around 350 workers had spent years on the projectbefore being dismissed after its completion without clear guarantees orentitlements. He accused recent recruitment drives by local authorities ofrelying on favoritism, claiming they included relatives and associates ofofficials.
“We have been protesting for morethan a year and a half, yet our chances have been overlooked,” he said. “Thedemonstrations will continue until our demands are met and thesemarginalization policies are ended.”
The protest comes amid a broaderwave of demonstrations across Iraq on Monday, with medical graduates andcontract workers rallying in Baghdad, Basra, and the Kurdistan Region to demandjobs and official appointment orders.
Public-sector hiring has beenlargely frozen since October 2025, when Iraq’s Federal Service Council orderedall ministries, state institutions, and provincial authorities to haltrecruitment across centrally funded and self-financed entities.
