Cambridge TUC leaflet on Iraqi Trade Unions

IRAQI TRADE UNIONISTS NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
The collapse of the Iraqi yellow ‘trade unions’:

After over three decades of repression under the Baath Party, Iraqi workers are now organising their own independent trade unions.
Trade unions did not exist in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. The so-called ‘trade unions’ which did exist were government-controlled organisations. They existed to control and repress workers, not to represent their interests. These ‘trade unions’ belonged to the state, not to the workers.
When the Saddam regime collapsed, so too did the fake ‘trade unions’. In their place emerged trade unions set up by Iraqi workers themselves.

The Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions:

In May of 2003 the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) was set up. Affiliates of the IFTU include the Oil and Gas Workers Union, the Railway Workers Union, the Transport and Communication Workers Union, and the Construction and Woodworkers Union. In June of this year six of the IFTU’s constituent national unions held their first open and free conference in Baghdad.

The Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq:

In December of 2003 the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) was set up. It publishes a monthly paper called “Workers Councils” and organises the Union of the Unemployed of Iraq (UUI) to campaign for the rights of the unemployed. In November of this year the FWCUI will be organising a conference in Basra, which representatives from 25 trade unions and workers organisations will be attending, in order to establish a southern regional union federation.

TUC support for the new trade unions:

The new trade unions which have been set up by Iraqi workers face hostility and attack from the occupying forces and the Allawi government, and from the murderous activities of the various Baathist and Islamist armed groups in Iraq. They need the support of trade unionists in Britain and elsewhere. As the motion passed at this year’s TUC congress put it:
“Congress re-affirms its opposition to the occupation of Iraq … (and) believes it is now more vital than ever to support the new independent trade union movement as an essential force in the creation of a secular, democratic free Iraq, free from fundamentalism and Saddam’s Baathism.”
The motion went on to call for financial and material support for Iraqi trade unions, the twinning of Iraqi and British trade union organisations, visits to Iraq by British trade unionists, and building links between Iraqi women trade unionists and their British counterparts.

Cambridge Trades Union Council:

Cambridge and District Trades Union Council welcomes the passing of this motion by the TUC. We want to build support in Cambridge for the trade union solidarity which the motion advocates. Recent meetings of the Trades Council have been addressed by spokespersons for the IFTU and the FWCUI in Britain.
Whatever differences of opinion may exist between the various unions in Iraq, or between unions in this country and those in Iraq, Iraqi trade unions must be supported in their struggle for existence and for workers rights. If the fledgling union movement in Iraq is crushed, it will be a disaster not just for workers in Iraq but also for workers throughout the Middle East.

What you can do to help:

* If your union branch wants to invite in a speaker on behalf of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions, contact Abdullah Muhsin at addullahmuhsin@iraqitradeunions.org or write to the IFTU at IFTU, C/O ICTUR International Head Office, UCATT House, Abbeville Road, London SW4 9RL. Donations should be sent to the same address. (Make cheques payable to: Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions.)
* If your union branch wants to invite in a speaker on behalf of the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq or the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq , contact Houzan Mahmoud at houzan73@yahoo.co.uk or write to the FWCUI at FWCUI, PO Box 1575, Ilford, London IG1 3BZ. Donations should be sent to the same address. (Make cheques payable to: UUI.)
* The TUC has set up a “TUC Aid Appeal for Iraq.” The appeal is raising money for all trade unions in Iraq, and aims to inject funds as close to the grassroots as possible. Further information about the appeal can be accessed through the home webpage of the TUC (tuc.org.uk). The TUC website also includes a downloadable copy of a report by an international trade union delegation to Iraq in February of this year.
* For up-to-date news about trade unions in Iraq, and about trade union solidarity campaigns and activities in this country to help Iraqi trade unionists, log on to the Iraq page of www.labourstart.org
* If you are a local trade unionist willing to give up some time to help build support locally for Iraqi trade unions, please contact the Trades Council secretary at stancrooke@yahoo.com
If your trade union branch is not yet affiliated to Cambridge and District Trades Union Council, please contact the Trades Council secretary (e-mail address above) for further information about affiliation.