Teachers' union leaders interviewed

The IFTU held a meeting with the two Joint Presidents of the Baghdad teachers' union, Mahdi Ali Laffta and Salah Hassan Mahmood Al Jafat, at the meeting of Iraqi trade unions in October 2004 organised by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in Amman, Jordan.

Teachers' unions have a special importance in Iraq. During the Sadddam era teachers were rigidly policed by the state and Ba'ath Party apparatus, to ensure that they conferred legitimacy on the regime through their teaching. Those teachers suspected of undermining the dictatorship were dismissed. The teachers' unions formed since the fall of Saddam emphasise their independence from the state and political parties. The teachers' unions are not affiliated to any trade union federation, although they have strong and fraternal relationships with IFTU and share a political perspective on the necessity for building independent trade unions and rebuilding Iraqi civil society.
"The Teachers’ Union in Baghdad held its first open conference on 29 July 2003. The conference elected a new leadership committee of 15 members and adopted an internal rulebook.
"About 350 delegates representing 20 union committees in both Al Kharkh and Al Risaafah attended the conference. [Al Kharkh and Al Risaafah are the two districts of Baghdad where many of the technical and higher education establishments are located]
"Two preparatory committees, each with 20 members were also present even though they were not yet officially constituted.
"At the Conference these 20 committees merged to form two committees of 10 members each and the meeting elected two Presidents; Mahdi Ali Laffta in Al Risaafah and Salah Hassan Mohmood Al Jaf in Al Kharkh.
"Union Membership is voluntary not a compulsory, but teachers want to join us. In Al Kharkh there are 29,100 members out of 32 thousand teachers. Union membership costs one thousand Dinars a year; this is a significant percentage of a teacher's wage.
"In Al Rasaafa there are 25,500 union members out of about 33,000 teachers who pay the same membership dues.
"On 23 August 2003, 400 delegates representing teachers’ unions in 15 government regions across Iraq held their first National Conference. The Teachers’ Unions in the Baghdad region were there, came together and elected a 16 strong national committee.
"The National Conference of Teachers’ Unions decided on the following policy priorities and campaigning activities:
"The united Teachers’ Union campaigns for:
1. The reinstatement of politically victimised teachers to their jobs and compensation for teachers who Saddam drove out of work;
2. Teachers to have the right to a union representative in all industrial tribunals;
3. A trade centre for teachers to shop at low cost;
4. Increased wages from 5,000 to 20,00 Iraqi Dinars per month;
5. Reduced teachers work load and improved education by reducing primary class sizes down from 28 to 24 and then incrementally down to 18;
6. To retrain former teachers and include more computer training;
7. To build Teacher housing.