Who Defends Iraq's Workers?

Houzan Mahmoud
November 2004

Under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, workers had no right to organize or strike. There were trade unions, of course, but their leaders were the regime’s loyal collaborators, and the workers were often persecuted if the leaders reported them to the Ba’thist authorities. All the unions implemented the Ba’ath regime’s rules, and workers had no right to protest. This went on for more than 30 years, and the segregation of Iraqi workers from the rest of the world was very damaging to their struggle in Iraq. Now the US war on Iraq, followed by the occupation, has created huge unemployment in Iraq and destroyed civil society. Nor does the future look promising, with the installation – against the will of the people in
Iraq of a puppet Government which brings together the most right-wing forces tribal leaders,the religious mafia and nationalist and ethnocentric forces. In addition, the rise of political Islam in its various forms is resulting in a growing lack of security and an increase in terrorist activities,including hostage taking, beheading, veiling women and depriving women of work and education.
Workplaces have been turned into battlefields. In April 2004, aluminium and sanitary supplies factory workers of Nasserya refused to give way to the Moqtada Al-Sadr’s terror group’s wish to turn the factory into a site of confrontation with US forces. In Samawa too, unemployed workers protesting for their rights were attacked by Islamist forces. Both the occupation and political Islam have created chaos and uncertainty in Iraq. The occupation gives the Islamists the pretext to continue their terrorism in Iraq under the slogan that they are fighting the “enemy of Islam” or defending the “land of Arabs”. In reality, this as nothing to do with people’s demands and desires for real freedom and equality. Helping and supporting these reactionary forces under the illusion that these are “resistance” forces
will just further their terror and violence against the masses in Iraq – especially workers and women. Despite all this, the working class has been organizing and protesting for their rights. A Union of the Unemployed in Iraq (UUI) was formed, as the majority of workers became unemployed due to the war and occupation. They have organized at least 14 major protests in Baghdad and other cities and had a 45-day sit-in in front of the offices of Paul Bremer’s civil administration for Iraq. The leaders of the union have been arrested by the US forces in Baghdad for defending the rights of unemployed workers. The Federation of Workers Councils and Trade Unions in Iraq (FWCTUI), of which the Union of Unemployed is a member, was founded to organize workers in the unions and factories around a very progressive and secular agenda.It seeks to defend the rights of men and women workers at work, to have the right to organize unionsand to strike and to end all discrimination against female workers, guaranteeing full equality between men and women at work. These unions and workers councils soon became very popular in Iraq and many trade unions are requesting to join them. They are holding a conference on 25th November in
Basra. More than 25 unions are expected to attend to discuss issues of concern and elect a leadership. The Interim Government, illegally imposed on the people of Iraq, issued Article 16 on 28th January 2004, stating that the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) is the only legal union and the sole representatives
of workers in Iraq. This totally violates the rights of other unions like UUI and FWCTUI which have been in the forefront of many workers’ protests. In contrast, IFTU has little to offer and has been recognized by the Interim Government because this will best serve US plans for privatization in Iraq. This is a crucial time for workers faced with the two poles of terrorism from the US and from political Islam.
Support and international solidarity from all labour organizations, trade unions, left groups and individuals are urgently needed by the forces of humanity, secularism and egalitarianism. Support us in our struggle for freedom and equality in Iraq!

Houzan Mahmoud:

UK representative of the Organization of

Women’s Freedom in Iraq

as well as an activist

for the UUI and FWCTUI.

For more information on the Union

of the Unemployed in Iraq

see:
www.uuiraq.org.