IUS leaflet for 24/09/05 demonstration and Labour Party conference

This leaflet can also be downloaded as a pdf.

Solidarity with Iraqi workers!

Decree 875

In August Decree 875, issued on behalf of the Council of Ministers of Iraq, declared that “a government committee... must take control of all moneys belonging to the trade unions and prevent them from dispensing any such moneys”.

It also said it would lay down its own guidelines on “how trade unions should function, operate, and organise”.

The Iraqi government, as far as we know, has not yet actually seized any union funds, or shut down any union offices. The reason is the government’s general inability to carry through any decrees anywhere outside the Green Zone in Baghdad, rather than any rethink. The decree remains as a legal manifesto for suppressing the de facto freedom that unions have had in Iraq since the fall of Saddam.

US/UK troops hated

Iraqi trade unions and international trade-union bodies have protested, but so far there has been no comment by the US and British governments who said they would bring democracy to Iraq.

The US and UK have also assented to a draft Iraqi constitution which, in articles 2 and 39, lays the basis for Iraqi women to be subjected to sharia law in all family matters.

The occupying forces in Iraq are widely hated for their brutality, arrogance, and corruption. Iraqis want a free Iraq, without foreign troops.

“Resistance” targets workers, women, Shia, trade-unionists

But the Sunni-supremacist, Islamist or neo-Ba’thist, “resistance” is even worse. They inflict on the people of Iraq, every day, what people in London got just one taste of in the suicide bombings here on 7 July. Just in the week after those London bombings, in Iraq 31 suicide bombings killed 238 people.

As well as killing workers at random, and targeting sectarian attacks at Iraq’s Shia majority, “resistance” groups have assassinated trade unionists.

Support the Iraqi labour movement!

A new labour movement has emerged in Iraq since the fall of Saddam. Diverse, full of internal conflicts, and hard-pressed, it still exists. It has organised strikes, demonstrations, conferences, and factory agitation.

It is not only the necessary self-defence movement of Iraq’s workers, but also the force in Iraq which can mobilise the harassed majority, across Shia-Sunni-Kurdish sectarian lines, for a democratic, secular, and free Iraq. It is the positive alternative both to the US/UK occupation and to the reactionary “resistance”.

The new Iraqi trade unions urgently need international solidarity. Iraq Union Solidarity exists to organise that support.

Contact us! Web: www.iraqunionsolidarity.org. Email: iraqunionsolidarity@yahoo.com. Phone: 07979 421475. Postal address: c/o Pauline Bradley (convenor), 48 Grand Parade, Green Lanes, London N4 1AG.

Video on Iraqi unions

In June 2005 six senior Iraqi trade union leaders toured the United States hosted by U.S. Labor Against the War, visiting 25 cities and speaking to several thousand unionists, peace activists, and others.
A new video documentary about the tour captures the energy and emotions of the tour while expressing the important substantive message Iraqi workers want to convey to all Americans: end the occupation; oppose the privatization of Iraqi national resources; and support the right of all Iraqi workers to organize free and independent trade unions.

See the trailer online, and find out more, here.

GUOE Position on Privatisation

August 2005 - Statement by Union President Hassan Jum'a Awwad Al-Assadi, translated from Arabic by Dr Kamil Mahdi, University of Exeter

In The Name of God the Merciful and Beneficient

Subject: The Stance of the GUOE in the southern region on privatisation

Greetings (Assalamu Alikum wa rahmatu-allhi wa barakatuhu)

Friends, I wish to convey to you the greetings of your friends the members of the Executive Board of the Union, and we wish to clarify to you our view on privatisation, an issue of major concern for us as workers' movement leaders in this most important of work venues, i.e. oil. Our stance on this intricate issue is clear and explicit.

The privatisation of the oil and industrial sectors is the objective of all in the Iraqi state [Government], and we must state that we will stand firm against this imperialist plan that would hand over Iraq's wealth to international capitalism such that the deprived Iraqi people would not benefit from it.

We reaffirm our unshakeable position on this basic issue for the future of the new Iraq, for we cannot build our country unless its wealth is in its own possession, and we need your assistance and support as we are fighting our enemies on the inside and you are our support outside.

The GUOE is the only union which has taken this courageous stance of fighting privatisation, and we are taking this path for the sake of Iraq's glory even if it costs us our lives. The reason for this is that we feel that the Iraqis are capable of managing the their companies and their investments by themselves, because they have huge capabilities and technical knowledge.

We want you to know that we transformed the Iraqi Drilling Company from a non-existent entity into a company that is akin to international one, and it now owns 13 Drilling Towers which is a pride to all of us. For that and for all the achievements in the Oil Sector, we stand firm against privatisation, and I trust you confidence in the Union will not be shaken, for we have charted our steady and clear path from which we cannot ever never deviate.

IFTU President, Raseen Alawadi addresses British trade unionists at TUC 2005 Conference

The President of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), Raseen Alawadi addressed a fringe meeting of British trade unionists on Wednesday 14 September on the most recent dramatic developments on the situation for trade unionists in Iraq. The meeting was sponsored by UNISON, Britain's largest union and chaired by Sue Rogers, Treasurer of teachers' union NASUWT and Chair of the British TUC's Iraq Solidarity Committee. UNISON Deputy General Secretary, Keith Sonnet who has recently returned from a trade union delegation to Iraqi Kurdistan also addressed the meeting.

Raseen Alawadi joined the Construction and Woodworkers' Union in 1957 and by 1959 had already been arrested for trade union activities. By 1968 he had become International Secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) and also during this period became Vice President of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU).

In 1979 he was arrested in a purge by the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein that included the murder of GFTU President Mohamed Ayish. Raseen and others accused of plotting against the Iraqi dictator were imprisoned but escaped from Iraq in 1991, returning in April 2003 after the fall of Saddam's regime to establish the IFTU.

Raseen reminded the British trade unionists that Iraq's people continued to bleed from wounds inflicted by terrorism. Earlier that same day the TUC President, Jeannie Drake had informed delegates of the terrible news of yet another car bomb in Baghdad, deliberately targetted at Iraqi workers queuing outside an employment agency for desperately needed jobs. This horror followed the great tragedy a few weeks previously that saw a terrorist-inspired panic lead to the deaths of more than a thousand people in the stampede on Al Khadamiya bridge.

Such terror attacks fall on trade unionists on a regular basis, Raseen said: "When we go to our offices in the morning, we don't know whether we will be coming home again." Yet, Raseen insisted that despite the existence of these fundamentalists who attack working class people in their homes and workplaces and in the street, the IFTU remains optimistic. The foreign intervention feeds such extremism and that is why the IFTU reiterates its position of calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq by foreign armies.

On the furious debate that is taking place in Iraq over the new draft constitution, Raseen said; "In general we support the need for the new constitution, although we have great reservations about the current draft being proposed to the Iraqi parliament."

The IFTU's reservations are firstly the references to Islam and religion as the source of the law under the constitution, secondly the draft constitution's relegation of the position of women, thirdly the crude references to de-Ba'athification, which fail to distinguish between the bloody criminals of Saddam's regime and the many thousands of ordinary Iraqi people who may have joined Saddam's Ba'ath Party because of fear, or to protect a relative, or in order to access higher education or employment. Fourthly, the IFTU supports the principle of federalism in the draft Constitution, but opposes the sectarian way that this is being used by Islamists in the south to divide Iraq.

Raseen said: "We are working for national unity on the basis of equality under the law. We have worked for over two years now for the creation of one united, democratic trade union movement in Iraq and we have now achieved this goal with the joint statements that were signed between the IFTU, the GFTU and the General Federation of Iraqi Trade Unions" (GFITU - a fraction of the former state-run GFTU that split off following the fall of Saddam Hussein, in an attempt to gain political patronage from the Islamic political parties al-Dawa and SCIRI).

As a result of the detailed discussions that have taken place in the last few months between these three organisations, three joint statements have been issued calling for unity and there will be a further meeting in Damascus on Monday 19 September at the offices of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, to formally recognise and adopt the merged federation, which will be known as the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions.

"The current government of Prime Minister, Al-Jaafari, has issued the notorious Decree 875 to try to prevent this united, democratic national trade union centre emerging in Iraq and we will not let him succeed", Raseen said.

Since the foreign forces invaded Iraq and occupied it, the IFTU has repeatedly called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces and the ending of the interference in Iraq's affairs by foreign governments such as that of Iran and certain Arab countries.

"The IFTU did not legitimise the occupation of Iraq, it was legitimise by the United Nations under Resolution 1483. Now it is time for the international labour movement to call clearly for Iraq's sovereignty to be returned and to assist democrats in Iraq to resist the attempts to breach women's rights and trade unionists' rights", Raseen concluded.

Brendan Barber's letter to the Iraqi government about decree no. 875

Dear Dr al Shaikhly

Trade unions in Iraq

As you may know, the TUC has taken a close interest in supporting the re-establishment of trade unions in Iraq, and I would like to convey through you our concerns about restrictions being placed on the rights of trade unions in Iraq by the Iraqi Government.

My concern results from a decree signed on 7 August revoking previous arrangements under the Transitional Administrative Law which allowed trade unions to operate and function without undue interference or harassment from the state, and therefore legitimised free trade unionism in Iraq for the first time since the Ba’ath Party took control of the trade unions in the 1970s.

Decree no. 875 was issued on behalf of the Council of Ministers of the Iraqi Republic by the Cabinet General Secretary. It reads (according to our translation from the Arabic):

“The Decree no. 3 issued by the Governing Council in 2004 led to the formation of a government committee responsible for labour and social rights headed by Naseer al-Charderdi. This committee no longer has that responsibility and in its place a new committee is established comprising the Ministers of Justice, the Interior, Finance, the Minister of State responsible for the Transitional Assembly, the Minister for Civil Society, and the Minister of National Security.

“This committee must review all the decisions taken to oversee the implementation of Decree no. 3 since its publication in 2004 and must take control of all monies belonging to the trade unions and prevent them from dispensing any such monies. In addition I am proposing a new paper on how trade unions should function, operate and organise” (our italics).

Signed Dr Fahdal Abass (Cabinet General Secretary)

My concern is that by taking control of the finances of existing unions, the Iraqi government is effectively closing down their operations and therefore removing the right to freedom of association with no indication of how long this suspension will last. This is a prima facie breach of the ILO core convention on Freedom of Association and a deeply worrying attack on human rights in Iraq. If the Government of Iraq wishes to revise the arrangements under which trade unions operate, they should be discussing that with the trade unions themselves, rather than closing them down.

I have to say, as well, that the Iraqi Government’s actions rather undermine their previously stated position that they could not move forwards on implementing the labour law that had been developed in consultation with unions and the ILO because of the need to address issues such as the draft Constitution – if they had time to take this action against trade unions, they have had time to introduce the labour law.

It is also a matter of considerable concern to the TUC that the laws banning trade unions in local and national government introduced in 1987 by Saddam Hussein remain in place. While Iraq was liberalising trade union law under Decree no.3 (2004), and given the transitional status of so many laws, this was understandable if regrettable. But now that the Iraqi Government seems to have thrown the process into reverse by effectively shutting down the operation of legitimate free trade unions, it becomes an unacceptable restriction of the human and trade union rights, which we understood to have been guaranteed by Article 13 of the Transitional Administrative Law.

I hope that you will be able to register our concerns with the Iraqi Government at the earliest opportunity and in the strongest possible terms. I have raised this matter directly with the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, and will also be raising the matter with the ILO through the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. I would welcome your views as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely



Brendan Barber
General Secretary

IIST Conference on draft constitution

IRAQ INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES (IIST)
Hosted By London Middle East Institute (LMEI)

INVITES YOU TO A WORKSHOP ON
DEBATING THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION OF IRAQ:
WHAT SHOULD BE AMENDED BEFORE REFERENDUM?

The IIST is organizing a workshop/conference on the draft constitution submitted to the Iraq Constituent Assembly. Advocates of democracy, pluralism, federalism, bills of rights, women’s and minority rights should have a chance to voice their concerns and express their wishes. The workshop/conference will focus on one major question: What should be amended? A nationwide advocacy campaign will follow to inform political actors and legislators and amend the constitution.

9-10 September 2005-08-17
London University, SOAS, Brunei Building, Room B102


Day One: Workshop, Constitutional experts’ views and community discussion

9 September (Friday, Afternoon)

4.30 p.m. Registration
5-8 p.m. Two Sessions

Day Two: Communities’ Concerns and Recommendation
10 September (Saturday)

First Session 11-2.00 p.m. Views
Second Session 4-6 p.m. Recommendations for amendment

Contact phone numbers: 0208 5780600; (mobile: 0795 104 3371);
(mobile) 0790567897; 02075392209; 07952790016

Contact e-mail address: flaeh1@btopenworld.com; saadkt3@yahoo.com

Nearest Tubes: Russell Square (Piccadilly line), and Tottenham Court Road (Central line)






Rules of Contribution


1- On Day One we will all listen to constitutional experts. They will try to develop a comparative view on the Draft Constitution.
All participants are invited to ask and/or comment to develop major thematic points. Questions will have 3 minutes; comments will have five minutes each.


2- Day Two, Session One:
Representatives of groups and communities will present 7-10 minutes each
on a basic question: What is wrong with the Draft from the specific
interest/view of each group or community..


3- Day Two: Session two: Another set of representatives of the same groups/communities would present a specific proposal to amend the constitution in line with their interests and values. Each proposal should be written and presented in Five minutes, to allow for as much proposals as possible.


4- Each interest group or community will be represented by a minimum of five participants. Larger participation is welcomed.

Iraqi Refugees AGM

FEDERATION OF IRAQI REFUGEES, MANCHESTER

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
AND SOLIDARITY EVENT

WEDNESDAY 4th SEPTEMBER FROM 4.30pm

Venue: Longsight Library, Stockport Road (A6), Manchester

You are warmly invited to attend this meeting.

There will be an in depth discussion about the forced deportations of Iraqi asylum seekers.


For more information contact:

Burhan Fatah: (Chairman)
Federation of Iraqi Refugees
Greenfish Resource Centre
Oldham Street
Manchester
Tel: 0161 234 2784 / 07866 757 213

IFTU Statement on the Khadimiya tragedy

The IFTU on behalf of all Iraqi trade unionists today expressed deepest sorrow at the terrible tragedy that has befallen Iraq on 31 August in Kadhimiya, Baghdad, which has led to the death of more than 960 victims, with more than 800 people injured. This is truly a national catastrophe.

Whoever is behind this tragedy, whether it be the terrorists and extremists who want to prevent Iraqi citizens from practising their religious ritual or those simply wanting to spread fear and chaos, the Iraqi state must assure Iraqis that such disasters cannot happen again.

The IFTU sends its condolences to the people of Iraq and the families who have lost loved ones.

The IFTU Executive Committee,
31 August 2005

Unison: Iraqi trade unions under threat

(22/8/05) The new Iraqi government is attempting to control trade union activity by overturning an agreement that allowed them to operate without any undue interference or harassment from the state.

A new decree adopted by the Iraqi Council of Ministers stated that the government would be ‘taking control of all monies belonging to the trade unions to prevent them from dispensing any such monies.’

The decree also says that a new paper on how trade unions should function, operate and organise will be prepared.

In a letter to the foreign secretary Jack Straw, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said the decree represents a major attack on the ability of independent and democratic trade unions to organise.

He pointed out that under the former agreement trade union issues were the responsibility of the Labour and Social Rights Committee whereas now the responsibility has been transferred to a new committee which will include a number of government ministers, but not the employment and social affairs minister.

“I am concerned that this decree, and especially the measures relating to trade union financial assets, is an attempt to curb the growth of free trade unions in Iraq,” said Prentis.

“On behalf of UNISON I would request that you raise this matter with the Iraqi authorities at the first possible occasion.”

ITF slams new Iraqi crackdown on unions

24 August 2005

The ITF has condemned a new decree in Iraq that crushes trade unions’ right to operate free of government interference or harassment.

The decree, passed on 7 August, revokes decisions taken on union rights by Iraq’s provisional government and permits the control and confiscation of trade union monies by the current authorities. It also states that the right to carry out union activities is to be reviewed.

In a letter dated 24 August, ITF General Secretary David Cockroft, told Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari: “We are concerned that control of Iraqi trade unions’ monies might lead to the weakening of the Iraqi unions’ capabilities,” and added: “This is considered a clear breach of the International Labour Organization (ILO) core labour standards on freedom of association and a direct attack on human rights in Iraq.”

He also called on the government to discuss any future review of trade union activities with the unions themselves and raised concerns that laws dating from 1987, forbidding union organisation in the public sector, remain in place.

Cockroft pledged to raise these issues with the ILO through the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

Commenting on the situation, Bilal Malkawi, ITF Arab World Offices said: “While the ITF, Global Union Federations, and many international trade union organisations are working intensively to support Iraqi workers, the government is taking this action instead of helping unions to face the challenges ahead. I am really shocked by these measures, but I know for sure that the Iraqi unions are in a strong enough position to keep moving forward.”