Hassan Jumaa Awad, leader of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, has been invited to the UK for Iraq Occupation Focus' ˜Voices from Occupied Iraq" Teach-In on November 26th and the Stop The War Coalition's International Peace Conference on December 10th. Read his itinerary here.
The Union has stated that ˜The privatisation of the oil and industrial sectors is the objective of all in the Iraqi state/government. 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 are taking this path for the sake of Iraq's glory even if it costs us our lives.
The IFOU is the most powerful trade union in Iraq representing over 23,000 oil workers across 3 provinces in nine state oil and gas companies. It is independent of all current trade union federations in Iraq.
The Union has consistently held a ˜Troops Out Now" policy, calling for an immediate withdrawal of all occupation forces from Iraq. Many of the Union's executive committee were persecuted by the Baath dictatorship. Awad himself was jailed three times by the regime.
The Union has on two separate occasions halted oil exports through strike action over unpaid wages, repressive Baathist managers and officials in the Ministry of Oil and land allocations for employees. It has successfully reconstructed infrastructure, port equipment, drilling rigs and pipelines without the help of foreign companies. It also succeeded in cancelling the last two tiers of the Occupation's Order 30 wage-table and raising the minimum wage for Iraqi oil workers from 69,000 Iraqi Dinar (£20) per month to 102,000 ID (£35) per month. It has also negotiated the return of 1000 foreign workers in favour of the employment of local Iraqi workers.
Ewa Jasiewicz, Co-Convenor of the IFOU Support Committee Naftana (meaning Our Oil) said, ˜Hassan's second visit to the UK is a wake-up call. Iraqi oil has not yet been privatised, and the IFOU are in a position, physically, strategically and historically to make sure that it never will be. This union needs our maximum support.
Notes
The GUOE became the IFOU on October 12th 2005 after the affiliation of further oil unions from Maysan and Dhi Qar provinces. They are currently still in talks with an independent oil union in Kirkuk.
Contact
Ewa Jasiewicz or Sabah Jawad, Naftana, UK Support Committee for the IFOU
07749 421 576 freelance@mailworks.org or 07946 334 238 sabah.jawad@idao.org
See www.basraoilunion.org for more information and background on the union
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