The draft legislation which it was hoped would restore trade union rights had not come into force by the end of 2005. Instead, a proscriptive government decree controlling all union finance was passed. During the year, three trade unionists were murdered, several others were the victims of assassination attempts and many were kidnapped.
TRADE UNION RIGHTS IN LAW
New draft labour code
A new labour code was being drafted with input from the ILO. By the end of 2005, however, it had still not been implemented. The draft Transitional Administrative Law included freedom of association and the right to strike.
Old laws still in force
Until a new Labour Code is adopted, the Saddam-era labour laws are technically still in force. Hence, there are still many obstacles to trade union rights, including the ban on organising and the right to strike in the public sector.
Government moves to control trade union finance
In August 2005, the Council of Ministers passed Decree 875. This handed responsibility for labour and social rights to a new committee comprising government ministers. Decree 875 stipulated that the committee "must take control of all monies belonging to the trade unions and prevent them from dispensing any such monies." This gave the government total control of the existing unions' finances, violating the principles of freedom of association.
Decree 875 also speaks of the government's plans for a new paper on how trade unions should "function, operate and organise". In response to criticisms, the government said its only concern was that Iraqi unions were able to operate free of corruption and control, and were fully transparent and democratic.
TRADE UNION RIGHTS IN PRACTICE
Rebirth of the trade union movement
Less than six months after the collapse of the Saddam regime, 12 national democratic unions had been formed, including the Oil and Gas Workers' Union and the Railway Workers' Union, together with trades' councils in eleven Iraqi cities. Many Iraqi trade unionists returned from exile. Organising took place in workplaces where unions were forbidden under Saddam's laws. Unions even succeeded in notching up some successes in defending their workers' rights, such as negotiating pay increases.
The first woman trade union leader in Iraq's history was elected in August 2004 to lead the Electricity and Energy Workers' Union in Basra.
Official recognition - for one union only
There is only one recognised trade union centre, the Iraqi Federation of Workers' Trade Unions (IFTU). This grew out of the (previously underground) Workers' Democratic Trade Union Movement (WDTUM). By the end of 2004, the IFTU had over 300,000 members.
Full freedom of association not yet restored
While there is only one recognised trade union, several other (non-recognised) national-level trade union organisations have been formed, The Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI), for example, claims 300,000 members across Iraq, but has been denied recognition as a representative workers' organisation.
The fact that only one national trade union has been granted official recognition severely limits freedom of association. Employers have reportedly used this to refuse to acknowledge other unions in the workplace unless they join the IFTU. They also refused to recognise unions because they were not registered, although there were no offices where they could do so.
Threats to workers trying to take strike action
Many employers have reportedly used the existence of the old laws to threaten any workers seeking to take strike action in public enterprises.
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