Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions bulletin

The 9th issue of the FWCUI news bulletin - November-December 2006

1. Zakho - Iraqi Kurdistan: Workers from Zakho reported discrimination against Arab workers from the centre and the south by paying them less than Kurdish and foreign workers. It is well known that there is a migration to Zakho and the rest of Kurdistani cities because of lack of work and security in the center and south of Iraq.

2. Suleimaniyah, Thursday 16-11-2006: 1800 citizens protest in Raba Rin neighbourhood of Suleimaniyah because the authorities did not distribute fuel (cooking gas tubes), the cost of which has risen 23,000 dinars for each tube(almost 16US$). After the people showed their determination to gather and protest, the fuel was distributed at a cost of 5,000 dinars per tube.

3. Baghdad, mid November 2006: The number of hairdressers killed by militias in the Al Amil and Al Bayaa neighbourhoods has reached 132. This figure was reported by
members of the services’ union residing in those areas.

4. Rise in abduction of workers from their workplaces: a considerable increase in the abductions of workers from their workplaces took place in November and December, especially in the Al Waziriyah district of Baghdad where a large number of factories and companies are located. The recent month saw a large number of kidnappings and killings of workers.

5. Tuesday 5-12-2006, Baghdad, preparatory meeting for general workers’ conference: a meeting of unions and workers’ federations’ leaders took place in the FWCUI Headquarters. The meeting tackled the main issues concerning the workers’ movement in Iraq and the necessity and possibility of holding a general conference for most leading unionists of Iraq in order to discuss the basic issues confronting society, such as the sectarian violence and standing up against the current divisions in the workers’ movement.