Tuesday, September 11
Defend Iraqi oil unions!
AusIraq in Australia has launched a petition to support Iraq's oil unions, now under attack from the Iraqi government. Download an adapted version of it here: please circulate and get signatures.
Tuesday, May 1
IUS London meeting May 7th
Iraq Union Solidarity is hosting a public meeting on Monday May 7th, with Martin Thomas leading off on the Shia movements in Iraq, after which there will be plenty of time for debate and discussion.
The meeting on the 7th starts at 7:30pm, and is being held at the Ship on Borough High St., nr. Borough or London Bridge tube stops.
The meeting on the 7th starts at 7:30pm, and is being held at the Ship on Borough High St., nr. Borough or London Bridge tube stops.
Sunday, April 22
Houzan Mahmoud speaks out:Life in war-torn Iraq
From Public Employee Press:
Iraqi feminist and labor leader Houzan Mahmoud spoke March 5 on life during the war, which can lead to unjustified jailing, kidnapping and rape. She lives under an open-ended death sentence from a religious court.
By GARY GOFF, 2nd Vice President, Local 2627 --- “There are no rights in Iraq for working people today,” said Houzan Mahmoud, speaking at the Manhattan campus of SUNY Stony Brook on March 5.Mahmoud represents both the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq and the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions, Iraq’s second largest union group.She is currently living in London and was in New York to testify about gender-based violence in Iraq before the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Mahmoud spoke at great personal risk, because she is under a fatwa, an open-ended death sentence issued by an Islamist group from Iraqi Kurdistan, where she was born.“Women are the uncounted victims of this occupation.”“Women are the uncounted victims of this occupation,” Mahmoud said. They cannot safely go out on the streets alone to buy food for their families, she said. Daily life is very difficult. There is no security. There are no basic services — drinkable water, electricity, health care or schools.
Millions of people are out of work or have been forced to flee the Islamist militias to refugee camps in neighboring countries.More and more women are now in Iraqi prisons, with no legal protection or representation. “They can just come and take you out of your home,” said Mahmoud.Civil society has broken down. “The government is dysfunctional,” says Mahmoud, with no real existence outside the U.S.-run Green Zone.
The politicians are heavily corrupt, stealing public money and spying on each other. Elsewhere, she said, there is “a never-ending battle” among the occupying forces, the terrorist networks and the Islamist militias and gangsters.It was not always like this. “Secularism is deeply rooted in Iraqi society,” she said. “The people don’t want a theocratic regime.”And, according to Mahmoud, that is the strength of the secular Federation of Workers Councils and Unions, which includes men and women of all faiths, ethnicities, and nationalities.
“We’re anti-occupation, therefore we’re illegal, but we still organize.”Unlike the legal unions supported by the Iraqi government and the U.S.-occupation forces (“We call them ‘yellow unions,’ ”), the Federation organizes protests, conferences and strikes — “at least two a month,” says Mahmoud with pride.“ We’re anti-occupation, therefore we’re illegal, but we still organize. We’re gaining popularity among the working people of Iraq.”In Iraq, the war “has created a breeding ground for the terrorists.”
They “carry out all kinds of suicide bombings and attacks, all in the name of fighting the occupation,” she said. The terror groups use the American presence “as a cover to kill.”Mahmoud sees women, youth, and labor unions as the keys to restoring a dynamic secular society in Iraq.
But before that can happen, she said, the war has to end. “This war is not in the interests of the working-class in Iraq or in America.”Mahmoud’s presentation was sponsored by Stony Brook’s Center for Study of Working Class Life and U.S. Labor Against the War, the organization that led the labor section of the recent anti-war marches in which many DC 37 members participated.This article is based on Mahmoud’s March 5 talk and an interview she gave Goff, which is available on line at www.local2627.org.
Iraqi feminist and labor leader Houzan Mahmoud spoke March 5 on life during the war, which can lead to unjustified jailing, kidnapping and rape. She lives under an open-ended death sentence from a religious court.
By GARY GOFF, 2nd Vice President, Local 2627 --- “There are no rights in Iraq for working people today,” said Houzan Mahmoud, speaking at the Manhattan campus of SUNY Stony Brook on March 5.Mahmoud represents both the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq and the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions, Iraq’s second largest union group.She is currently living in London and was in New York to testify about gender-based violence in Iraq before the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Mahmoud spoke at great personal risk, because she is under a fatwa, an open-ended death sentence issued by an Islamist group from Iraqi Kurdistan, where she was born.“Women are the uncounted victims of this occupation.”“Women are the uncounted victims of this occupation,” Mahmoud said. They cannot safely go out on the streets alone to buy food for their families, she said. Daily life is very difficult. There is no security. There are no basic services — drinkable water, electricity, health care or schools.
Millions of people are out of work or have been forced to flee the Islamist militias to refugee camps in neighboring countries.More and more women are now in Iraqi prisons, with no legal protection or representation. “They can just come and take you out of your home,” said Mahmoud.Civil society has broken down. “The government is dysfunctional,” says Mahmoud, with no real existence outside the U.S.-run Green Zone.
The politicians are heavily corrupt, stealing public money and spying on each other. Elsewhere, she said, there is “a never-ending battle” among the occupying forces, the terrorist networks and the Islamist militias and gangsters.It was not always like this. “Secularism is deeply rooted in Iraqi society,” she said. “The people don’t want a theocratic regime.”And, according to Mahmoud, that is the strength of the secular Federation of Workers Councils and Unions, which includes men and women of all faiths, ethnicities, and nationalities.
“We’re anti-occupation, therefore we’re illegal, but we still organize.”Unlike the legal unions supported by the Iraqi government and the U.S.-occupation forces (“We call them ‘yellow unions,’ ”), the Federation organizes protests, conferences and strikes — “at least two a month,” says Mahmoud with pride.“ We’re anti-occupation, therefore we’re illegal, but we still organize. We’re gaining popularity among the working people of Iraq.”In Iraq, the war “has created a breeding ground for the terrorists.”
They “carry out all kinds of suicide bombings and attacks, all in the name of fighting the occupation,” she said. The terror groups use the American presence “as a cover to kill.”Mahmoud sees women, youth, and labor unions as the keys to restoring a dynamic secular society in Iraq.
But before that can happen, she said, the war has to end. “This war is not in the interests of the working-class in Iraq or in America.”Mahmoud’s presentation was sponsored by Stony Brook’s Center for Study of Working Class Life and U.S. Labor Against the War, the organization that led the labor section of the recent anti-war marches in which many DC 37 members participated.This article is based on Mahmoud’s March 5 talk and an interview she gave Goff, which is available on line at www.local2627.org.
Saturday, April 7
Mechanics' union leader murdered
The GFIW mourns the death of martyr Najim Abd-Jasem the General
Secretary of the Mechanic Workers Union.
Brother Najim was abducted by criminal militias in Baghdad on the
afternoon of the 27th March 2007 . His body was found three day
later on 30 March 2007. Signs of torture were evident all over his
body.
Brother Najim was one of the key leading trade unionists who helped
to establish the IFTU now the GFIW after the fall of Saddam's
dictatorship and was elected as the General Secretary of the
Mechanics Workers Union in late 2003.
Under the former dictatorship of Saddam, brother Najim worked for
the Health Ministry as a mechanic before he was dismissed because of
his opposition to Saddam's yellow unions.
He joined the underground trade union movement (WDTUM) and fought
against the former dictatorial regime.
His murder is a sign of a systematic campaign to eliminate the
leadership of the newly formed independent and democratic unions
that strongly oppose sectarianism.
Najim A- Jasem leaves a widow and four children.
Glory to the martyr of Iraqi working class brother Najim A Jasem
Long live the Iraqi labour movement
Najim was kidnapped on 27 March 2007
His Body was found on 30 March
Signs of torture was visible on his body
Najim Joined the under ground trade union movement (WDTUM) in the
1980s
He was dismissed from his job as a mechanic where he worked for the
Iraqi health Ministry
He was reinstated to his job after the fall of Saddam's dictatorship.
He was a key founder the of the IFTU now the GFIW
He was elected to the position of the General Secretary of the
Mechanics Workers Union 2003
He attended many national and international seminars and traning
The executive committee
GFIW
Baghdad
31 March 2007
Secretary of the Mechanic Workers Union.
Brother Najim was abducted by criminal militias in Baghdad on the
afternoon of the 27th March 2007 . His body was found three day
later on 30 March 2007. Signs of torture were evident all over his
body.
Brother Najim was one of the key leading trade unionists who helped
to establish the IFTU now the GFIW after the fall of Saddam's
dictatorship and was elected as the General Secretary of the
Mechanics Workers Union in late 2003.
Under the former dictatorship of Saddam, brother Najim worked for
the Health Ministry as a mechanic before he was dismissed because of
his opposition to Saddam's yellow unions.
He joined the underground trade union movement (WDTUM) and fought
against the former dictatorial regime.
His murder is a sign of a systematic campaign to eliminate the
leadership of the newly formed independent and democratic unions
that strongly oppose sectarianism.
Najim A- Jasem leaves a widow and four children.
Glory to the martyr of Iraqi working class brother Najim A Jasem
Long live the Iraqi labour movement
Najim was kidnapped on 27 March 2007
His Body was found on 30 March
Signs of torture was visible on his body
Najim Joined the under ground trade union movement (WDTUM) in the
1980s
He was dismissed from his job as a mechanic where he worked for the
Iraqi health Ministry
He was reinstated to his job after the fall of Saddam's dictatorship.
He was a key founder the of the IFTU now the GFIW
He was elected to the position of the General Secretary of the
Mechanics Workers Union 2003
He attended many national and international seminars and traning
The executive committee
GFIW
Baghdad
31 March 2007
Sunday, March 18
Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq public meeting
NO DEPORTATIONS TO IRAQ!
DEFEND REFUGEE RIGHTS FOR KURDS AND IRAQIS
STOP BRITISH GOVERNMENT POLICY OF DEPORTATIONS OF ASYLUM SEEKERS TO IRAQI KURDISTAN!
SOLIDARITY WITH OTHERS RESISTING DEPORTATION TO DANGEROUS COUNTRIES
PUBLIC MEETING
MONDAY 26 MARCH 2007
7 TO 9PM
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Westminster SW1
Committee Room 10
Speakers: John McDonnell MP; Jean Lambert MEP; Dashty Jamal, International Federation of Iraqi Refugees & CSDIRAQ; Tim Finch, Refugee Council; Arun Kundnani, Institute of Race Relations; Emma Ginn, NCADC; Kurdish Asylum seeker who was detained; Asylum Support Appeals Project; Campaign to Stop Deportations to DR Congo (invited)
Come and hear the above speakers and take part in a discussion on:
· Why Iraq including Kurdistan is not safe
· How rejected asylum seekers are still made destitute
· What can be done to help 1.7 million Iraqis displaced within Iraq and more than 1.7 million fled to neighbouring countries
· Why the Home Office still removes people to dangerous places like Iraqi Kurdistan and Democratic Republic of Congo
· What we can do to stop the Home Office’s removal policy
For further information, please contact Sarah Parker on 0208 809 0633 or email sarahp107@hotmail.com or Dashty Jamal on 07856032991 or d.jamal@ntlworld.com
www.csdiraq.com
Donations urgently needed to support the work of CSDIraq: please send cheques made payable to Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq to PO Box 1575 Ilford 1GI 3BZ. National trade union affiliations £100.
DEFEND REFUGEE RIGHTS FOR KURDS AND IRAQIS
STOP BRITISH GOVERNMENT POLICY OF DEPORTATIONS OF ASYLUM SEEKERS TO IRAQI KURDISTAN!
SOLIDARITY WITH OTHERS RESISTING DEPORTATION TO DANGEROUS COUNTRIES
PUBLIC MEETING
MONDAY 26 MARCH 2007
7 TO 9PM
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Westminster SW1
Committee Room 10
Speakers: John McDonnell MP; Jean Lambert MEP; Dashty Jamal, International Federation of Iraqi Refugees & CSDIRAQ; Tim Finch, Refugee Council; Arun Kundnani, Institute of Race Relations; Emma Ginn, NCADC; Kurdish Asylum seeker who was detained; Asylum Support Appeals Project; Campaign to Stop Deportations to DR Congo (invited)
Come and hear the above speakers and take part in a discussion on:
· Why Iraq including Kurdistan is not safe
· How rejected asylum seekers are still made destitute
· What can be done to help 1.7 million Iraqis displaced within Iraq and more than 1.7 million fled to neighbouring countries
· Why the Home Office still removes people to dangerous places like Iraqi Kurdistan and Democratic Republic of Congo
· What we can do to stop the Home Office’s removal policy
For further information, please contact Sarah Parker on 0208 809 0633 or email sarahp107@hotmail.com or Dashty Jamal on 07856032991 or d.jamal@ntlworld.com
www.csdiraq.com
Donations urgently needed to support the work of CSDIraq: please send cheques made payable to Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq to PO Box 1575 Ilford 1GI 3BZ. National trade union affiliations £100.
Iraqi women's rights activist threatened
Houzan Mahmoud, a leading activist in the Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq, has received a death threat from Islamist groups who want to smash any hope of women's rights.
The death threat, delivered via e-mail, read, "With the permission of Great God, we will kill you either in Iraq or in London by the middle of March, because you are campaigning against Islam. You should be sent to God for punishment." Houzan Mahmoud, who is currently based in London, is originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, where she recently led a campaign against the imposition of Islamic Sharia law in the proposed constitution.
Ms. Mahmoud, aged 34, is an outspoken Iraqi feminist, secularist, journalist, and human rights activist. She has resolved to persist in her work, despite being targeted by Ansar al-Islam. In a letter to MADRE on February 27, Ms. Mahmoud stated, "I will continue doing what I am doing now, going around the world cultivating support for women in Iraq and Kurdistan as well as exposing the violence and gender apartheid that Islamists are imposing on millions of women in the region."
Originally from MADRE
The death threat, delivered via e-mail, read, "With the permission of Great God, we will kill you either in Iraq or in London by the middle of March, because you are campaigning against Islam. You should be sent to God for punishment." Houzan Mahmoud, who is currently based in London, is originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, where she recently led a campaign against the imposition of Islamic Sharia law in the proposed constitution.
Ms. Mahmoud, aged 34, is an outspoken Iraqi feminist, secularist, journalist, and human rights activist. She has resolved to persist in her work, despite being targeted by Ansar al-Islam. In a letter to MADRE on February 27, Ms. Mahmoud stated, "I will continue doing what I am doing now, going around the world cultivating support for women in Iraq and Kurdistan as well as exposing the violence and gender apartheid that Islamists are imposing on millions of women in the region."
Originally from MADRE
'Hands off Iraqi oil' teach-in
'HANDS OFF IRAQI OIL' TEACH-IN
11am-5pm, Saturday 24 March 2007
Union Chapel, Compton Ave, London N1 2XD
Tube: Highbury and Islington
Map: http://tinyurl.com/22y2lc
With:
* Greg Muttitt from PLATFORM (author 'Crude Designs: The rip-off of Iraq's
oil wealth')
* Ewa Jasiewicz from Naftana (UK Support Committee for the General Union of
Oil Employees)
Supported by: Iraq Occupation Focus, Jubilee Iraq, Naftana, Platform, Voices
UK and War on Want.
For the Iraqi people war and occupation has led to hundreds of thousands of
deaths, relentless insecurity and crippling poverty. But for foreign oil
companies the desperate situation in Iraq is a chance to take control of
Iraq's oil and make massive profits at the expense of its people.
A new law that would transfer control of most of Iraq's oil production from
the public sector to multinational oil companies through long-term contracts
of up to 20 or 30 years, now looks set to be rubber-stamped by Iraq's
Parliament in the next few months. Whilst the US and British governments,
the IMF and the big multinational oil companies have all been active in
shaping the new law - which will tie the hands of future governments,
depriving them of democratic control over the country's main natural
resource - the Iraqi public and Iraqi civil society have been excluded from
the process.
Join us on 24th March to:
* find out more about the new law, the companies involved, and the US and UK
Governments' roles in this smash and grab law
* make plans to take action to stop British companies from joining the race
to carve up Iraq's oil wealth.
For more information about the campaign visit www.HandsOffIraqiOil.org.
11am-5pm, Saturday 24 March 2007
Union Chapel, Compton Ave, London N1 2XD
Tube: Highbury and Islington
Map: http://tinyurl.com/22y2lc
With:
* Greg Muttitt from PLATFORM (author 'Crude Designs: The rip-off of Iraq's
oil wealth')
* Ewa Jasiewicz from Naftana (UK Support Committee for the General Union of
Oil Employees)
Supported by: Iraq Occupation Focus, Jubilee Iraq, Naftana, Platform, Voices
UK and War on Want.
For the Iraqi people war and occupation has led to hundreds of thousands of
deaths, relentless insecurity and crippling poverty. But for foreign oil
companies the desperate situation in Iraq is a chance to take control of
Iraq's oil and make massive profits at the expense of its people.
A new law that would transfer control of most of Iraq's oil production from
the public sector to multinational oil companies through long-term contracts
of up to 20 or 30 years, now looks set to be rubber-stamped by Iraq's
Parliament in the next few months. Whilst the US and British governments,
the IMF and the big multinational oil companies have all been active in
shaping the new law - which will tie the hands of future governments,
depriving them of democratic control over the country's main natural
resource - the Iraqi public and Iraqi civil society have been excluded from
the process.
Join us on 24th March to:
* find out more about the new law, the companies involved, and the US and UK
Governments' roles in this smash and grab law
* make plans to take action to stop British companies from joining the race
to carve up Iraq's oil wealth.
For more information about the campaign visit www.HandsOffIraqiOil.org.
Monday, February 5
Iraq union leader injured in bomb attack
Khalil Ibrahim Al-Mashhadani, Vice-President of the GFIW (General Federation of Iraqi Workers) as well as General Secretary of the Arab Federation of Building and Wood Workers, was injured in a bomb attack on Wednesday Jan 31st. Prior to the founding of the GFIW with the merger of the former GFTU, IFTU and GFITU, Khalil held the position of President of the former GFTU.
For more information on the attack, read the story on the website of the International Trade Union Confederation, or, for news on recent anti-union terrorism in Iraq, read this article on the TUC site.
For more information on the attack, read the story on the website of the International Trade Union Confederation, or, for news on recent anti-union terrorism in Iraq, read this article on the TUC site.
Tuesday, January 2
Anti-deportations newsletter ECHOES
The Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq has brought out the first edition of its newsletter.
Click here to download the PDF>
Click here to download the PDF>
Unions condemn carve-up of oil resources
Five Iraqi trade union federations have condemned federal oil law negotiations for being too corporation-friendly.
The leaders of the five federations meeting in Amman released a statement Thursday urging a pause in negotiations over a law to govern Iraq's 115 billion barrels of oil reserves, the third largest in the world.
Negotiations in some form have been ongoing since the invasion of Iraq, officially and earnestly since earlier this year. News reports and comments from those familiar with the talks say privatization of some form is a major component of a draft law.
This was confirmed last week by Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Hamid Al Bayati, who told UPI the intention is to allow foreign companies to invest in all sectors, including oil. The handling of control over oil to foreign companies, whose aim is to make big profits at the expense of the Iraqi people, and to rob the national wealth, according to long-term, unfair contracts, that undermine the sovereignty of the state and the dignity of the Iraqi people is a red line not to be crossed, the unions said in a joint statement.
They also shot at the context of negotiations, which happen behind closed doors and won't be made public until the Parliament votes, according to a release from the social and environmental issues group Platform.
"This law has a lot of problems", said Hasan Juma'a, president of the Federation of Oil Unions. "It was prepared without consulting Iraqi experts, Iraqi civil society or trade unions. We reject this draft and demand more time to debate the law.Iraq's oil law is seen as a major hurdle and step for the country."
Kurds and some Shiite factions favor more regional control than the Sunnis and other Shiites want, a major stalling factor in the talks.
But oil revenue makes up nearly all of Iraq's budget, money that could go towards improving the oil sector specifically and security in the country as a whole, along with other reconstruction.
The leaders of the five federations meeting in Amman released a statement Thursday urging a pause in negotiations over a law to govern Iraq's 115 billion barrels of oil reserves, the third largest in the world.
Negotiations in some form have been ongoing since the invasion of Iraq, officially and earnestly since earlier this year. News reports and comments from those familiar with the talks say privatization of some form is a major component of a draft law.
This was confirmed last week by Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Hamid Al Bayati, who told UPI the intention is to allow foreign companies to invest in all sectors, including oil. The handling of control over oil to foreign companies, whose aim is to make big profits at the expense of the Iraqi people, and to rob the national wealth, according to long-term, unfair contracts, that undermine the sovereignty of the state and the dignity of the Iraqi people is a red line not to be crossed, the unions said in a joint statement.
They also shot at the context of negotiations, which happen behind closed doors and won't be made public until the Parliament votes, according to a release from the social and environmental issues group Platform.
"This law has a lot of problems", said Hasan Juma'a, president of the Federation of Oil Unions. "It was prepared without consulting Iraqi experts, Iraqi civil society or trade unions. We reject this draft and demand more time to debate the law.Iraq's oil law is seen as a major hurdle and step for the country."
Kurds and some Shiite factions favor more regional control than the Sunnis and other Shiites want, a major stalling factor in the talks.
But oil revenue makes up nearly all of Iraq's budget, money that could go towards improving the oil sector specifically and security in the country as a whole, along with other reconstruction.
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