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
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