Appeal to all Trade unions and progressive organizations worldwide
Re: holding a conference for workers of the southern Iraq in Basra
Dear friends
Dear freedom-loving labour activists
The Federation of worker’s Councils and Unions in Iraq –FWCUI has decided to hold a conference for workers of the southern parts of Iraq in Basra in November 25th 2004.
More than 25 trade unions and labor organizations from various sectors such as Southern Oil Company Trade Union, Power Distribution Company, River Transportation, harbor workers, construction workers, Gas Company workers and many others…. will participate in this conference. The goal behind this conference is to organize and unite the workers of the southern region of Iraq which include Basra, Imara, Nassiriya, Najaf, and Samawa) and to unite their struggle. This conference is held also to form a united leadership for workers in southern parts of Iraq. The conference will discuss the following issues:
1. A draft for labor law put forward on basis of the current international
standards.
2. Methods by which workers can intervene in the political situations in Iraq and how to put an end to the current instability, insecurity and how to establish a secular and non ethnocentric government where the rights of all residents of Iraq are protected and they are treated equally regardless of their gender, religion, nationality, and ethnicity and in comply with Geneva convection on human rights.
3. Other miscellaneous issues in regard to workers’ situations in
Iraq.
4. The final part will be on discussing and endorsing a number of resolutions crucial for the working class struggle in Iraq and also on elections to form a united leadership to lead the struggle of workers in days ahead.
This conference will take two days and will cost approximately $15000. These expenses will be to ensure accommodations, transportations, and to provide security and thwart any terrorist attacks, which might target the conference. The FWCUI is, as everyone may know an independent union who has no support from any government, and relies totally on its membership fees to run its numerous activities. It is worth mentioning that the Interim Iraqi government backed by the American troops has adopted the notorious resolution number 16 which violates both ILO articles number 98 and 87 in regard to freedom of workers to establish trade unions and has imposed a yellow trade union on workers as the only legal and official representative of labour movement in Iraq without any elections. This union is a pro-government union and therefore receives huge amount of financial support without any accountability or legal representation for the workers. We had protested this oppressive step and have filled a complaint with the ILO and many other trade unions and labour organizations around the world.
Therefore, your moral and financial support is the only way to make this conference succeed which will be a step forward for the entire Iraqi society and it will probably eventually be able to save it from ethnic and religious wars which are now claiming the lives of tens of innocent civilians on a daily bases. This conference will also be a step to reintegrate the struggle of workers in Iraq in the struggle of their colleagues around the world after an unwanted discontinuation of more than 35
years.
We call on all individuals and organizations worldwide to participate in this conference as observers and we will guarantee your safety, security, and transportations. We will also arrange meetings for you with the workers and their leaders in Basra, Baghdad, Nasyiriya, Kirkuk, and other Iraqi cities.
Aso Jabbar, Representative Abroad of the Federation of
Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq-FWCUI and on behalf of Falah Alwan, President of FWCUI
October 2nd 2004
Donations to be returned to this account:
Lloyds TSB
UUI
Sort code: 30 94 51
Bank Account: 11610268
PO.BOX 1575
Ilford IG1 3BZ London
Solidarity messages to be returned to this Contact
address abroad:
UUI, Post Box 325, 3000 Bern 11, Switzerland
Tel: 0041 78 882 55 89
Email: asojabbar@yahoo.com ,
Webpage:www.uuiraq.org
Friday, October 29
Saturday, October 9
Comedy benefit night to raise money for Iraqi unions
Comedy benefit night with Mark Thomas and Simon Munnery, for Iraqi trade unions: 7.30 Friday 15 October 2004, at Conway Hall, Red Lion Sq, Holborn, London. Entrance: minimum of £5. With Mark Thomas, Simon Munnery, comedy, followed by live music. Organised by No Sweat. Proceeds to Basra Unemployed Workers' Centre. More info.
Friday, October 8
Appeal from Basra Oil Union
Below is a call-out for solidarity and support for the newly organised Basra Oil Union, lead by Hassan Jumaa Al Saadi, the General Secretary of the Southern Oil Company Trade Union in British occupied Basra.
URGENT APPEAL: SOLIDARITY WITH IRAQI OIL WORKERS! SUPPORT THE BASRA OIL UNION!
The Southern Oil Company trade union is the biggest and most powerful union in the South and since the almost total paralysation of the Northern Oil fields in the North since last November, the only company regularly exporting.
The SOC Union is a leading force in the newly established Basra Oil Union, of which Hassan Jumaa, General Secretary of the SOC Union was unanimously voted President of in July.
The Basra Oil Union has stressed its autonomy and independence from any political parties and agendas and as such is a leading force in independent trade unionism in Iraq and against political party or governmental co-optation.
The Basra Oil Union represents over 30,000 oil sector workers in the British-occupied south.
The Union comprises:
1. Southern oil company- 15,000 workers
2. Southern gas company - 4,000 workers
3. Southern refinery company - 5,000 workers
4. Iraqi excavation company- 3,000 workers
5. The Oil carrier company - 1,750 workers
6. The Gas packing company - 750 workers
7. The oil production company - 2,500 workers
8. The oil projects company- 2,000 workers
9. The oil pipe lines company - 2,000 workers
Due to its size and pivotal, crucial role to the Iraqi economy and also the profits and privatisation motives of the Occupation and neo-Baathi government, the Union is on the front line of the struggle to keep Iraqi resources and reconstruction in the hands of Iraq workers and communities.
SOC workers have achieved the following since the fall of the regime:
They have collectively physically expelled a number of their Baathist managers. Some however were brought back to work, albeit in different oil company sectors by the Occupation Authority.
Last Autumn workers also threw out Kellogg Brown and Root employees - both the imported Pakistani and Indian labourers and the top brass of the company, declaring the SOC a no-go zone for all foreign occupation-serving workers and interests.
KBR staff have been re-admitted now but their presence according to Hassan Jum'aa 'is very limited' and basically controlled by the Union.
Since the beginning of the Occupation, SOC workers have also carried out autonomous reconstruction of their workplaces, initially using spare parts from the local market and black market, before finally being offered and accepting parts from KBR. SOC workers reconstructed their own workplaces after the 1991 Gulf War. They see it as a matter of honour, pride, control over their workplaces and a way of smashing the Myth of 'West Knows Best' and western corporations rather than Iraqi working class people reconstructing their own country.
SOC Workers also succeded in raising their own wages. In December they threatened to 'Shut Down Iraq from North to South' and go on armed strike in over the Occupation's Order Number 30 decreed wagetable which set the minimum wage for all Iraq state sector employees at 69,000ID per month or £35.
The Union drew up its own wagetable in accordance with rent, water, fuel and market prices and demanded that 155,000ID be the minimum wage plus risk and location benefits - on pain of strike action.
The Occupation capitulated and agreed to a negotiated 102,000 ID per month minimum plus 30% total wage risk and location payments. This was a massive and inspirational victory for Iraq workers.
Southern Oil Company workers and Basra Pipeline workers also shut down all exports for a period during the siege and attack on Najaf this August in resistance to the Occupation forces' devastation of the holy city and in solidarity with the people of Najaf.
The Basra Oil Union (which comprises the SOC Union) needs your help.
How To Help?
*Please pass motions and resolutions of recognition, solidarity and support through your local union branches
*Write messages of solidarity direct to Basra oil workers. This can apply to unions or solidarity campaigns, NGOs, pressure groups, direct action groups, associations and organisations. Written collective messages or statements of solidarity make trade unionists in Iraq make feel much less isolated and vulnerable, and also show employers and occupation administration officials that there are people watching the backs of workers in struggle. In March 20004, the International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union (ILWU) sent a letter of solidarity to workers at Umm Qasr, who were working for SSA Marine (formerly Stevedoring Services of America), ILWU workers' main employer. The letter expressed the shared experiences of lock-outs and struggle against the same employer and the same dynamics of oppression at the hands of the United States government. ILWU workers encouraged Umm Qasr workers to form a union and pledged their full support to them. A few weeks later a union was at the docks was founded.
All messages of encouragement and support will be complied into an international solidarity portfolio and taken over to Iraq shortly.
*Raise money for the Union - from official Union donations to bucket-shakes, benefit gigs or jumble-sales - funds will go towards further autonomous reconstruction, strike support funds, publicity and out-reach for the Union. This too will be taken directly to the Union in Iraq shortly *Provide research on British companies currently actively privatising in the British-occupied south in terms of: corruption, corporate crime, ties to the British government and policy and practical response to unions, workers rights and strike activity. This information can be translated into Arabic and distributed amongst workers who have no information on the companies privatising their workplaces. US Labour Against the War compiled the excellent 'The Corporate Invasion of Iraq' which was translated into Arabic, distributed amongst trade unionists in Basra and earned USLAW a blessing from the Grand Ayatollah Sistani who also read it and said it would 'influence (his) view of the corporations active in Iraq'.
Please spread the word about the achievements of these workers and their representatives whose struggle is set to escalate in response to the escalation of privatisation policies, political repression and violence of the Occupation and the neo-Baathi Alawi government. The repression against the Basra Oil workers could be murderous if their struggle is not supported and widely publicised. This is a struggle which has the potential to undermine not just the Occupation's free-market project in Iraq and the Middle East but the very occupation itself.
A kid on the street from Birmingham to Madrid to Warsaw to Harare will articulate that the reason Britain and the US launched a war against Iraq was 'for oil'. But what is behind the oil industry, the economic addiction to oil, what is its role and significance in perpetuating capitalism and global apartheid? And what are the conditions, experiences and capabilities of those who produce that wealth? What is their role in perpetuating or sabotaging the onslaught of occupation, the free market and neo-colonial agendas?
It's necessary for us to expand and explore that reality, create practical solidarity with the producers of that wealth, and offer an informed class and ecological analysis of that industry and its role in the literal refuelling of global capitalism.
An understanding of, and solidarity with, the struggle of oil workers in Iraq is key to re-invigorating the international resistance to the occupation and vital in keeping grassroots forces practically capable of ending the occupation, alive. This is a part of the resistance movement we can support practically and with practical effect.
For more information or for speaking possibilities please contact: Ewa Jasiewicz, UK Contact for the Southern Oil Company Trade Union and Iraq Occupation Focus activist. Ewa spent 9 months in Iraq, four of which were spent working with, supporting and reporting about the SOC and other Union struggles, including the Union of the Unemployed. She also organised the itinerary for and guided the US Labour Against the War delegation to Iraq in October 2003.
freelance@mailworks.org (0044) 7749 421 576
Below is a letter from Hassan Jumaa, the Head of the Basra Oil Trade Union, which was founded in July 2004. It calls for international support and recognition of the Union's independent identity and role in struggling for justice and self-determination for the Iraqi people. The letter was read out at the Tolpuddle trade unionists commemoration festival in July and also at a Labour Against the War Labour Party Conference fringe meeting.
To Miss. Ewa After 35 years of severe oppression by Saddam's Regime on trade unions and with the help of God, and after the start of the British occupation to the Mesopotamian land, the land of history and civilisation, several worker activists from the Southern Iraq oil company put their first poster in the offices of the company and asked to rebuild the trade union organisation in Basra and particular in the government offices where it is needed the most. This organisation is needed to remove the oppression of the Baathist criminals. At the beginning we started with 30 activists and then we grew to several areas in Basra, including the deep port, north Rumaila and other places where we worked secretly as we were not sure what the occupying force would do. With the help of God we started organising our trade unions in places of work and we managed to establish democratic trade union organisations in 10 different places within the Southern oil company area.
After we established all our organisations, I was unanimously elected the leader of the Basra oil company trade union. In last 31 years I have worked and leaved the criminal oppression of Saddam's regime.
We have now identified our goals for our trade union works in this critical time which are as following:
1. The trade union will work hard to improve the wages of the workers under these hard and difficult conditions.
2. To protect the oil installations from the terrorist attacks, as these installations are needed to improve the standard of living for Iraqis.
3. Ensure that workers work in accordance to the agreed time in to not give excuses to the occupiers to take over our oil installation.
4. To ensure that the union will be involved in all company activities to improve reconstruction.
5. To meet the managers within the ministry of oil, in order to explain how to improve the working and living standards of the workers.
6. The union is working hard to return all the workers who have been sacked for political reasons* Finally the trade unions in the Southern oil company are in a very difficult situation and we are asking all international trade unions to help and to co-operate with us, as we are a free trade union, which does not belong to any political party and we are an independent trade union.
We hope that God will help us all and will be with all of us.
Mr. Hassan Jumma AL-Assadi
Head of the Basra oil trade union
* This refers to workers sacked for activity against the Baath management under the regime and those active in various parties now.
URGENT APPEAL: SOLIDARITY WITH IRAQI OIL WORKERS! SUPPORT THE BASRA OIL UNION!
The Southern Oil Company trade union is the biggest and most powerful union in the South and since the almost total paralysation of the Northern Oil fields in the North since last November, the only company regularly exporting.
The SOC Union is a leading force in the newly established Basra Oil Union, of which Hassan Jumaa, General Secretary of the SOC Union was unanimously voted President of in July.
The Basra Oil Union has stressed its autonomy and independence from any political parties and agendas and as such is a leading force in independent trade unionism in Iraq and against political party or governmental co-optation.
The Basra Oil Union represents over 30,000 oil sector workers in the British-occupied south.
The Union comprises:
1. Southern oil company- 15,000 workers
2. Southern gas company - 4,000 workers
3. Southern refinery company - 5,000 workers
4. Iraqi excavation company- 3,000 workers
5. The Oil carrier company - 1,750 workers
6. The Gas packing company - 750 workers
7. The oil production company - 2,500 workers
8. The oil projects company- 2,000 workers
9. The oil pipe lines company - 2,000 workers
Due to its size and pivotal, crucial role to the Iraqi economy and also the profits and privatisation motives of the Occupation and neo-Baathi government, the Union is on the front line of the struggle to keep Iraqi resources and reconstruction in the hands of Iraq workers and communities.
SOC workers have achieved the following since the fall of the regime:
They have collectively physically expelled a number of their Baathist managers. Some however were brought back to work, albeit in different oil company sectors by the Occupation Authority.
Last Autumn workers also threw out Kellogg Brown and Root employees - both the imported Pakistani and Indian labourers and the top brass of the company, declaring the SOC a no-go zone for all foreign occupation-serving workers and interests.
KBR staff have been re-admitted now but their presence according to Hassan Jum'aa 'is very limited' and basically controlled by the Union.
Since the beginning of the Occupation, SOC workers have also carried out autonomous reconstruction of their workplaces, initially using spare parts from the local market and black market, before finally being offered and accepting parts from KBR. SOC workers reconstructed their own workplaces after the 1991 Gulf War. They see it as a matter of honour, pride, control over their workplaces and a way of smashing the Myth of 'West Knows Best' and western corporations rather than Iraqi working class people reconstructing their own country.
SOC Workers also succeded in raising their own wages. In December they threatened to 'Shut Down Iraq from North to South' and go on armed strike in over the Occupation's Order Number 30 decreed wagetable which set the minimum wage for all Iraq state sector employees at 69,000ID per month or £35.
The Union drew up its own wagetable in accordance with rent, water, fuel and market prices and demanded that 155,000ID be the minimum wage plus risk and location benefits - on pain of strike action.
The Occupation capitulated and agreed to a negotiated 102,000 ID per month minimum plus 30% total wage risk and location payments. This was a massive and inspirational victory for Iraq workers.
Southern Oil Company workers and Basra Pipeline workers also shut down all exports for a period during the siege and attack on Najaf this August in resistance to the Occupation forces' devastation of the holy city and in solidarity with the people of Najaf.
The Basra Oil Union (which comprises the SOC Union) needs your help.
How To Help?
*Please pass motions and resolutions of recognition, solidarity and support through your local union branches
*Write messages of solidarity direct to Basra oil workers. This can apply to unions or solidarity campaigns, NGOs, pressure groups, direct action groups, associations and organisations. Written collective messages or statements of solidarity make trade unionists in Iraq make feel much less isolated and vulnerable, and also show employers and occupation administration officials that there are people watching the backs of workers in struggle. In March 20004, the International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union (ILWU) sent a letter of solidarity to workers at Umm Qasr, who were working for SSA Marine (formerly Stevedoring Services of America), ILWU workers' main employer. The letter expressed the shared experiences of lock-outs and struggle against the same employer and the same dynamics of oppression at the hands of the United States government. ILWU workers encouraged Umm Qasr workers to form a union and pledged their full support to them. A few weeks later a union was at the docks was founded.
All messages of encouragement and support will be complied into an international solidarity portfolio and taken over to Iraq shortly.
*Raise money for the Union - from official Union donations to bucket-shakes, benefit gigs or jumble-sales - funds will go towards further autonomous reconstruction, strike support funds, publicity and out-reach for the Union. This too will be taken directly to the Union in Iraq shortly *Provide research on British companies currently actively privatising in the British-occupied south in terms of: corruption, corporate crime, ties to the British government and policy and practical response to unions, workers rights and strike activity. This information can be translated into Arabic and distributed amongst workers who have no information on the companies privatising their workplaces. US Labour Against the War compiled the excellent 'The Corporate Invasion of Iraq' which was translated into Arabic, distributed amongst trade unionists in Basra and earned USLAW a blessing from the Grand Ayatollah Sistani who also read it and said it would 'influence (his) view of the corporations active in Iraq'.
Please spread the word about the achievements of these workers and their representatives whose struggle is set to escalate in response to the escalation of privatisation policies, political repression and violence of the Occupation and the neo-Baathi Alawi government. The repression against the Basra Oil workers could be murderous if their struggle is not supported and widely publicised. This is a struggle which has the potential to undermine not just the Occupation's free-market project in Iraq and the Middle East but the very occupation itself.
A kid on the street from Birmingham to Madrid to Warsaw to Harare will articulate that the reason Britain and the US launched a war against Iraq was 'for oil'. But what is behind the oil industry, the economic addiction to oil, what is its role and significance in perpetuating capitalism and global apartheid? And what are the conditions, experiences and capabilities of those who produce that wealth? What is their role in perpetuating or sabotaging the onslaught of occupation, the free market and neo-colonial agendas?
It's necessary for us to expand and explore that reality, create practical solidarity with the producers of that wealth, and offer an informed class and ecological analysis of that industry and its role in the literal refuelling of global capitalism.
An understanding of, and solidarity with, the struggle of oil workers in Iraq is key to re-invigorating the international resistance to the occupation and vital in keeping grassroots forces practically capable of ending the occupation, alive. This is a part of the resistance movement we can support practically and with practical effect.
For more information or for speaking possibilities please contact: Ewa Jasiewicz, UK Contact for the Southern Oil Company Trade Union and Iraq Occupation Focus activist. Ewa spent 9 months in Iraq, four of which were spent working with, supporting and reporting about the SOC and other Union struggles, including the Union of the Unemployed. She also organised the itinerary for and guided the US Labour Against the War delegation to Iraq in October 2003.
freelance@mailworks.org (0044) 7749 421 576
Below is a letter from Hassan Jumaa, the Head of the Basra Oil Trade Union, which was founded in July 2004. It calls for international support and recognition of the Union's independent identity and role in struggling for justice and self-determination for the Iraqi people. The letter was read out at the Tolpuddle trade unionists commemoration festival in July and also at a Labour Against the War Labour Party Conference fringe meeting.
To Miss. Ewa After 35 years of severe oppression by Saddam's Regime on trade unions and with the help of God, and after the start of the British occupation to the Mesopotamian land, the land of history and civilisation, several worker activists from the Southern Iraq oil company put their first poster in the offices of the company and asked to rebuild the trade union organisation in Basra and particular in the government offices where it is needed the most. This organisation is needed to remove the oppression of the Baathist criminals. At the beginning we started with 30 activists and then we grew to several areas in Basra, including the deep port, north Rumaila and other places where we worked secretly as we were not sure what the occupying force would do. With the help of God we started organising our trade unions in places of work and we managed to establish democratic trade union organisations in 10 different places within the Southern oil company area.
After we established all our organisations, I was unanimously elected the leader of the Basra oil company trade union. In last 31 years I have worked and leaved the criminal oppression of Saddam's regime.
We have now identified our goals for our trade union works in this critical time which are as following:
1. The trade union will work hard to improve the wages of the workers under these hard and difficult conditions.
2. To protect the oil installations from the terrorist attacks, as these installations are needed to improve the standard of living for Iraqis.
3. Ensure that workers work in accordance to the agreed time in to not give excuses to the occupiers to take over our oil installation.
4. To ensure that the union will be involved in all company activities to improve reconstruction.
5. To meet the managers within the ministry of oil, in order to explain how to improve the working and living standards of the workers.
6. The union is working hard to return all the workers who have been sacked for political reasons* Finally the trade unions in the Southern oil company are in a very difficult situation and we are asking all international trade unions to help and to co-operate with us, as we are a free trade union, which does not belong to any political party and we are an independent trade union.
We hope that God will help us all and will be with all of us.
Mr. Hassan Jumma AL-Assadi
Head of the Basra oil trade union
* This refers to workers sacked for activity against the Baath management under the regime and those active in various parties now.
Tuesday, September 28
Recent Trade Union statements
Passed by Finsbury Park RMT on 02/09/04
This branch notes:
1. that the Blair administration took this country into war in Iraq on the basis of clear misinformation.
2. that an independent trade union movement is now developing in Iraq, but faces harassment both from the US/UK occupation authorities and from right-wing Iraqi forces.
Calls for: Self-determination and democracy for the peoples of Iraq, and withdrawal of US and UK troops.
Further believes: That the labour movement in Britain should support that new independent trade union movement, and not the Islamist or other right-wing militias in Iraq.
Urges: The Council of Executives to give active support to the TUC campaign in solidarity with the Iraqi trade unions called for by the NATFHE resolution to the TUC congress.
Resolves:
1)Cambridge and District TUC:
a) welcomes the passing by the TUC of a motion from NATFHE calling for the British trade union movement to maintain and strengthen contact with Iraqi trade unionists;
b) notes the existence of different trade union movements in Iraq, and believes that all movements should be supported in their struggle for existence, whilst differences of opinion should be discussed fraternally.
2) Cambridge and District TUC therefore resolves to:
a) Encourage financial support from local union branches for the Iraqi trade unions (through direct donations, or through US-based Iraqi Solidarity Workers Fund until an equivalent fund is set up in the UK.)
b) Encourage financial support for the ‘Khalil Shawqi Appeal’.
c) Pursue twinning with the Basra Trade Union Centre.
d) Encourage local union branches to invite speakers on behalf of the Iraqi trade unions.
e) Produce a leaflet for local use, calling for support for Iraqi trade unions and giving examples of support which can be provided.
f) Support other practical initiatives in support of Iraqi trade unions, resources permitting.
3) In order to implement this motion, Cambridge and District TUC agrees to set up a working group, operating under the name of the Trades Council and in line with Trades Council policies, but open to involvement by trade unionists in the Cambridge and District area.
This branch notes:
1. that the Blair administration took this country into war in Iraq on the basis of clear misinformation.
2. that an independent trade union movement is now developing in Iraq, but faces harassment both from the US/UK occupation authorities and from right-wing Iraqi forces.
Calls for: Self-determination and democracy for the peoples of Iraq, and withdrawal of US and UK troops.
Further believes: That the labour movement in Britain should support that new independent trade union movement, and not the Islamist or other right-wing militias in Iraq.
Urges: The Council of Executives to give active support to the TUC campaign in solidarity with the Iraqi trade unions called for by the NATFHE resolution to the TUC congress.
Resolves:
- To write to the British representatives of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions and of the Union of the Unemployed of Iraq, saying that we wish to assist them so far as is within our means, and inviting them to send speakers to future meetings of our branch.
- To submit the resolution above to the Regional Council.
- To seek contact and coordination with other RMT branches active in solidarity with the Iraqi trade unions.
1)Cambridge and District TUC:
a) welcomes the passing by the TUC of a motion from NATFHE calling for the British trade union movement to maintain and strengthen contact with Iraqi trade unionists;
b) notes the existence of different trade union movements in Iraq, and believes that all movements should be supported in their struggle for existence, whilst differences of opinion should be discussed fraternally.
2) Cambridge and District TUC therefore resolves to:
a) Encourage financial support from local union branches for the Iraqi trade unions (through direct donations, or through US-based Iraqi Solidarity Workers Fund until an equivalent fund is set up in the UK.)
b) Encourage financial support for the ‘Khalil Shawqi Appeal’.
c) Pursue twinning with the Basra Trade Union Centre.
d) Encourage local union branches to invite speakers on behalf of the Iraqi trade unions.
e) Produce a leaflet for local use, calling for support for Iraqi trade unions and giving examples of support which can be provided.
f) Support other practical initiatives in support of Iraqi trade unions, resources permitting.
3) In order to implement this motion, Cambridge and District TUC agrees to set up a working group, operating under the name of the Trades Council and in line with Trades Council policies, but open to involvement by trade unionists in the Cambridge and District area.
Theatre of solidarity
Here, to be downloaded, are five scripts for short street-theatre plays which you could perform in your city centre to draw attention to often-sidelined issues about Iraq and the US/UK occupation. Four of them were performed at the Iraq Fat Cats Tour in London 4 September 2004, and the other one has been adapted by Norwich Iraq Workers' Solidarity Group activists from a script by Mark Thomas.
Workers' struggles
The burden of the debts Saddam ran up
Debt and HSBC in particular
Oil
Mercenary security companies
Workers' struggles
The burden of the debts Saddam ran up
Debt and HSBC in particular
Oil
Mercenary security companies
Monday, September 27
Still "an atttractive place to do business"
According to a report in the Financial Times of 23 September, big British companies still find Iraq an "attractive place to do business" as long as they pay out enough to private security-guard companies for protection.
The article states:
UK business heads have insisted their companies will remain in Iraq despite the latest kidnappings of British and American workers.
Graham Hand, chief executive of the British Consultants and Construction Bureau, a trade body for exporters, said Iraq remained an "attractive place to do business" because there is work to be done and people willing to pay for it.
"There is no cutting and running," he insisted, adding that the only UK-based companies returning from Iraq were those that had completed their contracts.
About 60 British companies are currently operating in Iraq on business worth about $2.6bn (€2.1bn, £1.4bn), according to UK Trade and Investment, the government agency.
The Foreign Office has advised UK citizens to avoid all but essential travel to Iraq. However, about 1,850 UK citizens are registered as working there. Most are working for British contractors involved in reconstruction and private security work.
There are also long-term expatriate residents employed by local businesses, such as Kenneth Bigley, 62, the engineer from Liverpool kidnapped with two US colleagues.
Simon Treadgold, operations deployment manager at Olive Security, which provides protection to UK companies in Iraq, said local businesses had always been more vulnerable because they tended not to employ the same level of security.
He said: "In the 100 kidnappings that have taken place recently, none of the people that have been taken hostage have had private security companies looking after them."
One of the largest UK companies in Iraq is Amec, the engineering and construction group that won $780m of business under USAID contracts.
Amec said the company had "a few hundred" staff in the south of the country who were given regular guidance on security in the region, including no-go areas.
However, extra security had not been put in place because of the kidnappings of Mr Bigley and his colleagues Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley.
At the other end of the scale is Solace Enterprises, which sent five staff to support the USAID-funded programme to reconstruct government bodies.
Solace's team was evacuated to Kuwait and Jordan for a few weeks at Easter but soon returned to Iraq. The last company employee to return to the UK did so last week, but only for dental treatment and he will fly back afterwards.
John Stopford, head of Solace's international portfolio, said his employees had enjoyed good protection because they were based in the secure green zone of Baghdad.
"If we weren't able to provide secure environments we would bring our people home." He added: "It is not a safe situation. We monitor it on a day-to-day basis."
Corporate security has gradually been ratcheted up over the past year, according to security companies in the region.
David Claridge, managing director of Janusian Security Risk Management, which has about 400 security guards in Iraq, said the situation has gone from "dangerous but manageable" to "highly dangerous".
The article states:
UK business heads have insisted their companies will remain in Iraq despite the latest kidnappings of British and American workers.
Graham Hand, chief executive of the British Consultants and Construction Bureau, a trade body for exporters, said Iraq remained an "attractive place to do business" because there is work to be done and people willing to pay for it.
"There is no cutting and running," he insisted, adding that the only UK-based companies returning from Iraq were those that had completed their contracts.
About 60 British companies are currently operating in Iraq on business worth about $2.6bn (€2.1bn, £1.4bn), according to UK Trade and Investment, the government agency.
The Foreign Office has advised UK citizens to avoid all but essential travel to Iraq. However, about 1,850 UK citizens are registered as working there. Most are working for British contractors involved in reconstruction and private security work.
There are also long-term expatriate residents employed by local businesses, such as Kenneth Bigley, 62, the engineer from Liverpool kidnapped with two US colleagues.
Simon Treadgold, operations deployment manager at Olive Security, which provides protection to UK companies in Iraq, said local businesses had always been more vulnerable because they tended not to employ the same level of security.
He said: "In the 100 kidnappings that have taken place recently, none of the people that have been taken hostage have had private security companies looking after them."
One of the largest UK companies in Iraq is Amec, the engineering and construction group that won $780m of business under USAID contracts.
Amec said the company had "a few hundred" staff in the south of the country who were given regular guidance on security in the region, including no-go areas.
However, extra security had not been put in place because of the kidnappings of Mr Bigley and his colleagues Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley.
At the other end of the scale is Solace Enterprises, which sent five staff to support the USAID-funded programme to reconstruct government bodies.
Solace's team was evacuated to Kuwait and Jordan for a few weeks at Easter but soon returned to Iraq. The last company employee to return to the UK did so last week, but only for dental treatment and he will fly back afterwards.
John Stopford, head of Solace's international portfolio, said his employees had enjoyed good protection because they were based in the secure green zone of Baghdad.
"If we weren't able to provide secure environments we would bring our people home." He added: "It is not a safe situation. We monitor it on a day-to-day basis."
Corporate security has gradually been ratcheted up over the past year, according to security companies in the region.
David Claridge, managing director of Janusian Security Risk Management, which has about 400 security guards in Iraq, said the situation has gone from "dangerous but manageable" to "highly dangerous".
Lothian solidarity meeting
The Lothian Iraqi Workers Solidarity group organised a successful public meeting on building practical solidarity for Iraqi trade unions in Edinburgh o 23 September.
The speakers emphasised the need for resources from trade unions here to facilitate organising in Iraq and were firm on the militias being murderous to Iraqi workers .
Abdullah Muhsin cited one story of six women cleaners standing waiting on a bus to go to work being gunned down from a car as "collaborators" .
Alex Gordon made the point to the Stop the War coaliton - have we really to go to our members here and ask them to support these militias when they do this?
The meeting discussed a flag day to raise money and awareness and will be having its next organising meeting on Tuesday 5th October at 7.30pm in the Trade Union Resource Centre in Albany street. All Welcome!
Peter Burton
The speakers emphasised the need for resources from trade unions here to facilitate organising in Iraq and were firm on the militias being murderous to Iraqi workers .
Abdullah Muhsin cited one story of six women cleaners standing waiting on a bus to go to work being gunned down from a car as "collaborators" .
Alex Gordon made the point to the Stop the War coaliton - have we really to go to our members here and ask them to support these militias when they do this?
The meeting discussed a flag day to raise money and awareness and will be having its next organising meeting on Tuesday 5th October at 7.30pm in the Trade Union Resource Centre in Albany street. All Welcome!
Peter Burton
TUC launches Iraq appeal
Following its congress decision on 13-16 September 2004, the TUC has launched an Aid Appeal for Iraq to support Iraqi trade unions. You can donate online.
A critical month on Saddam's debts
From Jubilee Iraq
The next month is going to be the most critical period so far in the negations on Saddam’s debts. There are G7, World Bank & IMF, Paris Club and Donor Conference meetings coming up (see calendar below), all happening under the shadow of forthcoming US elections and the G8’s stated deadline of a Paris Club deal on debt by the end of 2004 (before Iraqi elections). Jubilee Iraq representatives will be in Washington from next Thursday for five days to lobby as the G7 and IMF meet (contact us there on 00447813137171).
While the US government and the Interim Iraqi government have spoken strongly for near-total debt cancellation, we are afraid that a compromise will be reached with creditors at only about 70% reduction, potentially leaving $40bn or more debt and requiring at least $2bn debt service next year. Furthermore this reduction will be processed through the Paris Club over a long period, requiring Iraq to obey the dictates of the IMF for many years (which, whether good or bad, will erode Iraq’s sovereignty) in order to receive this partial debt cancellation. Instead we continue to call for immediate and unconditional cancellation of all the odious debt, with a fair process of arbitration to settle any disputes with creditors who insist that their loans actually benefited Iraqis.
At this critical time please continue to lobby your politicians, demanding that Iraq be treated justly so that it will no longer be shackled by old loans which financed Saddam’s war machine. We must not forget either that the war reparations against Iraq continue to grow. On 23rd September the UNCC awarded $377m reparations, bringing Iraq’s total unpaid burden to $30.3bn so far. These reparations, particularly the majority which is to governments and companies, must be annulled because the suffering Iraqi people are not responsible for Saddam’s crimes.
This update is dedicated to Mohammed “Ghareeb” Hussein Ramadan, a dear friend and passionate advocate for Jubilee Iraq who was killed in August while delivering medical aid to Najaf. Like so many good people he made the ultimate sacrifice, and in his memory we redouble our efforts to work for a peaceful and prosperous Iraq.
The Interim Government has put significant energy into debt negotiations, with President Al-Yawar visiting Germany, a delegation visiting the Gulf and Interim Prime Minister Allawi writing: “The vast majority is odious debt, used to build up the war machine of the ousted regime, largely through arms purchases supported by the lending countries. The innocent people of Iraq cannot be expected to bear this crushing burden; the vast majority of the debt must be forgiven if Iraq is to have a chance. Despite vague statements of good intentions, however, concrete pledges of debt forgiveness have not yet been forthcoming.” As regards the reparations, a statement from the interim government said "In addressing this problem, the government will proceed from the premise that the Iraqi people must not bear responsibility and the consequences of the former regime's wars."
IMF: John Taylor said he hopes an IMF program can be finalised by the end of September, which means that a formal signing is likely at the IMF Autumn Meeting.
France, Germany and Russia have regularly been regularly quoted as supporting only 50% debt reduction, but an unnamed official said Germany may move to 66%. After a visit of Interim Foreign Minister Zebari to Russia, an Iraq-Russian committee was agreed to assess the Saddam-era contracts, which Russia is demanding be respected as a condition for even this minimal debt reduction. Russia also seems to have revised it’s claim upwards to $8.9bn from the $3.4bn (ex-interest) figure quote to the Paris Club in July 2003.
Japan: Richard Armitage thinks they will be “generous” but Japanese companies are lobbying the government: “We want to collect as much as possible” (Mikio Sasaki, chairman of Mitsubishi).
Jordan is proposing a reduction of debt “in exchange for taking part in the reconstruction”, the details are unclear.
Iran has been more vocal in claiming reparations recently, particularly in response to Saddam’s trial. General Ali-Reza Afshar said that the Iranian Army has compiled a 1500-page report and because if Saddam was found guilty of crimes against Iran, Iraq would have to pay reparations
In an unexpected response to a question in a house subcommittee, Deputy Secretary State Richard Armitage has said that the Gulf funds were grants not loans provided to Saddam during the Iran war. Jubilee Iraq and most Iraqis have long asserted this, and even if these funds have been structured as loans they would have been 100% odious.
Calendar of important dates:
end September IMF-Iraq agreement predicted by Under Secretary John Taylor
1 October G7 finance ministers, Washington
2-3 October IMF/World Bank Autumn meetings, Washington
12 October Paris Club monthly meeting – possible date for an agreement
14-15 October Donor conference in Tokyo
21 October Next scheduled payment of UNCC reparations
2 November US elections
mid November Paris Club monthly meeting
7-9 December 54th meeting of UNCC – Jubilee Iraq will be protesting as usual
mid December Paris Club monthly meeting – last opportunity for debt agreement within declared G8 schedule
January Iraqi elections scheduled
The next month is going to be the most critical period so far in the negations on Saddam’s debts. There are G7, World Bank & IMF, Paris Club and Donor Conference meetings coming up (see calendar below), all happening under the shadow of forthcoming US elections and the G8’s stated deadline of a Paris Club deal on debt by the end of 2004 (before Iraqi elections). Jubilee Iraq representatives will be in Washington from next Thursday for five days to lobby as the G7 and IMF meet (contact us there on 00447813137171).
While the US government and the Interim Iraqi government have spoken strongly for near-total debt cancellation, we are afraid that a compromise will be reached with creditors at only about 70% reduction, potentially leaving $40bn or more debt and requiring at least $2bn debt service next year. Furthermore this reduction will be processed through the Paris Club over a long period, requiring Iraq to obey the dictates of the IMF for many years (which, whether good or bad, will erode Iraq’s sovereignty) in order to receive this partial debt cancellation. Instead we continue to call for immediate and unconditional cancellation of all the odious debt, with a fair process of arbitration to settle any disputes with creditors who insist that their loans actually benefited Iraqis.
At this critical time please continue to lobby your politicians, demanding that Iraq be treated justly so that it will no longer be shackled by old loans which financed Saddam’s war machine. We must not forget either that the war reparations against Iraq continue to grow. On 23rd September the UNCC awarded $377m reparations, bringing Iraq’s total unpaid burden to $30.3bn so far. These reparations, particularly the majority which is to governments and companies, must be annulled because the suffering Iraqi people are not responsible for Saddam’s crimes.
This update is dedicated to Mohammed “Ghareeb” Hussein Ramadan, a dear friend and passionate advocate for Jubilee Iraq who was killed in August while delivering medical aid to Najaf. Like so many good people he made the ultimate sacrifice, and in his memory we redouble our efforts to work for a peaceful and prosperous Iraq.
The Interim Government has put significant energy into debt negotiations, with President Al-Yawar visiting Germany, a delegation visiting the Gulf and Interim Prime Minister Allawi writing: “The vast majority is odious debt, used to build up the war machine of the ousted regime, largely through arms purchases supported by the lending countries. The innocent people of Iraq cannot be expected to bear this crushing burden; the vast majority of the debt must be forgiven if Iraq is to have a chance. Despite vague statements of good intentions, however, concrete pledges of debt forgiveness have not yet been forthcoming.” As regards the reparations, a statement from the interim government said "In addressing this problem, the government will proceed from the premise that the Iraqi people must not bear responsibility and the consequences of the former regime's wars."
IMF: John Taylor said he hopes an IMF program can be finalised by the end of September, which means that a formal signing is likely at the IMF Autumn Meeting.
France, Germany and Russia have regularly been regularly quoted as supporting only 50% debt reduction, but an unnamed official said Germany may move to 66%. After a visit of Interim Foreign Minister Zebari to Russia, an Iraq-Russian committee was agreed to assess the Saddam-era contracts, which Russia is demanding be respected as a condition for even this minimal debt reduction. Russia also seems to have revised it’s claim upwards to $8.9bn from the $3.4bn (ex-interest) figure quote to the Paris Club in July 2003.
Japan: Richard Armitage thinks they will be “generous” but Japanese companies are lobbying the government: “We want to collect as much as possible” (Mikio Sasaki, chairman of Mitsubishi).
Jordan is proposing a reduction of debt “in exchange for taking part in the reconstruction”, the details are unclear.
Iran has been more vocal in claiming reparations recently, particularly in response to Saddam’s trial. General Ali-Reza Afshar said that the Iranian Army has compiled a 1500-page report and because if Saddam was found guilty of crimes against Iran, Iraq would have to pay reparations
In an unexpected response to a question in a house subcommittee, Deputy Secretary State Richard Armitage has said that the Gulf funds were grants not loans provided to Saddam during the Iran war. Jubilee Iraq and most Iraqis have long asserted this, and even if these funds have been structured as loans they would have been 100% odious.
Calendar of important dates:
end September IMF-Iraq agreement predicted by Under Secretary John Taylor
1 October G7 finance ministers, Washington
2-3 October IMF/World Bank Autumn meetings, Washington
12 October Paris Club monthly meeting – possible date for an agreement
14-15 October Donor conference in Tokyo
21 October Next scheduled payment of UNCC reparations
2 November US elections
mid November Paris Club monthly meeting
7-9 December 54th meeting of UNCC – Jubilee Iraq will be protesting as usual
mid December Paris Club monthly meeting – last opportunity for debt agreement within declared G8 schedule
January Iraqi elections scheduled
Monday, September 6
Launch of IWSG blog
Apologies that this has taken so long, but here it is at last!
Solidarity to Iraqi workers!!
Solidarity to Iraqi workers!!
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