Report from the Basra trade union conference
Thursday 9 December, 2004 - 18:30
Location: Golden Lion, Kings X Rd/ Britannia St, near Kings X
Iraqi Workers' Solidarity Group meeting, with Dashty Jamal of the
Union of the Unemployed of Iraq reporting on the recent Iraqi trade
union conference in Basra.
Wednesday, December 8
Monday, December 6
IFTU Report on the FBU delegation to Iraqi Kurdistan, November 2004
A representative of the British Fire Brigades Union, Brian Joyce, together with the IFTU General Secretary and Woda Jasib an executive member of the IFTU met a wide range of political parties, politicians, trade unions and ministers of the Kurdish regional governments in Dohuk as well as very many ordinary workers.
The message they gave from across the political spectrum was very clear: Iraqi Kurds clearly dismiss the so-called resistance as criminals, saboteurs and religious fundamentalists.
The delegation received the same political message in the regional capital, Irbil, from the leaders of six unions, which organize 48,000 members between them. Brian visited three fire stations and identified crucial needs such as a better means of communications for when they go out on a "shout" and adequate protective clothing instead of their present cotton clothing. Brian has promised that the FBU will send another container of fire-fighting equipment within the next few weeks.
The delegation went to Suleimaniya where we met the Minister of Humanitarian Aid and Co-operation, local fire fighters and trade unionists. At a union meeting organized by the Suleimaniya trades union federation we met more female than male members. Unions have been able to build up their organization in the safe havens created in 1991 after the uprising by the Iraqi people both in Iraqi Kurdistan and across 14 provinces of Iraq.
But even after 14 years they lack the most basic resources such as email, computers and the like. The two union federations are linked to either the PUK or the KDP but they are genuinely independent and are working to merge. We talked about the chaos and crisis in the rest of Iraq and whether it would stop the elections planned for January. Our Kurdish comrades were very clear that nothing should stop the elections.
The IFTU president of Kirkuk Nuzad, who has twice escaped assassinations attempts and receives daily death threats, said he wants the foreign troops to leave but as a part of the political and diplomatic process sanctioned by the UN resolution 1546, which allows the institutions of democracy to take hold and protect the security of civilians after the troops are withdrawn.
The vice president of Mosul IFTU said that the media focuses on allegations that Mosul is home to the so-called resistance but he disagreed with this assessment arguing that: 80% of Mosul is free, all of the area on the east bank of the Tigris is safe and just two areas on the west bank are dangerous. He said that these two areas are extremely poor with no sanitation and very poor housing as well as high unemployment levels which are being used by extremists, who exploit these conditions to recruit to their cause.
In any case, he argued, Saddam’s Ba'athist machine that was built up over 35 years, including its accumulated reserves of millions of dollars that can buy fighters, and cannot be dismantled overnight.
All the trade unionists we spoke to expressed the view that the remnants of the dictatorship can only be overcome by the exercise of the power of the people expressed through building and consolidating the institutions of democracy, free press, freedom of assembly, an accountable government and independent judiciary. They believe that this process is under way and is need of support and solidarity.
They are skeptical about the genuineness of the so-called resistance, believing it to be imported from other foreign countries, which have an interest in destabilizing Iraq, and in introducing their politics of Jihad against the US into Iraq. This is why they are so keen to hold elections, so that Iraqis can take control of their own destiny.
All parties in Iraqi Kurdistan are already campaigning – cars with loudspeakers can be seen on the streets. Supporting the right of the Iraqis to vote, according to the agreed UN process, is the key issue for the trade unionists that we met in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The message they gave from across the political spectrum was very clear: Iraqi Kurds clearly dismiss the so-called resistance as criminals, saboteurs and religious fundamentalists.
The delegation received the same political message in the regional capital, Irbil, from the leaders of six unions, which organize 48,000 members between them. Brian visited three fire stations and identified crucial needs such as a better means of communications for when they go out on a "shout" and adequate protective clothing instead of their present cotton clothing. Brian has promised that the FBU will send another container of fire-fighting equipment within the next few weeks.
The delegation went to Suleimaniya where we met the Minister of Humanitarian Aid and Co-operation, local fire fighters and trade unionists. At a union meeting organized by the Suleimaniya trades union federation we met more female than male members. Unions have been able to build up their organization in the safe havens created in 1991 after the uprising by the Iraqi people both in Iraqi Kurdistan and across 14 provinces of Iraq.
But even after 14 years they lack the most basic resources such as email, computers and the like. The two union federations are linked to either the PUK or the KDP but they are genuinely independent and are working to merge. We talked about the chaos and crisis in the rest of Iraq and whether it would stop the elections planned for January. Our Kurdish comrades were very clear that nothing should stop the elections.
The IFTU president of Kirkuk Nuzad, who has twice escaped assassinations attempts and receives daily death threats, said he wants the foreign troops to leave but as a part of the political and diplomatic process sanctioned by the UN resolution 1546, which allows the institutions of democracy to take hold and protect the security of civilians after the troops are withdrawn.
The vice president of Mosul IFTU said that the media focuses on allegations that Mosul is home to the so-called resistance but he disagreed with this assessment arguing that: 80% of Mosul is free, all of the area on the east bank of the Tigris is safe and just two areas on the west bank are dangerous. He said that these two areas are extremely poor with no sanitation and very poor housing as well as high unemployment levels which are being used by extremists, who exploit these conditions to recruit to their cause.
In any case, he argued, Saddam’s Ba'athist machine that was built up over 35 years, including its accumulated reserves of millions of dollars that can buy fighters, and cannot be dismantled overnight.
All the trade unionists we spoke to expressed the view that the remnants of the dictatorship can only be overcome by the exercise of the power of the people expressed through building and consolidating the institutions of democracy, free press, freedom of assembly, an accountable government and independent judiciary. They believe that this process is under way and is need of support and solidarity.
They are skeptical about the genuineness of the so-called resistance, believing it to be imported from other foreign countries, which have an interest in destabilizing Iraq, and in introducing their politics of Jihad against the US into Iraq. This is why they are so keen to hold elections, so that Iraqis can take control of their own destiny.
All parties in Iraqi Kurdistan are already campaigning – cars with loudspeakers can be seen on the streets. Supporting the right of the Iraqis to vote, according to the agreed UN process, is the key issue for the trade unionists that we met in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Interview with Iraqi trade unionists: Morning Star (Saturday 04 December 2004)
LEARNING THE TRICKS OF THE TRADE UNIONS
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index2.php/ex/examples
(Saturday 04 December 2004)
Alex Gordon & Richard Bagley
IN FOCUS: ALEX GORDON and RICHARD BAGLEY hear Iraqi trade unionists explain the terrible situation facing activists in the war-torn country
LAST month, trade unionists from Britain extended the hand of solidarity to their fellow workers in Iraq. Six representatives from the occupied country's largest trade union force, the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), visited Britain as guests of UNISON.
Since its formation in the wake of the Ba'athist regime's collapse, the IFTU has been fighting on meagre resources to unite Iraq's workers and get rid of the legacy of the country's collaborationist "yellow unions."
For the IFTU, the offer of training and assistance from abroad is vital. After years of Saddam's dictatorship, a large part of the battle is simply to teach Iraqis what trade unionism is.
During their time in Britain, the delegates - two women and four men - received training on negotiation and campaigning skills and met officers and lay representatives from several unions, as well as leading trade union figures including STUC general secretary Bill Speirs and TUC international department head Owen Tudor.
Speaking to the Star, the Iraqi trade unionists were able to offer an insight into recent developments in the country.
Two of the visitors, Alia Hussein and Naafa Najib, are members of the Agricultural Workers Union (AWU).
Hussein is on the union's Baghdad regional executive committee and works as an administrator in a publicly owned company under the Ministry of Agriculture's jurisdiction. She has special responsibility for women's issues.
"I organise seminars on all types of women's issues, as well as human rights, public health, health and safety and computer training," she says.
"I was organising a computer training course just before I left Baghdad to come to Britain."
As with several of the IFTU-affiliated unions, the AWU held its first ever conference in the summer.
One of its key demands was for the repeal of the Saddam-era labour laws that were brought in in 1987. These effectively banned trade union organisation in public-sector companies, reclassifying the workers as state officials and making strikes illegal.
They have not yet been repealed, but workers have organised regardless.
"We also called for the voice of women to be increased in society and politics and particularly in the interim national assembly," adds Hussein.
Under the strategy that was agreed by the United Nations, the interim national assembly was selected from a cross-section of political and social forces.
The plan is to replace it with a more representative assembly following elections, which are currently scheduled for January 2005 - although the effects of recent brutal US actions have raised a question mark over the likelihood of this.
The IFTU is currently planning a march and demonstration to demand that trade unions are represented politically in the new assembly.
Hussein recalls the successful struggle to regain equal rights for women when this principle was ditched last year.
"When the governing council abolished the 1959 Personal Status Law (Family Law) which gave men and women equal legal status and introduced law 137, on December 29, we protested against it.
"Under law 137, women would have to get permission from a family member before being able to marry, their husbands could forbid them from working and divorce them by saying 'I divorce you' three times. They would not have to pay alimony."
"Many women from non-governmental organisations, trade unions and women's organisations held a conference in June in Baghdad's Al Waziria district. Over 300 women, representing thousands of others, took part.
"We demanded the repeal of the law 137. One month later, the law was repealed."
Hassan Shabar, who is the culture and media officer for the Transport and Communication Workers Union (TCWU), explains that his union is only now - well over a year after its formation - beginning to get an idea of the number of members that it has.
"Until recently, we hadn't developed a proper membership registration and subscription system," he says.
"We recently produced a membership application form, which new members have to sign when they join the union.
"This allows us to develop accurate membership records. I am involved in setting up this system and compiling membership lists. I had to stop when we reached 10,000 to prepare for my journey to London."
Shabar gives a rousing account of the reopening of the IFTU offices, which were locked up by US soldiers in December 2003, when several of the federation's leading officials were arrested by the Coalition Provisional Authority.
"The executive committee met and decided to break the locks the Americans had put on the building and to reoccupy it," he says.
He recalls the march by 300 trade unionists to retake their building, wielding banners saying: "Long live the union of the workers - death to colonialism!"
"This is a famous slogan of the workers' movement from the 1930s and '40s," explains Shabar.
"We have kept the American locks as souvenirs," he adds.
Muhsin Jasim is the Baghdad regional secretary of the Public and Social Service Workers Union (PSSWU) and divides his time between trade union duties and youth work.
"I was a technician and boiler maintenance worker for the Ministry of Industry until I was dismissed for political reasons in 1982," says Jasim.
He estimates that his union has between 100-120,000 members in Baghdad and around 300-400,000 across the country as whole.
The union's bid to sign up new members is constantly hampered by suspicion because of the past activities of Saddam's trade unions, which were used as an organ of state control.
However, Jasim reports recent successes in Baghdad hotels which have helped to counter these fears.
"The union called a two-day strike against the dismissal of 24 hotel workers at the Baghdad Hotel - one of the big hotels in the 'green zone' where the Americans stay.
"At the time that the hotel workers were dismissed, there was no union committee at the hotel, but, as a result of the strike, we formed a union committee. The strike didn't only educate our members, it educated the hotel manager too."
"The strike was very difficult for the management, because many Americans stay at the hotel. They were very angry and disturbed that the hotel wasn't cleaned for two days. They tried to bribe us by inviting us to eat dinner with them, but we refused.
"In all, 180 workers at the hotel took part in the strike - the entire workforce. Workers in other big hotels witnessed the strike and formed union committees as well."
Railway Workers Union member Arkan Jewad Kadhum gives an insight into the situation faced by Iraqis working on the country's under-resourced rail network, which is regularly attacked amid claims that it is being used to transport US military supplies. But Kadhum strongly denies this.
"Saddam used to move his weapons and army by road, which is why he built so many motorways," he says.
"The Americans don't use railways to supply their troops any more than Saddam did.
"The Iraqi railways are now mainly freight trains for industrial and consumer customers. There is a passenger train service between Baghdad and Basra which has been suspended due to the security situation."
The union's 10,000 members are particularly vulnerable to attack as they cross Iraq on slow-moving and unprotected trains.
"Four of our members were murdered just before I came to London - two train drivers, one controller (guard) and a security guard," says Kadhum.
"All of them were from Baghdad. They were working a freight train carrying timber from Mosul to Baghdad.
"I heard that their train was stopped and that they were shot in the back of the head, execution-style.
"As soon as the news of the attack on the railworkers reached the depot in Baghdad, the train drivers and mechanics went on strike, as we have before, to demand that the railway company provides proper security for our members."
Like much of the industry in Iraq, the railways are state-run. But, as with all such firms, rail workers are haunted by the prospect of privatisation.
"Our union's great concern is privatisation," says Kadhum. "A US army officer visited our workplace recently and told us that, if we refused to work properly and continued to make trouble, he would bring Indian railway workers to run the trains. We have demonstrated against these threats."
TCWU member Hassan Shabar explains that the telecoms sector is currently in grave danger of being palmed off to privateers.
"Our sector has been chosen as the first one for the government to try to privatise state industries," he says.
"The Communication Ministry announced in September that it planned to dismiss 1,000 out of 3,000 workers employed by the telephone maintenance company."
The ministry claimed that the workers were only temporary and of no further use. But all the workers had been employed for at least 10 years, says Shabar.
"The TCWU executive committee met and decided to try to negotiate with the ministry, but the ministry refused.
So we organised a public protest in front of the ministry buildings in the middle of October and started a media campaign using the IFTU newspaper and a local Baghdad newspaper Al Jareeda.
"The ministry did not dare to risk a public confrontation on the issue and reinstated all of the workers," he says proudly.
With Washington attempting to enforce its doctrine of privatisation and neoliberalism in Iraq, there are sure to be many more battles ahead.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index2.php/ex/examples
(Saturday 04 December 2004)
Alex Gordon & Richard Bagley
IN FOCUS: ALEX GORDON and RICHARD BAGLEY hear Iraqi trade unionists explain the terrible situation facing activists in the war-torn country
LAST month, trade unionists from Britain extended the hand of solidarity to their fellow workers in Iraq. Six representatives from the occupied country's largest trade union force, the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), visited Britain as guests of UNISON.
Since its formation in the wake of the Ba'athist regime's collapse, the IFTU has been fighting on meagre resources to unite Iraq's workers and get rid of the legacy of the country's collaborationist "yellow unions."
For the IFTU, the offer of training and assistance from abroad is vital. After years of Saddam's dictatorship, a large part of the battle is simply to teach Iraqis what trade unionism is.
During their time in Britain, the delegates - two women and four men - received training on negotiation and campaigning skills and met officers and lay representatives from several unions, as well as leading trade union figures including STUC general secretary Bill Speirs and TUC international department head Owen Tudor.
Speaking to the Star, the Iraqi trade unionists were able to offer an insight into recent developments in the country.
Two of the visitors, Alia Hussein and Naafa Najib, are members of the Agricultural Workers Union (AWU).
Hussein is on the union's Baghdad regional executive committee and works as an administrator in a publicly owned company under the Ministry of Agriculture's jurisdiction. She has special responsibility for women's issues.
"I organise seminars on all types of women's issues, as well as human rights, public health, health and safety and computer training," she says.
"I was organising a computer training course just before I left Baghdad to come to Britain."
As with several of the IFTU-affiliated unions, the AWU held its first ever conference in the summer.
One of its key demands was for the repeal of the Saddam-era labour laws that were brought in in 1987. These effectively banned trade union organisation in public-sector companies, reclassifying the workers as state officials and making strikes illegal.
They have not yet been repealed, but workers have organised regardless.
"We also called for the voice of women to be increased in society and politics and particularly in the interim national assembly," adds Hussein.
Under the strategy that was agreed by the United Nations, the interim national assembly was selected from a cross-section of political and social forces.
The plan is to replace it with a more representative assembly following elections, which are currently scheduled for January 2005 - although the effects of recent brutal US actions have raised a question mark over the likelihood of this.
The IFTU is currently planning a march and demonstration to demand that trade unions are represented politically in the new assembly.
Hussein recalls the successful struggle to regain equal rights for women when this principle was ditched last year.
"When the governing council abolished the 1959 Personal Status Law (Family Law) which gave men and women equal legal status and introduced law 137, on December 29, we protested against it.
"Under law 137, women would have to get permission from a family member before being able to marry, their husbands could forbid them from working and divorce them by saying 'I divorce you' three times. They would not have to pay alimony."
"Many women from non-governmental organisations, trade unions and women's organisations held a conference in June in Baghdad's Al Waziria district. Over 300 women, representing thousands of others, took part.
"We demanded the repeal of the law 137. One month later, the law was repealed."
Hassan Shabar, who is the culture and media officer for the Transport and Communication Workers Union (TCWU), explains that his union is only now - well over a year after its formation - beginning to get an idea of the number of members that it has.
"Until recently, we hadn't developed a proper membership registration and subscription system," he says.
"We recently produced a membership application form, which new members have to sign when they join the union.
"This allows us to develop accurate membership records. I am involved in setting up this system and compiling membership lists. I had to stop when we reached 10,000 to prepare for my journey to London."
Shabar gives a rousing account of the reopening of the IFTU offices, which were locked up by US soldiers in December 2003, when several of the federation's leading officials were arrested by the Coalition Provisional Authority.
"The executive committee met and decided to break the locks the Americans had put on the building and to reoccupy it," he says.
He recalls the march by 300 trade unionists to retake their building, wielding banners saying: "Long live the union of the workers - death to colonialism!"
"This is a famous slogan of the workers' movement from the 1930s and '40s," explains Shabar.
"We have kept the American locks as souvenirs," he adds.
Muhsin Jasim is the Baghdad regional secretary of the Public and Social Service Workers Union (PSSWU) and divides his time between trade union duties and youth work.
"I was a technician and boiler maintenance worker for the Ministry of Industry until I was dismissed for political reasons in 1982," says Jasim.
He estimates that his union has between 100-120,000 members in Baghdad and around 300-400,000 across the country as whole.
The union's bid to sign up new members is constantly hampered by suspicion because of the past activities of Saddam's trade unions, which were used as an organ of state control.
However, Jasim reports recent successes in Baghdad hotels which have helped to counter these fears.
"The union called a two-day strike against the dismissal of 24 hotel workers at the Baghdad Hotel - one of the big hotels in the 'green zone' where the Americans stay.
"At the time that the hotel workers were dismissed, there was no union committee at the hotel, but, as a result of the strike, we formed a union committee. The strike didn't only educate our members, it educated the hotel manager too."
"The strike was very difficult for the management, because many Americans stay at the hotel. They were very angry and disturbed that the hotel wasn't cleaned for two days. They tried to bribe us by inviting us to eat dinner with them, but we refused.
"In all, 180 workers at the hotel took part in the strike - the entire workforce. Workers in other big hotels witnessed the strike and formed union committees as well."
Railway Workers Union member Arkan Jewad Kadhum gives an insight into the situation faced by Iraqis working on the country's under-resourced rail network, which is regularly attacked amid claims that it is being used to transport US military supplies. But Kadhum strongly denies this.
"Saddam used to move his weapons and army by road, which is why he built so many motorways," he says.
"The Americans don't use railways to supply their troops any more than Saddam did.
"The Iraqi railways are now mainly freight trains for industrial and consumer customers. There is a passenger train service between Baghdad and Basra which has been suspended due to the security situation."
The union's 10,000 members are particularly vulnerable to attack as they cross Iraq on slow-moving and unprotected trains.
"Four of our members were murdered just before I came to London - two train drivers, one controller (guard) and a security guard," says Kadhum.
"All of them were from Baghdad. They were working a freight train carrying timber from Mosul to Baghdad.
"I heard that their train was stopped and that they were shot in the back of the head, execution-style.
"As soon as the news of the attack on the railworkers reached the depot in Baghdad, the train drivers and mechanics went on strike, as we have before, to demand that the railway company provides proper security for our members."
Like much of the industry in Iraq, the railways are state-run. But, as with all such firms, rail workers are haunted by the prospect of privatisation.
"Our union's great concern is privatisation," says Kadhum. "A US army officer visited our workplace recently and told us that, if we refused to work properly and continued to make trouble, he would bring Indian railway workers to run the trains. We have demonstrated against these threats."
TCWU member Hassan Shabar explains that the telecoms sector is currently in grave danger of being palmed off to privateers.
"Our sector has been chosen as the first one for the government to try to privatise state industries," he says.
"The Communication Ministry announced in September that it planned to dismiss 1,000 out of 3,000 workers employed by the telephone maintenance company."
The ministry claimed that the workers were only temporary and of no further use. But all the workers had been employed for at least 10 years, says Shabar.
"The TCWU executive committee met and decided to try to negotiate with the ministry, but the ministry refused.
So we organised a public protest in front of the ministry buildings in the middle of October and started a media campaign using the IFTU newspaper and a local Baghdad newspaper Al Jareeda.
"The ministry did not dare to risk a public confrontation on the issue and reinstated all of the workers," he says proudly.
With Washington attempting to enforce its doctrine of privatisation and neoliberalism in Iraq, there are sure to be many more battles ahead.
Sunday, December 5
More from the Basra workers' conference
Resolutions and recommendation of the first broad conference of Workers of Basra-FWCUI 26.Nov.2004
On November 26, 2004 the first broad conference of the Federation of Workers’ Councils and Unions in Iraq-Basra branch was held. The conference tackled many topics on the role of workers in deciding the political destiny of the society, freedom of unionist struggle and the unity of the Working class. The discussions reflected the view of the FWCUI for the workers’ movement in Iraq in its entirety as part of the working class worldwide. Therefore the Federation believes that the concepts, conclusions, and theoretical framework of the conference must be turned into resolutions and demands as the summery of theses and the discussions of the conference.
The list of the resolutions and recommendations of the conference:
First: guaranteeing intervention of workers and their unions in deciding the state’s structure and participation in taking decisions.
1. Direct participation in legislating laws and endorsing the constitution.
2. Workers unions must be independent of the state and the workers’ right to form unions without the authorization of the government.
3. All resolutions, laws and regulations passed by previous regimes and the current authority, which negate the rights and freedoms of workers, must be abolished.
4. Formation of workers’ bodies to watch the authority in regard to workers’ rights and freedoms.
Second: Recognition in law that workers’ organizations are the affair of workers themselves and authority must not interfere toward restricting workers’ rights and unionist freedoms.
1. Prohibition of passing any resolution which legalize a workers’ organization or federation and not others and regard it the legitimate and legal representative of the unionist movement in the country.
2. Financial support must not be limited to the union authorized by government and unions, which do not belong to the state, must not be deprived from such support.
3. Prohibition of restricting unionist freedoms whether through direct legal ways or through exerting negative and detrimental morale influence.
4. Abolishing all resolutions, which contradict with unionist freedom including resolution number 16, which violates unionist freedoms .
Third: The concept of working class’s unity is the alignment of workers around their fundamental and most important objectives and interests.
1. Workers’ organizations must be a tool at workers’ hands to achieve their objectives and interests
2. Prohibition of making workers organization tools at the hands of authority or forces, which oppose workers.
3. A wide segment of working class-women are not represented in the unionist movement, which is a major weakness point in unionist movement and its credibility in defending the entire working class. Women must be allowed to participate actively in unionist work.
Federation of Workers’ councils and Unions in Iraq
November 26, 2004
On November 26, 2004 the first broad conference of the Federation of Workers’ Councils and Unions in Iraq-Basra branch was held. The conference tackled many topics on the role of workers in deciding the political destiny of the society, freedom of unionist struggle and the unity of the Working class. The discussions reflected the view of the FWCUI for the workers’ movement in Iraq in its entirety as part of the working class worldwide. Therefore the Federation believes that the concepts, conclusions, and theoretical framework of the conference must be turned into resolutions and demands as the summery of theses and the discussions of the conference.
The list of the resolutions and recommendations of the conference:
First: guaranteeing intervention of workers and their unions in deciding the state’s structure and participation in taking decisions.
1. Direct participation in legislating laws and endorsing the constitution.
2. Workers unions must be independent of the state and the workers’ right to form unions without the authorization of the government.
3. All resolutions, laws and regulations passed by previous regimes and the current authority, which negate the rights and freedoms of workers, must be abolished.
4. Formation of workers’ bodies to watch the authority in regard to workers’ rights and freedoms.
Second: Recognition in law that workers’ organizations are the affair of workers themselves and authority must not interfere toward restricting workers’ rights and unionist freedoms.
1. Prohibition of passing any resolution which legalize a workers’ organization or federation and not others and regard it the legitimate and legal representative of the unionist movement in the country.
2. Financial support must not be limited to the union authorized by government and unions, which do not belong to the state, must not be deprived from such support.
3. Prohibition of restricting unionist freedoms whether through direct legal ways or through exerting negative and detrimental morale influence.
4. Abolishing all resolutions, which contradict with unionist freedom including resolution number 16, which violates unionist freedoms .
Third: The concept of working class’s unity is the alignment of workers around their fundamental and most important objectives and interests.
1. Workers’ organizations must be a tool at workers’ hands to achieve their objectives and interests
2. Prohibition of making workers organization tools at the hands of authority or forces, which oppose workers.
3. A wide segment of working class-women are not represented in the unionist movement, which is a major weakness point in unionist movement and its credibility in defending the entire working class. Women must be allowed to participate actively in unionist work.
Federation of Workers’ councils and Unions in Iraq
November 26, 2004
Saturday, December 4
Guardian article on Sistani's election list
Sistani pulls main Shia parties together to dominate Iraq poll
Rory McCarthy in Baghdad
Wednesday December 1, 2004
The Guardian
Iraq's Shia parties have built a powerful political alliance uniting
moderates with extremists and seem likely to dominate next month's general
election. The coalition, formed in weeks of private negotiations, will put
forward a joint list of candidates.
The process has been overseen by Iraq's most revered Shia cleric, Grand
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who has designated aides to unite the diverse
Shia parties and to vet the many independent candidates standing with them.
Although he seeks no political role for himself, the influence of the
Iranian-born ayatollah will ensure that the government has a deeply
religious character and that Islam is a central tenet of the constitution
that must be written next year.
Shia politicians are highly organised and intent on holding the elections
on time, despite the violence that still grips Iraq and the pressure for a
delay from their Sunni and Kurdish political rivals. If they succeed it
will be the first time for centuries that the Shia have run the country,
achieving what many have come to regard as their birthright.
"We are pushing the government and the political parties very hard so that
we can have elections on time," said Jawad al-Maliki, a cultural historian
who spent 25 years living in exile and is a senior figure in the large
Islamic Dawa party.
"We feel very strongly that this crisis - the coalition forces, the
corruption - is all happening because there are no elections in Iraq."
A small committee dominated by Ayatollah Sistani's aides is overseeing the
joint list of candidates. On January 30 voters are due to elect 275 members
of a national assembly, which will then choose a prime minister and
cabinet. The assembly's prime task will be to write a constitution, to be
ratified by a second general election at the end of the year.
The list is topped by the leaders of Islamic Dawa and the Supreme Council
for the Islamic Revolution, Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. The
coalition also includes Ahmad Chalabi, the secular Shia exile who was once
a Pentagon favourite to rule post-war Iraq, and representatives of Moqtada
al-Sadr, the hardline Shia cleric who has led a series of uprisings against
the US occupation.
It is the first sign of rapprochement between the exiles and the opponents
of Saddam Hussein who stayed in Iraq.
Others involved include the Fadhila party, a moderate Islamist group
opposed to the occupation.
"We want to take the Americans out of our country through negotiations, not
by fighting," said its political leader, Nadeem al-Jabbery, a professor of
politics at Baghdad University.
"If we don't have elections or an elected government then the Americans
will stay and our problems will continue."
Half the list will be party members, the other half independents approved
by Ayatollah Sistani. Yesterday an alliance of 38 small Shia parties voiced
the first public dissatisfaction with Ayatollah Sistani's plans. Hussein
al-Mousawi, spokesman for the Shia Political Council, said the key
positions on the Shia list were going to extremist candidates who "believe
in the rule of religious clerics".
Notably absent from the list, for now, is Ayad Allawi, the secular Shia who
was appointed prime minister by the US in June this year. "The list is not
finished yet. We have invited Allawi but we don't know if he will say yes
or no," Mr Maliki said.
Some sources say that Ayatollah Sistani is reluctant to have Mr Allawi on
the list and believes he is tainted by his close alliance with the US. Some
Shia politicians are still uncomfortable with his membership of the Ba'ath
party before he defected in the 1970s.
Other parties are forming their own, smaller lists of allied candidates.
The two Kurdish parties, dominated by Masood Barzani of the Kurdistan
Democratic party, will put in a joint list and may yet form an alliance
with Mr Allawi.
Ghazi al-Yawar, the US-appointed president, has formed his own party of
Sunni and Shia figures, including several current government ministers, and
they will put forward their own list. The most likely candidates for prime
minister remain Mr Allawi, Mr Jaafari of Islamic Dawa, and Adil
Abdul-Mehdi, the number two in the Supreme Council.
Just two months from the elections it is difficult to identify a specific
political programme followed by any of the Shia parties or their coalition.
But given Ayatollah Sistani's role and the strong religious character of
most of the parties involved, it is clear that Islam will have a key role.
Some will want to introduce an Islamic legal system. Under the temporary
constitution supervised by the US occupation authorities earlier this year
a compromise was reached: Islam was designated a source for legislation but
not the sole source. It is likely that the more conserv- ative Shias will
want to change that. In the slum areas of eastern Baghdad where Moqtada
al-Sadr holds sway there has already been a dramatic Islamisation of
society, setting up new religious schools and requiring schoolgirls to
cover their hair.
The role of clerics in the new government will also be strongly fought over.
Mr Jabbery, of the Fadhila party, represents a moderate viewpoint but still
sees a potential political role for the clergy.
"In this country we would like the Islamic clerics to be outside the
system, because they will work much better that way," he said. But he
added: "They will keep their eye on the political movements and they can
step in at the right time if something really goes wrong or makes them feel
they should change things if there is a crisis."
Other parties are still vague about their agenda. The Supreme Council for
the Islamic Revolution says: "Our programme will adhere to Islamic
principles and will be based on Shia support."
Rory McCarthy in Baghdad
Wednesday December 1, 2004
The Guardian
Iraq's Shia parties have built a powerful political alliance uniting
moderates with extremists and seem likely to dominate next month's general
election. The coalition, formed in weeks of private negotiations, will put
forward a joint list of candidates.
The process has been overseen by Iraq's most revered Shia cleric, Grand
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who has designated aides to unite the diverse
Shia parties and to vet the many independent candidates standing with them.
Although he seeks no political role for himself, the influence of the
Iranian-born ayatollah will ensure that the government has a deeply
religious character and that Islam is a central tenet of the constitution
that must be written next year.
Shia politicians are highly organised and intent on holding the elections
on time, despite the violence that still grips Iraq and the pressure for a
delay from their Sunni and Kurdish political rivals. If they succeed it
will be the first time for centuries that the Shia have run the country,
achieving what many have come to regard as their birthright.
"We are pushing the government and the political parties very hard so that
we can have elections on time," said Jawad al-Maliki, a cultural historian
who spent 25 years living in exile and is a senior figure in the large
Islamic Dawa party.
"We feel very strongly that this crisis - the coalition forces, the
corruption - is all happening because there are no elections in Iraq."
A small committee dominated by Ayatollah Sistani's aides is overseeing the
joint list of candidates. On January 30 voters are due to elect 275 members
of a national assembly, which will then choose a prime minister and
cabinet. The assembly's prime task will be to write a constitution, to be
ratified by a second general election at the end of the year.
The list is topped by the leaders of Islamic Dawa and the Supreme Council
for the Islamic Revolution, Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. The
coalition also includes Ahmad Chalabi, the secular Shia exile who was once
a Pentagon favourite to rule post-war Iraq, and representatives of Moqtada
al-Sadr, the hardline Shia cleric who has led a series of uprisings against
the US occupation.
It is the first sign of rapprochement between the exiles and the opponents
of Saddam Hussein who stayed in Iraq.
Others involved include the Fadhila party, a moderate Islamist group
opposed to the occupation.
"We want to take the Americans out of our country through negotiations, not
by fighting," said its political leader, Nadeem al-Jabbery, a professor of
politics at Baghdad University.
"If we don't have elections or an elected government then the Americans
will stay and our problems will continue."
Half the list will be party members, the other half independents approved
by Ayatollah Sistani. Yesterday an alliance of 38 small Shia parties voiced
the first public dissatisfaction with Ayatollah Sistani's plans. Hussein
al-Mousawi, spokesman for the Shia Political Council, said the key
positions on the Shia list were going to extremist candidates who "believe
in the rule of religious clerics".
Notably absent from the list, for now, is Ayad Allawi, the secular Shia who
was appointed prime minister by the US in June this year. "The list is not
finished yet. We have invited Allawi but we don't know if he will say yes
or no," Mr Maliki said.
Some sources say that Ayatollah Sistani is reluctant to have Mr Allawi on
the list and believes he is tainted by his close alliance with the US. Some
Shia politicians are still uncomfortable with his membership of the Ba'ath
party before he defected in the 1970s.
Other parties are forming their own, smaller lists of allied candidates.
The two Kurdish parties, dominated by Masood Barzani of the Kurdistan
Democratic party, will put in a joint list and may yet form an alliance
with Mr Allawi.
Ghazi al-Yawar, the US-appointed president, has formed his own party of
Sunni and Shia figures, including several current government ministers, and
they will put forward their own list. The most likely candidates for prime
minister remain Mr Allawi, Mr Jaafari of Islamic Dawa, and Adil
Abdul-Mehdi, the number two in the Supreme Council.
Just two months from the elections it is difficult to identify a specific
political programme followed by any of the Shia parties or their coalition.
But given Ayatollah Sistani's role and the strong religious character of
most of the parties involved, it is clear that Islam will have a key role.
Some will want to introduce an Islamic legal system. Under the temporary
constitution supervised by the US occupation authorities earlier this year
a compromise was reached: Islam was designated a source for legislation but
not the sole source. It is likely that the more conserv- ative Shias will
want to change that. In the slum areas of eastern Baghdad where Moqtada
al-Sadr holds sway there has already been a dramatic Islamisation of
society, setting up new religious schools and requiring schoolgirls to
cover their hair.
The role of clerics in the new government will also be strongly fought over.
Mr Jabbery, of the Fadhila party, represents a moderate viewpoint but still
sees a potential political role for the clergy.
"In this country we would like the Islamic clerics to be outside the
system, because they will work much better that way," he said. But he
added: "They will keep their eye on the political movements and they can
step in at the right time if something really goes wrong or makes them feel
they should change things if there is a crisis."
Other parties are still vague about their agenda. The Supreme Council for
the Islamic Revolution says: "Our programme will adhere to Islamic
principles and will be based on Shia support."
FT article on Iraq's future
White House getting used to idea of Shia government
By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Financial Times. Published: December 2 2004 18:13 | Last updated: December
2 2004 18:13
As American troop reinforcements head to Iraq, the Bush administration is
slowly coming to terms with the realisation that elections scheduled for
next month could spell the end of Iyad Allawi, prime minister and the
secular US favourite, and usher in a quasi-theocracy.
Nothing is certain, not even the January 30 election date, yet there is a
growing expectation in Washington that a coalition dominated by religious
parties of the Shia majority is likely to emerge as the first Shia Muslim
government in the Arab world.
One US official, an expert on the Middle East, reflected on the unforeseen
consequences of last year's invasion.
"Now we are willing to countenance a limited theocracy in Iraq, limited by
a weak basic law that guarantees basic civil liberties," said the official,
who asked not to be named. "That was not the original idea."
The sweeping vision of neoconservatives of a secular, democratic Iraq that
would transform the political equation in the region and recognise Israel
had been shattered, said the official.
Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, a Shia cleric and leader of the Iranian-backed Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), is one of several names
circulating in Washington as a likely prime minister. Others include Adel
Abd al-Mahdi, the current finance minister and Sciri member, and Ibrahim
al-Jaafari, the current vice president and head of the Shia Dawa party.
Some leading neoconservatives in Washington are dismayed at the weakening
of secular moderates by the persistent Sunni insurgency. Richard Perle,
former adviser to the Pentagon, says the big mistake was not to have
installed an early government of exiles.
Charles Krauthammer, a commentator, warned the Shia and Kurdish minority
that the US was not ready to fight "their civil war" against the Sunnis
indefinitely. The US wanted to "maintain this idea of a unified, non-ethnic
Iraq". "At some point, however, we must decide whether that is possible and
how many American lives should be sacrificed in its name."
Experts on Iraq and the Shia at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a
leading neoconservative policy group, are still upbeat.
They believe a Shia-led coalition that will oversee the process of writing
a constitution next year will remain democratic and make compromises.
Although religious, it will not be a theocracy because Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, the most influential spiritual leader, will stay in the
background.
Despite the groups' ties to Iran and its Revolutionary Guards, they say
Sciri and Dawa are not beholden to the ayatollahs in Iran.
Michael Rubin, a former US adviser in Iraq and now an AEI analyst, predicts
a broad-based coalition with a "religious colouring".
Mr Allawi, whose party has not yet managed to form a coalition slate, is
likely to lose out, says Mr Rubin, who believes Central Intelligence Agency
polling data overestimate the popularity of their protégé.
"The Bush administration sees Afghanistan as a success story and wants to
replicate it, but Allawi is no Hamid Karzai," says Mr Rubin, referring to
the elected Afghan president.
Reuel Gerecht, a former CIA operative who joined AEI, believes the US
administration is prepared for a lot of Sunnis not to vote because of
intimidation or boycott. "But they are not fully prepared for the Shia
winning and Allawi possibly going down."
A Shia-led government would want US forces to continue fighting the Sunni
insurgents - until Iraqi security forces were trained in numbers.
Mr Hakim, recalls Mr Gerecht, encouraged President George W. Bush to stay
the course during their private meeting in the White House last January.
More problematic is the reaction of Iraq's Sunni Arab neighbours to a Shia
leadership in Baghdad. Officials say a flurry of meetings with Arab leaders
is aimed at gaining their acceptance of what the elections may produce
while encouraging the Sunnis to participate and reining in the ex-Ba'athists.
"The Jordanians and the Saudis are allergic to a Shia-dominated government
and are revolted at the prospect," says Mr Gerecht.
A conference at the US Institute of Peace, which is assisting Iraq, heard
from experts and senior US and Iraqi officials this week that election
preparations were on track in all but three provinces. More than 4,000
candidates have registered so far.
"It's time for these people to vote. And I am looking forward to it," Mr
Bush said in the Oval Office yesterday. "The elections should not be
postponed."
Ronald Schlicher, the State Department's co-ordinator for Iraq, said the US
would have to accept the results of a "credible" election.
By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Financial Times. Published: December 2 2004 18:13 | Last updated: December
2 2004 18:13
As American troop reinforcements head to Iraq, the Bush administration is
slowly coming to terms with the realisation that elections scheduled for
next month could spell the end of Iyad Allawi, prime minister and the
secular US favourite, and usher in a quasi-theocracy.
Nothing is certain, not even the January 30 election date, yet there is a
growing expectation in Washington that a coalition dominated by religious
parties of the Shia majority is likely to emerge as the first Shia Muslim
government in the Arab world.
One US official, an expert on the Middle East, reflected on the unforeseen
consequences of last year's invasion.
"Now we are willing to countenance a limited theocracy in Iraq, limited by
a weak basic law that guarantees basic civil liberties," said the official,
who asked not to be named. "That was not the original idea."
The sweeping vision of neoconservatives of a secular, democratic Iraq that
would transform the political equation in the region and recognise Israel
had been shattered, said the official.
Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, a Shia cleric and leader of the Iranian-backed Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), is one of several names
circulating in Washington as a likely prime minister. Others include Adel
Abd al-Mahdi, the current finance minister and Sciri member, and Ibrahim
al-Jaafari, the current vice president and head of the Shia Dawa party.
Some leading neoconservatives in Washington are dismayed at the weakening
of secular moderates by the persistent Sunni insurgency. Richard Perle,
former adviser to the Pentagon, says the big mistake was not to have
installed an early government of exiles.
Charles Krauthammer, a commentator, warned the Shia and Kurdish minority
that the US was not ready to fight "their civil war" against the Sunnis
indefinitely. The US wanted to "maintain this idea of a unified, non-ethnic
Iraq". "At some point, however, we must decide whether that is possible and
how many American lives should be sacrificed in its name."
Experts on Iraq and the Shia at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a
leading neoconservative policy group, are still upbeat.
They believe a Shia-led coalition that will oversee the process of writing
a constitution next year will remain democratic and make compromises.
Although religious, it will not be a theocracy because Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, the most influential spiritual leader, will stay in the
background.
Despite the groups' ties to Iran and its Revolutionary Guards, they say
Sciri and Dawa are not beholden to the ayatollahs in Iran.
Michael Rubin, a former US adviser in Iraq and now an AEI analyst, predicts
a broad-based coalition with a "religious colouring".
Mr Allawi, whose party has not yet managed to form a coalition slate, is
likely to lose out, says Mr Rubin, who believes Central Intelligence Agency
polling data overestimate the popularity of their protégé.
"The Bush administration sees Afghanistan as a success story and wants to
replicate it, but Allawi is no Hamid Karzai," says Mr Rubin, referring to
the elected Afghan president.
Reuel Gerecht, a former CIA operative who joined AEI, believes the US
administration is prepared for a lot of Sunnis not to vote because of
intimidation or boycott. "But they are not fully prepared for the Shia
winning and Allawi possibly going down."
A Shia-led government would want US forces to continue fighting the Sunni
insurgents - until Iraqi security forces were trained in numbers.
Mr Hakim, recalls Mr Gerecht, encouraged President George W. Bush to stay
the course during their private meeting in the White House last January.
More problematic is the reaction of Iraq's Sunni Arab neighbours to a Shia
leadership in Baghdad. Officials say a flurry of meetings with Arab leaders
is aimed at gaining their acceptance of what the elections may produce
while encouraging the Sunnis to participate and reining in the ex-Ba'athists.
"The Jordanians and the Saudis are allergic to a Shia-dominated government
and are revolted at the prospect," says Mr Gerecht.
A conference at the US Institute of Peace, which is assisting Iraq, heard
from experts and senior US and Iraqi officials this week that election
preparations were on track in all but three provinces. More than 4,000
candidates have registered so far.
"It's time for these people to vote. And I am looking forward to it," Mr
Bush said in the Oval Office yesterday. "The elections should not be
postponed."
Ronald Schlicher, the State Department's co-ordinator for Iraq, said the US
would have to accept the results of a "credible" election.
British state's "admission of guilt"
The British state has effectively admitted that the US/UK occupation's programme of forced privatisation in Iraq has been unlawful.
In April 2004 Ewa Jasiewicz and Pennie Quinton were arrested and charged with "aggravated trespass" for entering and disrupting the Iraq Procurement conference in London. It was a business conference where representatives of the occupation authority came to discuss deals and contracts with bosses from big multinational corporations.
On 23 November Ewa's and Pennie's case was due to come to trial. A few days before that the Crown Prosecution Service told their lawyer that it was dropping the case for "lack of evidence".
But there was no lack of evidence. There were plenty of witnesses that Ewa and Pennie did enter the conference uninvited, and did disrupt it. Ewa and Pennie did not deny it. Their defence rested solely on the claim that "aggravated trespass" means disrupting a lawful event, and the conference was not lawful.
Ewa and Pennie used a little-known legal clause to insist on their right to be prosecuted, once charged, even if the Crown Prosecution Service wanted to forget it. The case came to court; the prosecutors announced that they were offering no evidence, and the charges were dismissed.
In fact the conference organisers - Windrush Communications - and the company bosses at the conference did not want to be questioned in open court about the lawfulness of the conference.
United Nations resolution 1483 recognised the US and the UK as the occupying powers in Iraq. That made them subject to the Geneva Convention of 1949 and the Hague Regulations of 1907, which forbid pillage and forbid changing the constitution of a country.
The Iraqi constitution forbids privatisation. Its reasons for doing so were not socialist. As Ewa Jasiewicz stressed at the press conference which she and Pennie held on 24 November, Saddam's regime was a totalitarian tyranny. Nevertheless, the constitution bans privatisation; the Iraqi people have every right to change that, but under international law the occupying powers do not. Occupation order no.39, signed by Paul Bremer, provides for 100% privatisation and foreign ownership of everything above ground level in Iraq, and 100% repatriation of profits.
If the US and UK could claim overriding imperatives which give them no choice but to privatise, their position might be defensible in international law. But they cannot.
Naomi Klein, who spoke with Ewa and Pennie at the press conference, said that back in early 2003 US administration officials whom she had spoken to genuinely expected a McDonalds on every main street in Iraq, and world-market factories producing for Nike or IBM in every city, within months of the invasion.
Far from it: there has been no foreign direct investment at all in Iraq since April 2003. If only because any multinational investing there would need to insure its assets: and insurance for direct investment in Iraq is not available at any price...
Another occupation order (19 September 2003) decreed a flat-rate tax of 15% on all income and profits - a measure which, as Naomi Klein pointed out, the free-market right has long dreamed of for the USA, but never been able to implement there.
The social and political problem with these decrees is not that lots of the economy has been privatised, or that any tax, flat-rate or other, is being collected, but twofold.
Reconstruction has been hugely delayed. As of September 2004, only $1 billion of the $18 billion the US government was due to spend so far on Iraqi reconstruction had actually gone out. The US government’s response to that problem, in September, was to give up for the time being and divert money earmarked for reconstructing water and electricity supplies to more security guards.
Some money has been spent, mostly from Iraq's own oil revenue. The best estimate is that about 30% vanishes through corruption. (On 24 November, the US government decided to withhold 15% of its payments to Halliburton, the corporation which Vice-President Dick Cheney used to head, on suspicion that Halliburton is padding its bills for the relatively easily-checked services it provides to the US troops in Iraq). And another 30% is spent on security guards for the contractors.
The US contractors send some people to sit in offices in the US-controlled Green Zone in Baghdad, and a little cash filters down to Iraqi subcontractors who do a little work.
The US government's doctrinaire insistence on contracting out reconstruction to foreign (mostly US) corporations means that it gets done very slowly. Baghdad still has electricity only 12 hours a day. Basra still has no drinkable running water.
The slowness of reconstruction - and the very fact of the highly unpopular decision to privatise - increases Iraqi discontent. It helps the Islamist militias recruit, worsens the violence, and so makes reconstruction even slower.
The other side of it is that the occupation authorities' privatisation decrees have been managed in such a way as to bind a future independent elected Iraqi government, if and when it emerges.
In October 2003 the Iraqi Interim Governing Council appointed by the USA voted unanimously not to proceed with privatisation. But now the USA has theoretically handed over to an (also US-appointed) Interim Government. It did so under a transitional constitution which binds the Interim Government to upholding all the occupation authorities' decrees. That may make the privatisation decrees technically legal.
A future elected Iraqi government can change the occupation authority decrees. But the transitional constitution makes it very difficult, saying that any decision to rescind needs a two-thirds majority and, even with a two-thirds majority, can be vetoed by any three of Iraq's 18 provinces.
Besides, any future government will also be tied by the deal which the Paris Club of top financial powers agreed on 21 November. The deal writes off 80% of Iraq's gargantuan foreign debt.
But, in the first place, that debt was almost entirely built up by Saddam Hussein to finance his wars and repression. The Iraqi people were the victims, not the beneficiaries. They should not pay.
In the second place, the remaining 20% is still a huge debt. Assuming all non-Paris Club creditors agree to the 80% reduction, which is far from certain, Iraq will still be shackled with over $25bn of debt. This compares with an Iraqi education budget this year of $544m and a health budget of $947m. (Acute malnutrition among Iraqi children under five has doubled since 2002).
And, finally, the write-off is to be in stages, and conditional on Iraq's compliance with an IMF economic programme - which will including sweeping privatisations.
As Naomi Klein put it: "The occupation of Iraq has been an ideological experiment. The economic decisions have vastly increased the security risks in Iraq" - and vastly diminished the chances of any workable democracy emerging in Iraq.
The British labour movement should take up these issues, in solidarity with the new Iraqi labour movement.
Martin Thomas
In April 2004 Ewa Jasiewicz and Pennie Quinton were arrested and charged with "aggravated trespass" for entering and disrupting the Iraq Procurement conference in London. It was a business conference where representatives of the occupation authority came to discuss deals and contracts with bosses from big multinational corporations.
On 23 November Ewa's and Pennie's case was due to come to trial. A few days before that the Crown Prosecution Service told their lawyer that it was dropping the case for "lack of evidence".
But there was no lack of evidence. There were plenty of witnesses that Ewa and Pennie did enter the conference uninvited, and did disrupt it. Ewa and Pennie did not deny it. Their defence rested solely on the claim that "aggravated trespass" means disrupting a lawful event, and the conference was not lawful.
Ewa and Pennie used a little-known legal clause to insist on their right to be prosecuted, once charged, even if the Crown Prosecution Service wanted to forget it. The case came to court; the prosecutors announced that they were offering no evidence, and the charges were dismissed.
In fact the conference organisers - Windrush Communications - and the company bosses at the conference did not want to be questioned in open court about the lawfulness of the conference.
United Nations resolution 1483 recognised the US and the UK as the occupying powers in Iraq. That made them subject to the Geneva Convention of 1949 and the Hague Regulations of 1907, which forbid pillage and forbid changing the constitution of a country.
The Iraqi constitution forbids privatisation. Its reasons for doing so were not socialist. As Ewa Jasiewicz stressed at the press conference which she and Pennie held on 24 November, Saddam's regime was a totalitarian tyranny. Nevertheless, the constitution bans privatisation; the Iraqi people have every right to change that, but under international law the occupying powers do not. Occupation order no.39, signed by Paul Bremer, provides for 100% privatisation and foreign ownership of everything above ground level in Iraq, and 100% repatriation of profits.
If the US and UK could claim overriding imperatives which give them no choice but to privatise, their position might be defensible in international law. But they cannot.
Naomi Klein, who spoke with Ewa and Pennie at the press conference, said that back in early 2003 US administration officials whom she had spoken to genuinely expected a McDonalds on every main street in Iraq, and world-market factories producing for Nike or IBM in every city, within months of the invasion.
Far from it: there has been no foreign direct investment at all in Iraq since April 2003. If only because any multinational investing there would need to insure its assets: and insurance for direct investment in Iraq is not available at any price...
Another occupation order (19 September 2003) decreed a flat-rate tax of 15% on all income and profits - a measure which, as Naomi Klein pointed out, the free-market right has long dreamed of for the USA, but never been able to implement there.
The social and political problem with these decrees is not that lots of the economy has been privatised, or that any tax, flat-rate or other, is being collected, but twofold.
Reconstruction has been hugely delayed. As of September 2004, only $1 billion of the $18 billion the US government was due to spend so far on Iraqi reconstruction had actually gone out. The US government’s response to that problem, in September, was to give up for the time being and divert money earmarked for reconstructing water and electricity supplies to more security guards.
Some money has been spent, mostly from Iraq's own oil revenue. The best estimate is that about 30% vanishes through corruption. (On 24 November, the US government decided to withhold 15% of its payments to Halliburton, the corporation which Vice-President Dick Cheney used to head, on suspicion that Halliburton is padding its bills for the relatively easily-checked services it provides to the US troops in Iraq). And another 30% is spent on security guards for the contractors.
The US contractors send some people to sit in offices in the US-controlled Green Zone in Baghdad, and a little cash filters down to Iraqi subcontractors who do a little work.
The US government's doctrinaire insistence on contracting out reconstruction to foreign (mostly US) corporations means that it gets done very slowly. Baghdad still has electricity only 12 hours a day. Basra still has no drinkable running water.
The slowness of reconstruction - and the very fact of the highly unpopular decision to privatise - increases Iraqi discontent. It helps the Islamist militias recruit, worsens the violence, and so makes reconstruction even slower.
The other side of it is that the occupation authorities' privatisation decrees have been managed in such a way as to bind a future independent elected Iraqi government, if and when it emerges.
In October 2003 the Iraqi Interim Governing Council appointed by the USA voted unanimously not to proceed with privatisation. But now the USA has theoretically handed over to an (also US-appointed) Interim Government. It did so under a transitional constitution which binds the Interim Government to upholding all the occupation authorities' decrees. That may make the privatisation decrees technically legal.
A future elected Iraqi government can change the occupation authority decrees. But the transitional constitution makes it very difficult, saying that any decision to rescind needs a two-thirds majority and, even with a two-thirds majority, can be vetoed by any three of Iraq's 18 provinces.
Besides, any future government will also be tied by the deal which the Paris Club of top financial powers agreed on 21 November. The deal writes off 80% of Iraq's gargantuan foreign debt.
But, in the first place, that debt was almost entirely built up by Saddam Hussein to finance his wars and repression. The Iraqi people were the victims, not the beneficiaries. They should not pay.
In the second place, the remaining 20% is still a huge debt. Assuming all non-Paris Club creditors agree to the 80% reduction, which is far from certain, Iraq will still be shackled with over $25bn of debt. This compares with an Iraqi education budget this year of $544m and a health budget of $947m. (Acute malnutrition among Iraqi children under five has doubled since 2002).
And, finally, the write-off is to be in stages, and conditional on Iraq's compliance with an IMF economic programme - which will including sweeping privatisations.
As Naomi Klein put it: "The occupation of Iraq has been an ideological experiment. The economic decisions have vastly increased the security risks in Iraq" - and vastly diminished the chances of any workable democracy emerging in Iraq.
The British labour movement should take up these issues, in solidarity with the new Iraqi labour movement.
Martin Thomas
Report on Sharm al-Shayk conference
In response to an invitation by the Arab Republic of Egypt, an international ministerial meeting on Iraq was held in Sharm al-Shaykh on 23 November 2004. The aim of this meeting was to discuss the Iraqi people's needs and to support the process stipulated in [UN] Security Council Resolution 1546, including the holding of direct democratic elections and backing the Iraqi republic's efforts in this process.
The meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of the group of states neighbouring Iraq. They are the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan, the Republic of Turkey, the Republic of Iraq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Arab Republic of Syria, the State of Kuwait and the Arab Republic of Egypt. It was also attended by the foreign ministers of the Group of Eight [G8]. They are Germany, Italy, the Russian Federation, France, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan. This is in addition to the foreign minister of the People's Republic of China, being a permanent member of the Security Council, and the foreign ministers of the Republic of Tunisia, the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, the Kingdom of Bahrain, Malaysia and the Netherlands. Moreover, it was attended by the secretary-general of the United Nations, the secretary-general of the Arab League, the secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference [OIC] and the representatives of the European Union.
The participants decided as follows:
1. Reaffirming Iraq's sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity, as well as its national unity, in accordance with the principles of non-interference in internal affairs and the relations of good neighbourliness between states as stated in the UN Charter. Reaffirming also the Iraqi people's right to a secure and stable life, the determination of their political future in freedom by democratic methods, and the exercise of full control over their natural and financial resources, and the commitment to help towards the achievement of these goals.
2. Acknowledging the regional initiative taken by the neighbouring states at their recent meeting in Cairo on 21 July 2004 and considering the efforts exerted by these states as serving the interest of the Iraqi people and the stability of the region.
3. Emphasizing the UN's leading role in supporting the political process in Iraq, in as much as the circumstances permit and in the manner stated in Paragraphs 4 and 7 of Security Council Resolution 1546. The ministers welcomed in this respect the pioneering role which the organization had played in offering advice and support to the election process, including the recent decision to deploy a larger election team in Iraq to help prepare for the elections. They also expressed the importance of the UN continuing its pioneering role in promoting national dialogue and achieving accord among the Iraqi people on drafting the permanent national constitution in 2005. Moreover, they welcomed its role in Iraq and appealed to the international community to offer the necessary support for its protection. The ministers also welcomed the supporting role played by the Arab League alongside the role of the UN.
4. Considering this meeting a step towards achieving wider participation by all the Iraqi political sides so as to contribute to the success of the political process. The ministers welcomed in this context the efforts made by the interim Iraqi government and the other leaderships of the Iraqi society in broadening the scope of political participation by encouraging all elements that reject violence to get involved in the political and election processes by peaceful means. The ministers expressed in this respect their encouragement to the interim Iraqi government to meet with representatives of the different sides in Iraq at the earliest possible date before the general elections.
5. Welcoming all steps that have been taken so far to achieve democracy in Iraq and encouraging the interim Iraqi government to continue with the political process by holding general elections before the end of January 2005. This is in order to form an interim National Assembly, which will assume a number of responsibilities, including the formation of an interim government in Iraq and the drafting of a permanent constitution for Iraq that would lead to the formation of a constitutionally elected government by 31 December 2005 according to the timetable approved by Security Council Resolution 1546. The ministers also welcomed the interim Iraqi government's commitment to work within the spirit of national dialogue and the achievement of accord so as to develop the process of Iraq's transfer to a unified federal pluralistic state, with all the means to preserve political and humanitarian rights.
6. Condemning all acts of terrorism in Iraq and calling for an immediate end to these acts so as to alleviate the Iraqi people's sufferings and preserve innocent life among Iraq, and respect human rights. Calling on all sides to avoid the use of excessive force and to exercise maximum degrees of self-restraint so as to avoid the exposure of civilians to violence. Calling on the ministers of the interim Iraqi government to deal firmly, in accordance with the provisions of humanitarian international law and the relevant Security Council resolutions, with terrorist presence and activities in Iraq that threaten the security of the neighbouring states.
7. Condemning all acts of kidnapping and assassination, including those affecting civilians who are employed by local and foreign establishments in the reconstruction of Iraq, as well as international humanitarian organizations that offer aid to the Iraqi people and members of political missions and journalists. Calling on all sides to redouble their efforts in supporting their interim Iraqi government in its confrontation of these criminal activities.
8. Calling on all the sides concerned to take steps that will help achieve Iraq's stability and to reaffirm the obligations of UN member states, as stipulated in Security Council Resolution 1546, about stopping any crossing by terrorists to and from Iraq, supplying them with arms, or providing them with funds, as it would give them encouragement. Calling on the neighbouring states and all the international sides concerned to strengthen their cooperation in controlling the Iraqi borders. In the achievement of this aim, the ministers referred to the agreement reached by the neighbouring states to intensify cooperation between them and to call a meeting of their interior ministers, as agreed on in the sixth meeting of the neighbouring states in Cairo on 21 July 2004.
9. Re-emphasizing the importance of commitment to the principles of good neighbourliness and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states in the manner stated in the UN Charter. Welcoming the role played by all the parties concerned, including regional organizations and especially the Arab League in creating the right atmosphere for achieving security and stability in the region. The ministers also expressed their encouragement for confidence-building measures, as related to the situation in Iraq.
10. The ministers reiterated that the mandate of the multinational forces in Iraq is not open-ended and that it would end, as stipulated in Paragraphs 4 and 12 of Security Council Resolution 1546, with the completion of the political process. They also expressed their awareness of the importance of the sovereign Iraqi government's approval of the presence of these forces and their commitment to working in accordance with international law, including the obligations stated in the humanitarian international law in the manner stated in Security Council Resolution 1546. They also stressed the need to enable the Iraqi security forces as soon as possible to play a greater and growing role in the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq. Moreover, they call upon the states to continue with their efforts whenever possible to help the interim Iraqi government in building the capabilities of these forces in the manner specified in Paragraph 16 of Security Council Resolution 1546.
11. The ministers also reiterated the importance of helping and supporting the efforts for the reconstruction of Iraq and creating the necessary circumstances for the achievement of economic and social development by contributing to the efforts to achieve stability and security in Iraq. In this respect, they call upon all donor states and organizations to quickly pay the financial aid they pledged in the meeting of the committee of donor states held in Madrid in October 2003 so that it would be possible to cope with the priorities set by the interim government and direct these pledges to specific projects in Iraq. They also encouraged further contributions. In this respect, the ministers acknowledged the accomplishments which have been made by the Tokyo meeting of donors in October 2004 and its role in expanding international cooperation to support the efforts by the interim Iraqi government to implement its special development strategy. They also expressed in this respect their awareness of the importance of effective follow-up work by the interim Iraqi government on its obligations to lay down fair, transparent and non-discriminatory conditions to enable all sides to participate on equal footing in the reconstruction process of Iraq to the maximum limits possible so as to restore economic development in Iraq.
12. Expressing the awareness that lessening Iraq's debts is a major factor in the reconstruction process. The ministers welcomed in this respect the commitments made by several donors, including the Paris Club, and called on the donors to Iraq to take steps to reduce its foreign debts.
13. Emphasizing the importance of referring to trial the members of the former Iraqi regime, who committed war crimes against Iran and Kuwait and crimes against humanity against the Iraqi people.
14. The ministers instructed their representatives to conduct a periodic review of the fulfilment of obligations, implement the results reached by this conference, submit reports to the ministers on their follow-up meetings, the first of which will be held in February 2005, and coordinate with the Iraqi authorities on the possibility of holding other international meetings in the future inside Iraq as well.
At the end of the meeting, the ministers expressed their appreciation to the Arab Republic of Egypt for hosting the meeting.
Martin Thomas
The meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of the group of states neighbouring Iraq. They are the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan, the Republic of Turkey, the Republic of Iraq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Arab Republic of Syria, the State of Kuwait and the Arab Republic of Egypt. It was also attended by the foreign ministers of the Group of Eight [G8]. They are Germany, Italy, the Russian Federation, France, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan. This is in addition to the foreign minister of the People's Republic of China, being a permanent member of the Security Council, and the foreign ministers of the Republic of Tunisia, the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, the Kingdom of Bahrain, Malaysia and the Netherlands. Moreover, it was attended by the secretary-general of the United Nations, the secretary-general of the Arab League, the secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference [OIC] and the representatives of the European Union.
The participants decided as follows:
1. Reaffirming Iraq's sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity, as well as its national unity, in accordance with the principles of non-interference in internal affairs and the relations of good neighbourliness between states as stated in the UN Charter. Reaffirming also the Iraqi people's right to a secure and stable life, the determination of their political future in freedom by democratic methods, and the exercise of full control over their natural and financial resources, and the commitment to help towards the achievement of these goals.
2. Acknowledging the regional initiative taken by the neighbouring states at their recent meeting in Cairo on 21 July 2004 and considering the efforts exerted by these states as serving the interest of the Iraqi people and the stability of the region.
3. Emphasizing the UN's leading role in supporting the political process in Iraq, in as much as the circumstances permit and in the manner stated in Paragraphs 4 and 7 of Security Council Resolution 1546. The ministers welcomed in this respect the pioneering role which the organization had played in offering advice and support to the election process, including the recent decision to deploy a larger election team in Iraq to help prepare for the elections. They also expressed the importance of the UN continuing its pioneering role in promoting national dialogue and achieving accord among the Iraqi people on drafting the permanent national constitution in 2005. Moreover, they welcomed its role in Iraq and appealed to the international community to offer the necessary support for its protection. The ministers also welcomed the supporting role played by the Arab League alongside the role of the UN.
4. Considering this meeting a step towards achieving wider participation by all the Iraqi political sides so as to contribute to the success of the political process. The ministers welcomed in this context the efforts made by the interim Iraqi government and the other leaderships of the Iraqi society in broadening the scope of political participation by encouraging all elements that reject violence to get involved in the political and election processes by peaceful means. The ministers expressed in this respect their encouragement to the interim Iraqi government to meet with representatives of the different sides in Iraq at the earliest possible date before the general elections.
5. Welcoming all steps that have been taken so far to achieve democracy in Iraq and encouraging the interim Iraqi government to continue with the political process by holding general elections before the end of January 2005. This is in order to form an interim National Assembly, which will assume a number of responsibilities, including the formation of an interim government in Iraq and the drafting of a permanent constitution for Iraq that would lead to the formation of a constitutionally elected government by 31 December 2005 according to the timetable approved by Security Council Resolution 1546. The ministers also welcomed the interim Iraqi government's commitment to work within the spirit of national dialogue and the achievement of accord so as to develop the process of Iraq's transfer to a unified federal pluralistic state, with all the means to preserve political and humanitarian rights.
6. Condemning all acts of terrorism in Iraq and calling for an immediate end to these acts so as to alleviate the Iraqi people's sufferings and preserve innocent life among Iraq, and respect human rights. Calling on all sides to avoid the use of excessive force and to exercise maximum degrees of self-restraint so as to avoid the exposure of civilians to violence. Calling on the ministers of the interim Iraqi government to deal firmly, in accordance with the provisions of humanitarian international law and the relevant Security Council resolutions, with terrorist presence and activities in Iraq that threaten the security of the neighbouring states.
7. Condemning all acts of kidnapping and assassination, including those affecting civilians who are employed by local and foreign establishments in the reconstruction of Iraq, as well as international humanitarian organizations that offer aid to the Iraqi people and members of political missions and journalists. Calling on all sides to redouble their efforts in supporting their interim Iraqi government in its confrontation of these criminal activities.
8. Calling on all the sides concerned to take steps that will help achieve Iraq's stability and to reaffirm the obligations of UN member states, as stipulated in Security Council Resolution 1546, about stopping any crossing by terrorists to and from Iraq, supplying them with arms, or providing them with funds, as it would give them encouragement. Calling on the neighbouring states and all the international sides concerned to strengthen their cooperation in controlling the Iraqi borders. In the achievement of this aim, the ministers referred to the agreement reached by the neighbouring states to intensify cooperation between them and to call a meeting of their interior ministers, as agreed on in the sixth meeting of the neighbouring states in Cairo on 21 July 2004.
9. Re-emphasizing the importance of commitment to the principles of good neighbourliness and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states in the manner stated in the UN Charter. Welcoming the role played by all the parties concerned, including regional organizations and especially the Arab League in creating the right atmosphere for achieving security and stability in the region. The ministers also expressed their encouragement for confidence-building measures, as related to the situation in Iraq.
10. The ministers reiterated that the mandate of the multinational forces in Iraq is not open-ended and that it would end, as stipulated in Paragraphs 4 and 12 of Security Council Resolution 1546, with the completion of the political process. They also expressed their awareness of the importance of the sovereign Iraqi government's approval of the presence of these forces and their commitment to working in accordance with international law, including the obligations stated in the humanitarian international law in the manner stated in Security Council Resolution 1546. They also stressed the need to enable the Iraqi security forces as soon as possible to play a greater and growing role in the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq. Moreover, they call upon the states to continue with their efforts whenever possible to help the interim Iraqi government in building the capabilities of these forces in the manner specified in Paragraph 16 of Security Council Resolution 1546.
11. The ministers also reiterated the importance of helping and supporting the efforts for the reconstruction of Iraq and creating the necessary circumstances for the achievement of economic and social development by contributing to the efforts to achieve stability and security in Iraq. In this respect, they call upon all donor states and organizations to quickly pay the financial aid they pledged in the meeting of the committee of donor states held in Madrid in October 2003 so that it would be possible to cope with the priorities set by the interim government and direct these pledges to specific projects in Iraq. They also encouraged further contributions. In this respect, the ministers acknowledged the accomplishments which have been made by the Tokyo meeting of donors in October 2004 and its role in expanding international cooperation to support the efforts by the interim Iraqi government to implement its special development strategy. They also expressed in this respect their awareness of the importance of effective follow-up work by the interim Iraqi government on its obligations to lay down fair, transparent and non-discriminatory conditions to enable all sides to participate on equal footing in the reconstruction process of Iraq to the maximum limits possible so as to restore economic development in Iraq.
12. Expressing the awareness that lessening Iraq's debts is a major factor in the reconstruction process. The ministers welcomed in this respect the commitments made by several donors, including the Paris Club, and called on the donors to Iraq to take steps to reduce its foreign debts.
13. Emphasizing the importance of referring to trial the members of the former Iraqi regime, who committed war crimes against Iran and Kuwait and crimes against humanity against the Iraqi people.
14. The ministers instructed their representatives to conduct a periodic review of the fulfilment of obligations, implement the results reached by this conference, submit reports to the ministers on their follow-up meetings, the first of which will be held in February 2005, and coordinate with the Iraqi authorities on the possibility of holding other international meetings in the future inside Iraq as well.
At the end of the meeting, the ministers expressed their appreciation to the Arab Republic of Egypt for hosting the meeting.
Martin Thomas
Iraq solidarity meeting in Falkirk
The Working Class in Iraq
Date: 03/12/2004
Public meeting - Houzan Mahmoud of the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq and the Organisation of Women’s Freedoms
Organised by Unison/Falkirk Trades Union Council –
Old Sheriff Court, Hope Street, Falkirk, Scotland
Time: 7.30 p.m.
Contact: Duncan McCallum
T: 01324 712185
Email: duncanmac@blueyonder.co.uk
Date: 03/12/2004
Public meeting - Houzan Mahmoud of the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq and the Organisation of Women’s Freedoms
Organised by Unison/Falkirk Trades Union Council –
Old Sheriff Court, Hope Street, Falkirk, Scotland
Time: 7.30 p.m.
Contact: Duncan McCallum
T: 01324 712185
Email: duncanmac@blueyonder.co.uk
Wednesday, December 1
Report of Basra workers' conference
Press Release Nr. 1
Date: 26.11.2004
Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq-FWCUI
The open conference of workers in Basra concluded successfully
Today in the city of Basra under the slogan (the power of the working class is in its unity and organisation) the open congress of workers in Basra commenced with participation of more than 200 representatives and labour activists of many labour unions, industrial workers and preparatory committees of labour unions. The congress discussed the main topics including the role of labour movement to end the occupation and in determination of the political future of the Iraqi society.
Falah Alwan, president of FWCUI presented a lecture about the freedom of trade unions, Adul karim Al Sada presented a research about the unity of the working class and
Ali Abas presented an assessment about the realities and current situation of the labour movement in Basra.
Qasim Hadi, general secretary of UUI made a speech about the unemployment in Iraq after wars and under the occupation, Yanar Mohamad, gave a speech about the role of the working women in the trade union movement and the position of the women in the labour movement in Iraq. Nadia Mahmoud, member of the political Bureau of the Worker Communist Party of Iraq gave a speech about the activities of FWCUI and UUI Abroad and their influence on the political stands of the labour unions world wide on the situation of the worker’s movement in Iraq. She also stressed upon the importance of international solidarity with labour movement in Iraq.
There was a detail discussion about the agenda of the conference for more than 4 hours and then followed by the election of the executive board of the FWCUI. The congress, issued many resolutions, conclusion and recommendation which after discussion, they have been approved by the congress and considered as resolutions of the congress.
The congress made a conclusion regarding the situation of Iraqi people under the occupation and the interim government established by the US led coalition in Iraq and the struggle of the civil resistance front against the occupation. The congress appeals to labour movement world wide to support Iraqi workers and Iraqi people to end the occupation of Iraq.
The labour activists and representative of labour unions viewed this congress, as an important congress in this capacity been held in Basra which was very triumphant in proposing a prospective to the labour movement in Iraq.
The agreements around the resolutions of this congress were very obvious and constructive and its agenda was very apparent and broadly dealt with the current situation in Iraq, in which majority of the decisions and resolutions have been accepted by absolute votes of participants.
During the elections, a group of participant formed a calculation team of the votes and the results were very truthful and accurate.
In another part of the congress, many solidarity letters which have been sent to the conference from trade unions, political parties and labour activists worldwide have been mentioned and short paragraphs of these letters have been translated to the workers.
The congress was concluded with great feeling of success of all participants on the success of the congress and they regarded these conferences as great steps and important in principles to establish real independent labour unions not belonging to the government.
In the congress the female representatives and activists took an active role .In this regard a female labour activist named Kifah Hassan won the election with absolute majority of votes of the participants.
The congress discussed many serious issues for the independent labour movement in Iraq its tasks and responsibilities to end the occupation of Iraq and to set its role in the political future of Iraq, freedom of trade unions and the unity of the working class.
Long live the willpower of the working class.
Withdrawal of all occupying forces from Iraq, is an urgent demand of the independent labour movement in Iraq.
Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq-FWCUI
26.11.2004
Date: 26.11.2004
Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq-FWCUI
The open conference of workers in Basra concluded successfully
Today in the city of Basra under the slogan (the power of the working class is in its unity and organisation) the open congress of workers in Basra commenced with participation of more than 200 representatives and labour activists of many labour unions, industrial workers and preparatory committees of labour unions. The congress discussed the main topics including the role of labour movement to end the occupation and in determination of the political future of the Iraqi society.
Falah Alwan, president of FWCUI presented a lecture about the freedom of trade unions, Adul karim Al Sada presented a research about the unity of the working class and
Ali Abas presented an assessment about the realities and current situation of the labour movement in Basra.
Qasim Hadi, general secretary of UUI made a speech about the unemployment in Iraq after wars and under the occupation, Yanar Mohamad, gave a speech about the role of the working women in the trade union movement and the position of the women in the labour movement in Iraq. Nadia Mahmoud, member of the political Bureau of the Worker Communist Party of Iraq gave a speech about the activities of FWCUI and UUI Abroad and their influence on the political stands of the labour unions world wide on the situation of the worker’s movement in Iraq. She also stressed upon the importance of international solidarity with labour movement in Iraq.
There was a detail discussion about the agenda of the conference for more than 4 hours and then followed by the election of the executive board of the FWCUI. The congress, issued many resolutions, conclusion and recommendation which after discussion, they have been approved by the congress and considered as resolutions of the congress.
The congress made a conclusion regarding the situation of Iraqi people under the occupation and the interim government established by the US led coalition in Iraq and the struggle of the civil resistance front against the occupation. The congress appeals to labour movement world wide to support Iraqi workers and Iraqi people to end the occupation of Iraq.
The labour activists and representative of labour unions viewed this congress, as an important congress in this capacity been held in Basra which was very triumphant in proposing a prospective to the labour movement in Iraq.
The agreements around the resolutions of this congress were very obvious and constructive and its agenda was very apparent and broadly dealt with the current situation in Iraq, in which majority of the decisions and resolutions have been accepted by absolute votes of participants.
During the elections, a group of participant formed a calculation team of the votes and the results were very truthful and accurate.
In another part of the congress, many solidarity letters which have been sent to the conference from trade unions, political parties and labour activists worldwide have been mentioned and short paragraphs of these letters have been translated to the workers.
The congress was concluded with great feeling of success of all participants on the success of the congress and they regarded these conferences as great steps and important in principles to establish real independent labour unions not belonging to the government.
In the congress the female representatives and activists took an active role .In this regard a female labour activist named Kifah Hassan won the election with absolute majority of votes of the participants.
The congress discussed many serious issues for the independent labour movement in Iraq its tasks and responsibilities to end the occupation of Iraq and to set its role in the political future of Iraq, freedom of trade unions and the unity of the working class.
Long live the willpower of the working class.
Withdrawal of all occupying forces from Iraq, is an urgent demand of the independent labour movement in Iraq.
Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq-FWCUI
26.11.2004
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