by Barb Kucera, Workday Minnesota
June 23rd, 2005
ST. PAUL Two Iraqi union leaders Thursday issued a call for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq and pledged solidarity with workers in the United States and around the globe.
More than 300 people packed the Carpenters hall for discussion with Falah Awan, president of the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq (FWCUI), and Amjad Ali Aljawhry, an Iraqi union leader in exile in Canada and a representative of the FWCUI in North America.
The union leaders are part of a six-member delegation touring the United States at the invitation of U.S. Labor Against the War. In the Twin Cities, their visit was sponsored by the United Steelworkers, several other unions and other organizations.
Iraqi labor leaders Falah Awan (left) and Amjad Ali Aljawhry addressed a huge crowd at the Carpenters hall.
"We hosted this event because we believe, as trade unionists, that a fundamental building block for the creation of a prosperous, safe and free society is the exercise of workers' rights – the right for everyone to earn enough money to put food on the table, a roof over their head and clothes on their back," said Steelworkers District 11 Director Dave Foster.
"Nowhere today is the absence of labor and human rights being played out with more chilling effect than in Iraq. And nowhere do the obligations of American citizenship require us to speak out more forcefully and to demand that these basic rights be observed than in Iraq."
Even though Saddam Hussein is no longer in power, the United States and the new Iraqi government continue to enforce Hussein's laws banning most unions. Before the war, Awan refused to sign a Saddam loyalty pledge and was blacklisted from his job as an engineer. He became an underground union organizer. Ali Ajawhry was blacklisted for his political views and union organizing among sewing workers and was forced to flee, first to Turkey, then to Canada.
Today, union organizing continues, but faces serious problems because of government repression, ethnic tensions and the security problems that make daily life a very difficult struggle, they said.
"It is very hard to imagine the kind of life people are living under the occupation," said Ali Ajawhry. He and Awan said the withdrawal of U.S. troops is the only way to end the violent insurgency that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of U.S. troops and thousands of Iraqis.
"We believe when the occupation troops are out, these people (insurgents) won't have this pretext to carry out their acts," Ali Ajawhry said. The creation of a new government split along religious and ethnic lines, also has exacerbated tensions, he said.
The labor movement is part of a secular, progressive movement that is working to rebuild Iraq – but it's not getting any help from the Bush administration, the two union leaders said. The unions have been working to get a labor code included in the new Iraqi constitution, but thus far have been shut out of the process, they said.
"I believe the secular movement does not lack the numbers – it lacks the organizing" and resources, Awan said. "The workers must participate in building this society."
The crowd at the program passed the hat to raise money for the Iraqi unions. Fundraising is taking place at each stop in the union leaders' two-week journey, organizers said.
Foster said the visit by the Iraqis illustrated the parallels between the Bush administration's anti-labor policies at home and its anti-labor practices abroad. He called on everyone to support worker rights in Iraq and take part in the discussion about the U.S. role in that country.
"We consider ourselves as an international movement," Awan said. "Any victory we achieve in Iraq will be a victory for all the international labor movement."
Sunday, July 3
Iraqi union leader: "Devastation, death, instability--this is the occupation"
by Kathleen Wilkes
June 23rd, 2005
MADISON, WI--Amjad Al-Jawhary is a man with one heart divided between two nations: Canada, his adopted country, where he can keep his family safe; and Iraq, his homeland, where he and his fellow trade unionists are challenged by insurgents, occupation forces, corruption and greed in their pursuit of economic justice through union organizing.
It's an uphill battle, and it shows. At Monday's noontime gathering at the Madison Labor Temple, the 100 or so who came to hear him saw a brave, dedicated, frustrated and tired man who spoke eloquently about the harsh realities his people face every day in occupied Iraq.
"The occupation has achieved nothing but devastation, death, instability, and economic devastation" he said. "Human value is down the drain... Soldiers raid homes, take people captive, hold them captive for a month, a year, two years... There is no court. This is the occupation."
Al-Jawhary is one of six Iraqi labor leaders currently touring the United States at the invitation and sponsorship of US Labor Against the War, a coalition of labor unions opposed to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. He represents the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq, as well as the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq for North America.
Blacklisted by Saddam Hussein's regime for his political and union activism, Al-Jawhary could not work in any of the vast enterprises run by the state. He fled with his family to Turkey in 1995 and got involved in helping Iraqi refugees. A year later he moved his family to Toronto, Canada, where he continues to speak out on Iraqi issues and works with the anti-sanctions and anti-war movements. He's been to Iraq and back several times since the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime; he arrived in the US just days ago after four months in his war-torn fatherland.
Clamping his hands firmly on the sides of the podium and leaning forward toward the crowd, Al-Jawhary declared: "No matter whether it is legitimate or illegitimate, war is war. And paying the price of the war is the workers."
The minimum wage for public sector workers, he said, has hit rock bottom--a mere $45 a month--as a result of decrees issued by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), headed by Paul Bremer. The CPA's been replaced by the Iraq Governing Council, yet the minimum wage is still in effect, as is Saddam Hussein's repressive labor laws banning unions for public employees.
With high inflation, "massive" unemployment and skyrocketing rents--"$90 is the cheapest," Al-Jawhary noted--children are laboring as street vendors to help support their families. Meanwhile Iraqis are scrambling to cope with directives from the World Bank and the IMF forcing the Iraqi government to eliminate food and other subsidies and "leave it to the free market. For thirteen years we had coupons for rice, tea, sugar... More than 75 percent of Iraqis relied on this. Now, people will kill each other for food."
Privatization of the once-mighty public sector--a key component of the Bush Administration's economic revamping of Iraq--means even more unemployed. "Only 40-60 percent of the public sector are needed to work there," Al-Jawhary said. "The rest will be laid off...7.5 million"--bad news for both Iraqi and American workers. Iraq may well be the next offshore haven for outsourcing US jobs:
"Unemployment is high, poverty is high, there are no benefits. This creates a market of cheap labor. Businesses here [in the US] will shut down and move to Iraq. People here will lose jobs."
Al-Jawhary and other Iraqi trade unionists have been working to reverse the trend, but they face tremendous opposition. "The labor code is as it was under the former regime. We can't form federations freely. In 1987, the government banned unions in the public sector. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, we thought maybe now we would have the right to organize, the right of association. But the Iraq Governing Council issued decree Number 16 and gave official status to one union and derecognized the others. We have to go through that union. They support the occupation."
Lack of official status hasn't stopped Iraqi unions from agitating for change. And that's put them dead in the middle of the conflict between the insurgents and occupation forces. The insurgents oppose them because they support a non-sectarian approach to government; the occupation thwarts their efforts to organize and has jailed and harassed union leaders and destroyed union offices.
Still the unions persist in their advocacy of workers and are attempting to incorporate various proposals into Iraq's Constitution--for labor rights, human rights, women's rights, children's rights, and freedom of association. The Iraqi government "has not responded," Al-Jawhary said.
Formed along religious and ethnic lines, the new government, he said, has caused even greater division among Iraqis. It may have even fueled the insurgents by favoring the occupation. "Iraq is on the verge of a civil war," Al-Jawhary warned, noting that his union and others support a secular state and "have condemned the elections" in Iraq. They also adamantly oppose the US/British occupation.
"We want to end the occupation. Some are making money from it, but ordinary people don't want it. It has caused violence, killing and crime. If we get rid of the occupation, these groups of terrorists lose their ground. Some say if the occupation ends, there will be chaos. But we have chaos now."
Insurgents, occupation forces, unemployment, food shortages--all are problematic, but they are not the only challenges the Iraqi people face, Al-Jawhary points out. "There is no good water purification, no good water to drink. The water is turned on two hours a day, from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.; if you miss it, you miss it. Electricity, only four hours a day. Sewers: instead of treatment, it just goes into the river. If it's raining, we get a flood of black water.
"There is no employment insurance. We have the worst health care ever. It was devastated at the end of Saddam Hussein's regime, and it got worse and worse. These are the living conditions of almost every single worker."
Al-Jawhary gave a heart-breaking example of life in the middle of armed conflict: "A person had a heart attack. He was supposed to go to the hospital. There was no ambulance. There was a curfew. His son tried to get a car or taxi--dangerous at night. The route to the hospital was a dangerous risk. It took four hours to get to the hospital. That guy was dead... That guy was my father. Just fifteen minutes earlier to the hospital, he would be alive."
Survival is the name of the game. While issues like privatization, depleted uranium, corruption and rip-off are well known among Iraqis, they are not priorities, Al-Jawhary said. "Because of violence and security the people are more focused on being careful not to get killed... The people are concentrated on violence in the street. The NGOs [non-governmental organizations] try to treat and get help. For the Iraqi people, we don't have time to think about it."
The insurgents, he insisted, are not of nor wanted by the vast majority of Iraqis: "I want you to go and tell the people there are Iraqis who are progressive, who want to live. It's not needed to show religious fanatics and killers. We never had a tradition of suicide bombers; they came from outside Iraq. [Before the war and occupation] there was not one single incident. Today it is the aftermath..."
To skeptics who say that ending the occupation will result in more instability, Al-Jawhary points out that the people of his country have been tested and toughened in one conflict after the other over the last three decades: wars with Israel and Iran; two wars with the US; civil war with the Kurds; thirteen years of sanctions and hardship; and, now, occupation--all resulting in the deaths of millions, including hundreds of thousands of children.
"I sound so hopeless but we, the workers, will rebuild Iraq," he vowed. "Most of us in Iraq have kids. I have a daughter, 13. Tell the parents: you have kids now, you raise them, you grow them up, bring them to school, give them clothes, food... Our kids deserve to live, they deserve a better life and prosperity. Whether our kids or your kids, both are the same. We want to send them to college or university; we want them to build a life. We don't want them dying. We must bring our kids home. We must end the occupation now."
SIDEBAR: Wisconsin labor calls for end to occupation as AFL-CIO balks
The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO has passed two resolutions to be introduced to the national federation convention in Chicago at the end of July. The first calls on the AFL-CIO to demand that the government "end the occupation of Iraq, repeal the Patriot Act and reorder priorities to meet national needs," according to state fed president David Newby.
The second, he said, calls for full labor rights in Iraq, nullification of Saddam Hussein's labor laws (which have been enforced by, first, the Coalition Provisional Authority under Paul Bremer and now the Iraq Governing Council), and freedom of expression for labor rights.
Monday night, delegates to the South Central Federation Labor (SCFL) voted unanimously to approve a similar resolution that "calls upon President Bush and Congress to bring our troops home from Iraq and provide veterans with benefits that meet their needs..."
SCFL, said president Jim Cavanaugh, joins a growing number of labor councils and international, national and local unions that will be pressuring the national AFL-CIO at the July convention to take a "strong position" against the occupation.
Cavanaugh also passed around a petition from US Labor Against the War to the AFL-CIO for delegates' signatures--another effort to get the national federation to take a stand on the war and occupation. The petition states in part:
"It is time for labor to speak out! At this time of discussion about renewing our labor movement, how can we not discuss the most urgent issue facing America and its working families? We ask you to put the issue of the war on the agenda of the upcoming Executive Council meeting. And we urge the national leadership of the AFL-CIO to oppose this reckless, illegal and immoral war.
"More specifically, we ask for action on the following proposals by the Executive Council and the quadrennial convention of the AFL-CIO.
The AFL-CIO should demand an immediate end to the US occupation of Iraq and return of U.S. troops to their homes and families, and the reordering of national priorities toward peace and meeting the human needs of our people; and
Through its community service programs, the AFL-CIO and its state and local affiliates should assist union members and their families who are called upon to serve in the armed forces and returning veterans by identifying and providing information about resources and services available to meet their needs, by advocating for their interests, and by protecting their jobs, seniority and benefits and those of unorganized workers in similar circumstances."
The AFL-CIO's virtual silence on the war and occupation has been a source of division among its affiliates. Iraqi union leaders, scheduled to meet with Federation president John Sweeney in Washington, DC early last week, were told the meeting would not take place if it included a representative from US Labor Against the War. The Iraqis said they could not meet with Sweeney without the very people who invited them to the US and organized and paid for their trip. The Fed relented. The meeting went forward, but Sweeney reportedly was either non-committal or non-responsive.
(Kathleen Wilkes is a longtime labor activist and writer; publisher of Two-Headed Alien Shrinks Labor Movement, a collection of labor and political cartoons by Gary Huck and Mike Konopacki; and former communications director of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union.)
June 23rd, 2005
MADISON, WI--Amjad Al-Jawhary is a man with one heart divided between two nations: Canada, his adopted country, where he can keep his family safe; and Iraq, his homeland, where he and his fellow trade unionists are challenged by insurgents, occupation forces, corruption and greed in their pursuit of economic justice through union organizing.
It's an uphill battle, and it shows. At Monday's noontime gathering at the Madison Labor Temple, the 100 or so who came to hear him saw a brave, dedicated, frustrated and tired man who spoke eloquently about the harsh realities his people face every day in occupied Iraq.
"The occupation has achieved nothing but devastation, death, instability, and economic devastation" he said. "Human value is down the drain... Soldiers raid homes, take people captive, hold them captive for a month, a year, two years... There is no court. This is the occupation."
Al-Jawhary is one of six Iraqi labor leaders currently touring the United States at the invitation and sponsorship of US Labor Against the War, a coalition of labor unions opposed to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. He represents the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq, as well as the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq for North America.
Blacklisted by Saddam Hussein's regime for his political and union activism, Al-Jawhary could not work in any of the vast enterprises run by the state. He fled with his family to Turkey in 1995 and got involved in helping Iraqi refugees. A year later he moved his family to Toronto, Canada, where he continues to speak out on Iraqi issues and works with the anti-sanctions and anti-war movements. He's been to Iraq and back several times since the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime; he arrived in the US just days ago after four months in his war-torn fatherland.
Clamping his hands firmly on the sides of the podium and leaning forward toward the crowd, Al-Jawhary declared: "No matter whether it is legitimate or illegitimate, war is war. And paying the price of the war is the workers."
The minimum wage for public sector workers, he said, has hit rock bottom--a mere $45 a month--as a result of decrees issued by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), headed by Paul Bremer. The CPA's been replaced by the Iraq Governing Council, yet the minimum wage is still in effect, as is Saddam Hussein's repressive labor laws banning unions for public employees.
With high inflation, "massive" unemployment and skyrocketing rents--"$90 is the cheapest," Al-Jawhary noted--children are laboring as street vendors to help support their families. Meanwhile Iraqis are scrambling to cope with directives from the World Bank and the IMF forcing the Iraqi government to eliminate food and other subsidies and "leave it to the free market. For thirteen years we had coupons for rice, tea, sugar... More than 75 percent of Iraqis relied on this. Now, people will kill each other for food."
Privatization of the once-mighty public sector--a key component of the Bush Administration's economic revamping of Iraq--means even more unemployed. "Only 40-60 percent of the public sector are needed to work there," Al-Jawhary said. "The rest will be laid off...7.5 million"--bad news for both Iraqi and American workers. Iraq may well be the next offshore haven for outsourcing US jobs:
"Unemployment is high, poverty is high, there are no benefits. This creates a market of cheap labor. Businesses here [in the US] will shut down and move to Iraq. People here will lose jobs."
Al-Jawhary and other Iraqi trade unionists have been working to reverse the trend, but they face tremendous opposition. "The labor code is as it was under the former regime. We can't form federations freely. In 1987, the government banned unions in the public sector. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, we thought maybe now we would have the right to organize, the right of association. But the Iraq Governing Council issued decree Number 16 and gave official status to one union and derecognized the others. We have to go through that union. They support the occupation."
Lack of official status hasn't stopped Iraqi unions from agitating for change. And that's put them dead in the middle of the conflict between the insurgents and occupation forces. The insurgents oppose them because they support a non-sectarian approach to government; the occupation thwarts their efforts to organize and has jailed and harassed union leaders and destroyed union offices.
Still the unions persist in their advocacy of workers and are attempting to incorporate various proposals into Iraq's Constitution--for labor rights, human rights, women's rights, children's rights, and freedom of association. The Iraqi government "has not responded," Al-Jawhary said.
Formed along religious and ethnic lines, the new government, he said, has caused even greater division among Iraqis. It may have even fueled the insurgents by favoring the occupation. "Iraq is on the verge of a civil war," Al-Jawhary warned, noting that his union and others support a secular state and "have condemned the elections" in Iraq. They also adamantly oppose the US/British occupation.
"We want to end the occupation. Some are making money from it, but ordinary people don't want it. It has caused violence, killing and crime. If we get rid of the occupation, these groups of terrorists lose their ground. Some say if the occupation ends, there will be chaos. But we have chaos now."
Insurgents, occupation forces, unemployment, food shortages--all are problematic, but they are not the only challenges the Iraqi people face, Al-Jawhary points out. "There is no good water purification, no good water to drink. The water is turned on two hours a day, from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.; if you miss it, you miss it. Electricity, only four hours a day. Sewers: instead of treatment, it just goes into the river. If it's raining, we get a flood of black water.
"There is no employment insurance. We have the worst health care ever. It was devastated at the end of Saddam Hussein's regime, and it got worse and worse. These are the living conditions of almost every single worker."
Al-Jawhary gave a heart-breaking example of life in the middle of armed conflict: "A person had a heart attack. He was supposed to go to the hospital. There was no ambulance. There was a curfew. His son tried to get a car or taxi--dangerous at night. The route to the hospital was a dangerous risk. It took four hours to get to the hospital. That guy was dead... That guy was my father. Just fifteen minutes earlier to the hospital, he would be alive."
Survival is the name of the game. While issues like privatization, depleted uranium, corruption and rip-off are well known among Iraqis, they are not priorities, Al-Jawhary said. "Because of violence and security the people are more focused on being careful not to get killed... The people are concentrated on violence in the street. The NGOs [non-governmental organizations] try to treat and get help. For the Iraqi people, we don't have time to think about it."
The insurgents, he insisted, are not of nor wanted by the vast majority of Iraqis: "I want you to go and tell the people there are Iraqis who are progressive, who want to live. It's not needed to show religious fanatics and killers. We never had a tradition of suicide bombers; they came from outside Iraq. [Before the war and occupation] there was not one single incident. Today it is the aftermath..."
To skeptics who say that ending the occupation will result in more instability, Al-Jawhary points out that the people of his country have been tested and toughened in one conflict after the other over the last three decades: wars with Israel and Iran; two wars with the US; civil war with the Kurds; thirteen years of sanctions and hardship; and, now, occupation--all resulting in the deaths of millions, including hundreds of thousands of children.
"I sound so hopeless but we, the workers, will rebuild Iraq," he vowed. "Most of us in Iraq have kids. I have a daughter, 13. Tell the parents: you have kids now, you raise them, you grow them up, bring them to school, give them clothes, food... Our kids deserve to live, they deserve a better life and prosperity. Whether our kids or your kids, both are the same. We want to send them to college or university; we want them to build a life. We don't want them dying. We must bring our kids home. We must end the occupation now."
SIDEBAR: Wisconsin labor calls for end to occupation as AFL-CIO balks
The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO has passed two resolutions to be introduced to the national federation convention in Chicago at the end of July. The first calls on the AFL-CIO to demand that the government "end the occupation of Iraq, repeal the Patriot Act and reorder priorities to meet national needs," according to state fed president David Newby.
The second, he said, calls for full labor rights in Iraq, nullification of Saddam Hussein's labor laws (which have been enforced by, first, the Coalition Provisional Authority under Paul Bremer and now the Iraq Governing Council), and freedom of expression for labor rights.
Monday night, delegates to the South Central Federation Labor (SCFL) voted unanimously to approve a similar resolution that "calls upon President Bush and Congress to bring our troops home from Iraq and provide veterans with benefits that meet their needs..."
SCFL, said president Jim Cavanaugh, joins a growing number of labor councils and international, national and local unions that will be pressuring the national AFL-CIO at the July convention to take a "strong position" against the occupation.
Cavanaugh also passed around a petition from US Labor Against the War to the AFL-CIO for delegates' signatures--another effort to get the national federation to take a stand on the war and occupation. The petition states in part:
"It is time for labor to speak out! At this time of discussion about renewing our labor movement, how can we not discuss the most urgent issue facing America and its working families? We ask you to put the issue of the war on the agenda of the upcoming Executive Council meeting. And we urge the national leadership of the AFL-CIO to oppose this reckless, illegal and immoral war.
"More specifically, we ask for action on the following proposals by the Executive Council and the quadrennial convention of the AFL-CIO.
The AFL-CIO should demand an immediate end to the US occupation of Iraq and return of U.S. troops to their homes and families, and the reordering of national priorities toward peace and meeting the human needs of our people; and
Through its community service programs, the AFL-CIO and its state and local affiliates should assist union members and their families who are called upon to serve in the armed forces and returning veterans by identifying and providing information about resources and services available to meet their needs, by advocating for their interests, and by protecting their jobs, seniority and benefits and those of unorganized workers in similar circumstances."
The AFL-CIO's virtual silence on the war and occupation has been a source of division among its affiliates. Iraqi union leaders, scheduled to meet with Federation president John Sweeney in Washington, DC early last week, were told the meeting would not take place if it included a representative from US Labor Against the War. The Iraqis said they could not meet with Sweeney without the very people who invited them to the US and organized and paid for their trip. The Fed relented. The meeting went forward, but Sweeney reportedly was either non-committal or non-responsive.
(Kathleen Wilkes is a longtime labor activist and writer; publisher of Two-Headed Alien Shrinks Labor Movement, a collection of labor and political cartoons by Gary Huck and Mike Konopacki; and former communications director of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union.)
Wednesday, June 29
Student Unions [in Iraq] Call for Withdrawal of Occupation Troops
Baghdad - Abdel-Wahed Tohmeh - Al-Hayat, June 24, 2005
11 Student Unions approved the call made on al-Jaafari's Government to
set a timetable for the withdrawal of multinational forces and
considered that the request made [by the Government at the UN] for the
extension of their presence is "an infringement on Parliament's
prerogatives."
The 11 Unions issued yesterday a statement, of which Al-Hayat got a
copy, supporting the members of the Independent National Bloc and other
MPs [see the article by the same author dated June 20] and calling on
"al-Jaafari's Government, the United Nations and its Security Council to
adopt these demands." The statement also said: "We have taken part in
the election and voted, risking our lives going to the polling stations,
only for one essential issue that the electoral slates adopted and put
in their political programs, and that is the demand for the withdrawal
of occupation troops from Iraq."
The Unions called on the lists that won the election "to remain faithful
to their promise and put their political programs into practise so that
the people could respect them." Their statement also called on the
Government "not to adopt crucial decisions without referring to the
representatives of the people in the National Assembly." The statement
also expressed bewilderment at "al-Jaafari's and his Government's
support for maintaining occupation troops at a time when the US Congress
is asking for their withdrawal."
The statement was signed by the Student Unions at the Universities of
Baghdad, Mustansariyya, Kufa, Qadissiyya, Basra, Diali, Ramadi, Mosul,
the Technological University, the Islamic University and the Organism of
Technical Education.
The president of the Student Union of the University of Baghdad, Mustafa
Shabar, said that "the students of Iraq are resolute to get the
Government and the National Assembly to abide by anti-occupation
demands."
Moreover, 18 students representing Iraq's 18 governorates ended a sit-in
at al-Firdous Square in the center of Baghdad, meant as a protest
against the Government's decision to extend the presence of
multinational forces. Shabar said that "the choice of al-Firdous Square
for our sit-in came as a result of the refusal of the Government to let
the sit-in be held in front of the Parliament building." Member of
Parliament Falah Hassan Shneishel added that "a big rally will take
place today at Kadhimiyya with the participation of tribes which came to
Baghdad from all Iraqi governorates in support of the demand by the MPs
to the Government to put a timetable for the withdrawal of occupation
troops." '
11 Student Unions approved the call made on al-Jaafari's Government to
set a timetable for the withdrawal of multinational forces and
considered that the request made [by the Government at the UN] for the
extension of their presence is "an infringement on Parliament's
prerogatives."
The 11 Unions issued yesterday a statement, of which Al-Hayat got a
copy, supporting the members of the Independent National Bloc and other
MPs [see the article by the same author dated June 20] and calling on
"al-Jaafari's Government, the United Nations and its Security Council to
adopt these demands." The statement also said: "We have taken part in
the election and voted, risking our lives going to the polling stations,
only for one essential issue that the electoral slates adopted and put
in their political programs, and that is the demand for the withdrawal
of occupation troops from Iraq."
The Unions called on the lists that won the election "to remain faithful
to their promise and put their political programs into practise so that
the people could respect them." Their statement also called on the
Government "not to adopt crucial decisions without referring to the
representatives of the people in the National Assembly." The statement
also expressed bewilderment at "al-Jaafari's and his Government's
support for maintaining occupation troops at a time when the US Congress
is asking for their withdrawal."
The statement was signed by the Student Unions at the Universities of
Baghdad, Mustansariyya, Kufa, Qadissiyya, Basra, Diali, Ramadi, Mosul,
the Technological University, the Islamic University and the Organism of
Technical Education.
The president of the Student Union of the University of Baghdad, Mustafa
Shabar, said that "the students of Iraq are resolute to get the
Government and the National Assembly to abide by anti-occupation
demands."
Moreover, 18 students representing Iraq's 18 governorates ended a sit-in
at al-Firdous Square in the center of Baghdad, meant as a protest
against the Government's decision to extend the presence of
multinational forces. Shabar said that "the choice of al-Firdous Square
for our sit-in came as a result of the refusal of the Government to let
the sit-in be held in front of the Parliament building." Member of
Parliament Falah Hassan Shneishel added that "a big rally will take
place today at Kadhimiyya with the participation of tribes which came to
Baghdad from all Iraqi governorates in support of the demand by the MPs
to the Government to put a timetable for the withdrawal of occupation
troops." '
Tuesday, June 28
Joint statement by Iraqi unions
Joint Statement by Leaders of Iraq’s Labor Movement and U.S. Labor Against the War. June 26, 2005. Washington DC, USA.
We, the representatives of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI), the General Union of Oil Employees (GUOE), and U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW) issue this statement at the conclusion of an historic 25-city tour by leaders of the three Iraqi labor organizations in the United States.
We speak in the spirit of international solidarity and respect for labor rights around the world. We speak in the spirit of opposition to war and occupation and for the right of self-determination of nations and peoples.
On behalf of the Iraqi labor movement, we met and spoke directly to thousands of Americans, including workers, union, religious and political leaders, anti-war activists and ordinary citizens. All of us, both Iraqi and American, were deeply heartened at the solidarity expressed throughout the tour. We have seen with our eyes and felt with our hearts that the people of the United States do not want the war and occupation of Iraq to continue. We are strengthened in our understanding of the deep commitment of organized labor and workers in Iraq to a unified democratic, independent Iraq, with full equality between women and men in terms of rights and duties, and based on full respect for the human identity without discrimination on any basis.
The tour was an expression of the following key principles:
The principal obstacle to peace, stability, and the reconstruction of Iraq is the occupation. The occupation is the problem, not the solution. Iraqi sovereignty and independence must be restored. The occupation must end in al its forms, including military bases and economic domination. The war was fought for oil and regional domination, in violation of international law, justified by lies and deception without consultation with the Iraqi people. The occupation has been a catastrophe for both our peoples.
In Iraq, it has destroyed homes and industry, national institutions and infrastructure – water, sanitation, electric power and health services. It has killed many thousands, and left millions homeless and unemployed. It has poisoned the people, their land and water with the toxic residue of the war.
In the United States, more than 1700 working families have suffered loss of loved ones and thousands more have been wounded, disabled or psychologically scarred in a war that serves no legitimate purpose. The cost of the war has led to slashing of social programs and public services. It has militarized our economy, undermined our own liberties and eroded our democratic rights.
We believe it is the best interest of both our peoples for the war and occupation to end and for the Iraqi people to determine for themselves their future and the kind and extent of international aid and cooperation that suits their needs and serves the interests of the Iraqi people.
We strongly and unambiguously condemn terrorist attacks on civilians and targeting of trade union and other civil society leaders for intimidation, kidnapping, torture and assassination. The occupation is fuel on the fire of terrorism.
The national wealth and resources of Iraq belong to the Iraqi people. We are united in our opposition to the imposition of privatization of the Iraqi economy by the occupation, the IMF, the World Bank, foreign powers and any force that takes away the right of the Iraqi people to determine their own economic future.
We call on nations across the globe to help Iraqis regain their economic capacity, including full reparations from the US and British governments to rebuild the war-ravaged country.
We call for the cancellation of Saddam’s massive foreign debt by the IMF and other international lenders without any conditions imposed upon the people of Iraq who suffered under the regime that was supported by these loans. The foreign debt of Iraq is the debt of a fallen dictatorship, not the debt incurred by the Iraqi people. Further, we call for the cancellation of reparations imposed as a result of wars waged by Saddam Hussein’s regime, and call for the return of all Iraqi property and antiquities taken during the war and occupation.”
The bedrock of any democracy is a strong, free, democratic labor movement. We are united in our commitment to build strong, independent, democratic unions and to fight to improve the wages, working and living conditions of workers everywhere. We confront the same economic and corporate interests that have mounted a global assault on workers and labor rights. We demand strong labor rights in Iraq at the same time that we strive to reverse the erosion of labor rights in the United States and elsewhere around the world where they are threatened. We call for free and independent labor unions in Iraq based on internationally recognized ILO conventions guaranteeing the right to organize free of all government interference and including full equality for women workers. We support the direct participation of labor and workers’ representatives in drafting the new labor code, in determining government policies affecting unions and workers’ interests, and in drafting the new constitution. We condemn the continued enforcement of Saddam’s decree number 150 issued in 1987 that abolished union rights for workers in the extensive Iraqi public sector and call for its immediate repeal.
We commit ourselves to strengthening the bonds of solidarity and friendship between working people of our two countries and to increase communication and cooperation between our two labor movements. We look forward to delegations of Iraqis and Americans visiting each other’s countries for mutual support, and to strengthen international understanding and solidarity in our common struggle for peace and establishment of a democratic civil society that respects human rights and freedom.
With the strength and solidarity of workers across the US, in Iraq and internationally, we are confident that we can build a just and democratic future for labor in Iraq, the US, and around the world.
We, the representatives of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI), the General Union of Oil Employees (GUOE), and U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW) issue this statement at the conclusion of an historic 25-city tour by leaders of the three Iraqi labor organizations in the United States.
We speak in the spirit of international solidarity and respect for labor rights around the world. We speak in the spirit of opposition to war and occupation and for the right of self-determination of nations and peoples.
On behalf of the Iraqi labor movement, we met and spoke directly to thousands of Americans, including workers, union, religious and political leaders, anti-war activists and ordinary citizens. All of us, both Iraqi and American, were deeply heartened at the solidarity expressed throughout the tour. We have seen with our eyes and felt with our hearts that the people of the United States do not want the war and occupation of Iraq to continue. We are strengthened in our understanding of the deep commitment of organized labor and workers in Iraq to a unified democratic, independent Iraq, with full equality between women and men in terms of rights and duties, and based on full respect for the human identity without discrimination on any basis.
The tour was an expression of the following key principles:
The principal obstacle to peace, stability, and the reconstruction of Iraq is the occupation. The occupation is the problem, not the solution. Iraqi sovereignty and independence must be restored. The occupation must end in al its forms, including military bases and economic domination. The war was fought for oil and regional domination, in violation of international law, justified by lies and deception without consultation with the Iraqi people. The occupation has been a catastrophe for both our peoples.
In Iraq, it has destroyed homes and industry, national institutions and infrastructure – water, sanitation, electric power and health services. It has killed many thousands, and left millions homeless and unemployed. It has poisoned the people, their land and water with the toxic residue of the war.
In the United States, more than 1700 working families have suffered loss of loved ones and thousands more have been wounded, disabled or psychologically scarred in a war that serves no legitimate purpose. The cost of the war has led to slashing of social programs and public services. It has militarized our economy, undermined our own liberties and eroded our democratic rights.
We believe it is the best interest of both our peoples for the war and occupation to end and for the Iraqi people to determine for themselves their future and the kind and extent of international aid and cooperation that suits their needs and serves the interests of the Iraqi people.
We strongly and unambiguously condemn terrorist attacks on civilians and targeting of trade union and other civil society leaders for intimidation, kidnapping, torture and assassination. The occupation is fuel on the fire of terrorism.
The national wealth and resources of Iraq belong to the Iraqi people. We are united in our opposition to the imposition of privatization of the Iraqi economy by the occupation, the IMF, the World Bank, foreign powers and any force that takes away the right of the Iraqi people to determine their own economic future.
We call on nations across the globe to help Iraqis regain their economic capacity, including full reparations from the US and British governments to rebuild the war-ravaged country.
We call for the cancellation of Saddam’s massive foreign debt by the IMF and other international lenders without any conditions imposed upon the people of Iraq who suffered under the regime that was supported by these loans. The foreign debt of Iraq is the debt of a fallen dictatorship, not the debt incurred by the Iraqi people. Further, we call for the cancellation of reparations imposed as a result of wars waged by Saddam Hussein’s regime, and call for the return of all Iraqi property and antiquities taken during the war and occupation.”
The bedrock of any democracy is a strong, free, democratic labor movement. We are united in our commitment to build strong, independent, democratic unions and to fight to improve the wages, working and living conditions of workers everywhere. We confront the same economic and corporate interests that have mounted a global assault on workers and labor rights. We demand strong labor rights in Iraq at the same time that we strive to reverse the erosion of labor rights in the United States and elsewhere around the world where they are threatened. We call for free and independent labor unions in Iraq based on internationally recognized ILO conventions guaranteeing the right to organize free of all government interference and including full equality for women workers. We support the direct participation of labor and workers’ representatives in drafting the new labor code, in determining government policies affecting unions and workers’ interests, and in drafting the new constitution. We condemn the continued enforcement of Saddam’s decree number 150 issued in 1987 that abolished union rights for workers in the extensive Iraqi public sector and call for its immediate repeal.
We commit ourselves to strengthening the bonds of solidarity and friendship between working people of our two countries and to increase communication and cooperation between our two labor movements. We look forward to delegations of Iraqis and Americans visiting each other’s countries for mutual support, and to strengthen international understanding and solidarity in our common struggle for peace and establishment of a democratic civil society that respects human rights and freedom.
With the strength and solidarity of workers across the US, in Iraq and internationally, we are confident that we can build a just and democratic future for labor in Iraq, the US, and around the world.
Tuesday, June 21
Wednesday 29 June: protest against privatisation
Wednesday 29th June
The Hilton, Paddington.
Meet 10.30am, Edgware Road tube, Edgware Road exit
A week before Blair hosts the G8, corporate executives from multinational oil companies will be meeting in London with representatives from the Iraqi government to discuss the future of Iraqi oil and gas reserves.
Join us for a pirate-themed protest on the 29th June against the corporate plunder of Iraq’s oil! Oppose the neo-liberal cronies pillaging Iraq and support the Iraqi people’s call for NO PRIVATISATION, NO ASSET STRIPPING, NO EXPATRIATION OF PROFITS.
This event is being in solidarity with the General Union of Oil Employees (GUOE) in Iraq who are resisting attempted privatisation by the occupying forces. A statement from the GUOE will be read outside the conference.
Further info: 07931 337890 or stopthepillage@yahoo.co.uk or www.radicalactivist.net/corporateiraq.shtml.
The Hilton, Paddington.
Meet 10.30am, Edgware Road tube, Edgware Road exit
A week before Blair hosts the G8, corporate executives from multinational oil companies will be meeting in London with representatives from the Iraqi government to discuss the future of Iraqi oil and gas reserves.
Join us for a pirate-themed protest on the 29th June against the corporate plunder of Iraq’s oil! Oppose the neo-liberal cronies pillaging Iraq and support the Iraqi people’s call for NO PRIVATISATION, NO ASSET STRIPPING, NO EXPATRIATION OF PROFITS.
This event is being in solidarity with the General Union of Oil Employees (GUOE) in Iraq who are resisting attempted privatisation by the occupying forces. A statement from the GUOE will be read outside the conference.
Further info: 07931 337890 or stopthepillage@yahoo.co.uk or www.radicalactivist.net/corporateiraq.shtml.
Financial Times on Iraqi privatisation
From the Financial Times, 2 June.
The US and other [foreign aid] donors have prescribed privatisation and direct investment. However, even investors willing to risk their lives in Iraq would be ill advised to risk their assets. Investment laws are a patchwork of Saddam-era ordinances, which are expected to be replaced, and US coalition decrees, which are also temporary and may be illegal under international law. But parliament is not expected to pass new investment legislation, particularly in the oil sector, until late next year.
The US and other [foreign aid] donors have prescribed privatisation and direct investment. However, even investors willing to risk their lives in Iraq would be ill advised to risk their assets. Investment laws are a patchwork of Saddam-era ordinances, which are expected to be replaced, and US coalition decrees, which are also temporary and may be illegal under international law. But parliament is not expected to pass new investment legislation, particularly in the oil sector, until late next year.
Friday, June 17
Iraqi trade unions tour the US
Iraqi trade union leaders from three union organizations will tour the U.S. from June 10-26 under the sponsorship of U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW), a group composed of state labor federations, central labor councils and local unions.
The tour features representatives the Iraqi Federation of Labor (IFTU), General Union of Oil Employees–Basra (GUOE), and the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq (FWCUI).
This will be the first opportunity to hear directly from Iraqis about the crisis conditions facing Iraq’s workers under the U.S. occupation. The trade unionists will speak about their struggles against the U.S.-corporate-inspired privatization drive and the occupation, and for a secular, democratic country that respects trade union rights.
The tour will begin with five days (June 10-15) in Washington, D.C., with a meeting with the national AFL-CIO leadership, a congressional briefing and a National Press Club event.
Tour events organized so far include meetings with labor bodies and public meetings. United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is helping to organize these events. Local peace groups, faith-based organizations and community groups are also participating.
A preliminary schedule of the tour follows:
East Coast tour featuring the IFTU: Baltimore, June 15; New York City, June 16-17; Vermont, June 18-19; Boston, June 20-21; Hartford, Conn., June 22; Stony Brook, N.Y., June 23; Philadelphia, June 24.
Midwest and South (FWCUI): St. Paul, Minn., June 16; Chicago, June 17-18; Atlanta, June 18-19; New Orleans, June 18; Detroit, June 19; Madison, Wis., & Milwaukee, June 20; Pittsburgh, June 21; Buffalo, N.Y., June 22-23; Cleveland, June 24.
West Coast (GUOE): Los Angeles, June 16-18; San Francisco Bay Area, June 16 and June 19-21; Portland, June 22; Seattle, June 23.
To get the most up-to-date information about the events, visit USLAW’s web site, www.uslaboragainstwar.org
The tour features representatives the Iraqi Federation of Labor (IFTU), General Union of Oil Employees–Basra (GUOE), and the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq (FWCUI).
This will be the first opportunity to hear directly from Iraqis about the crisis conditions facing Iraq’s workers under the U.S. occupation. The trade unionists will speak about their struggles against the U.S.-corporate-inspired privatization drive and the occupation, and for a secular, democratic country that respects trade union rights.
The tour will begin with five days (June 10-15) in Washington, D.C., with a meeting with the national AFL-CIO leadership, a congressional briefing and a National Press Club event.
Tour events organized so far include meetings with labor bodies and public meetings. United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is helping to organize these events. Local peace groups, faith-based organizations and community groups are also participating.
A preliminary schedule of the tour follows:
East Coast tour featuring the IFTU: Baltimore, June 15; New York City, June 16-17; Vermont, June 18-19; Boston, June 20-21; Hartford, Conn., June 22; Stony Brook, N.Y., June 23; Philadelphia, June 24.
Midwest and South (FWCUI): St. Paul, Minn., June 16; Chicago, June 17-18; Atlanta, June 18-19; New Orleans, June 18; Detroit, June 19; Madison, Wis., & Milwaukee, June 20; Pittsburgh, June 21; Buffalo, N.Y., June 22-23; Cleveland, June 24.
West Coast (GUOE): Los Angeles, June 16-18; San Francisco Bay Area, June 16 and June 19-21; Portland, June 22; Seattle, June 23.
To get the most up-to-date information about the events, visit USLAW’s web site, www.uslaboragainstwar.org
Reuters report on Iraqi trade unionists tour of US
WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - Iraqi trade unionists called on Tuesday for a bigger voice in Iraq where they said they were targeted for attacks by insurgents and intimidated by the U.S and Iraqi military.
Six leaders of the Iraqi trade union movement, who said they represent hundreds of thousands of workers in Iraq, are on a two-week visit to the United States to raise the profile of their groups.
"We need to get our voices heard and by coming to the United States we hope this will happen," said Adnan Rashed, executive officer of the Union of Mechanics, Printing and Metal Workers.
"We are trying so hard to organize workers and make our lives better," he said, adding he hoped the new Iraqi constitution would take workers' rights into account.
Brought to the United States by a group called U.S. Labor Against the War, which opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the union leaders also called for foreign forces to leave.
Speaking at a news conference translated from Arabic, the unionists said their attempts to mobilize workers were being thwarted by all sides -- from foreign companies working in Iraq to insurgents and the U.S. and Iraqi military.
Rashed said at least 10 of their unionists had been killed and tortured by insurgents and others were constantly harassed and intimidated for trying to mobilize workers.
Union offices have been shut down and raided, and eight activists were arrested by U.S. forces in 2003 and held for seven months until they were released, said Rashed.
"We have a very difficult time," said Rashed.
Falah Alwan of the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq, cited a case where a woman working at a grain silo was labeled mentally unstable for organizing protests.
Faleh Abbood Umara of the General Union of Oil Workers demanded that U.S. forces quit Iraq.
His union has actively opposed the use of U.S. companies in Iraq, such as Halliburton, which was once run by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. It also opposes plans to privatize the oil sector.
The unionists are visiting 20 U.S. cities, including Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles, before returning to Iraq on June 26.
Six leaders of the Iraqi trade union movement, who said they represent hundreds of thousands of workers in Iraq, are on a two-week visit to the United States to raise the profile of their groups.
"We need to get our voices heard and by coming to the United States we hope this will happen," said Adnan Rashed, executive officer of the Union of Mechanics, Printing and Metal Workers.
"We are trying so hard to organize workers and make our lives better," he said, adding he hoped the new Iraqi constitution would take workers' rights into account.
Brought to the United States by a group called U.S. Labor Against the War, which opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the union leaders also called for foreign forces to leave.
Speaking at a news conference translated from Arabic, the unionists said their attempts to mobilize workers were being thwarted by all sides -- from foreign companies working in Iraq to insurgents and the U.S. and Iraqi military.
Rashed said at least 10 of their unionists had been killed and tortured by insurgents and others were constantly harassed and intimidated for trying to mobilize workers.
Union offices have been shut down and raided, and eight activists were arrested by U.S. forces in 2003 and held for seven months until they were released, said Rashed.
"We have a very difficult time," said Rashed.
Falah Alwan of the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq, cited a case where a woman working at a grain silo was labeled mentally unstable for organizing protests.
Faleh Abbood Umara of the General Union of Oil Workers demanded that U.S. forces quit Iraq.
His union has actively opposed the use of U.S. companies in Iraq, such as Halliburton
The unionists are visiting 20 U.S. cities, including Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles, before returning to Iraq on June 26.
Monday, June 13
Report from Basra conference
Tuesday 21st June, 7.30pm
Room 3C, University of London Union
Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY
(nearest tube: Goodge Street or Russell Square)
Last month in Iraq, the General Union of Oil Employees held a
historic conference in Basra against the privatisation of Iraq's
public sector. The conference resolved to continue the struggle to
resist any future privatisation of Iraq's oil resources and called
for the cancellation of Iraq's odious debts.
The conference gained support from a whole range of international
civil society groups from trade unionists in Venezuela, to radical
NGOs such as Focus on the Global South and academics such as Noam
Chomsky and shows that resistance to the neo-liberal occupation of
Iraq is growing and needs to be supported.
This meeting offers a unique opportunity to hear from members of the
UK delegation who attended the conference and to discuss how best the
anti-occupation movement in the UK can offer solidarity with Iraqi's
resisting privatisiation.
Speakers include:
Ewa Jasiewicz - Iraq Occupation Focus activist, freelance journalist
and UK representative of the General Union of Oil Employees. Ewa
spent nine months living in Iraq June 2003-February 2004 working with
trade unions, women's groups, Iraqi families, and human rights groups.
Greg Muttitt - a researcher at PLATFORM, a London-based organization
working on issues of environmental and social justice. Greg
specializes in the impacts of multinational oil corporations of human
rights, development and environment. Since 2003 he has monitored and
worked to expose the hidden plans to open Iraq's oil reserves to
western corporations for the first time since 1972.
Dr Martha Mundy - Reader in Anthropology at the London School of
Economics. As an academic she is a specialist in studies of kinship,
law in society, and the anthropology of the Arab world. Martha has
long worked with civil society associations working for social
justice in Iraq and Palestine.
Room 3C, University of London Union
Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY
(nearest tube: Goodge Street or Russell Square)
Last month in Iraq, the General Union of Oil Employees held a
historic conference in Basra against the privatisation of Iraq's
public sector. The conference resolved to continue the struggle to
resist any future privatisation of Iraq's oil resources and called
for the cancellation of Iraq's odious debts.
The conference gained support from a whole range of international
civil society groups from trade unionists in Venezuela, to radical
NGOs such as Focus on the Global South and academics such as Noam
Chomsky and shows that resistance to the neo-liberal occupation of
Iraq is growing and needs to be supported.
This meeting offers a unique opportunity to hear from members of the
UK delegation who attended the conference and to discuss how best the
anti-occupation movement in the UK can offer solidarity with Iraqi's
resisting privatisiation.
Speakers include:
Ewa Jasiewicz - Iraq Occupation Focus activist, freelance journalist
and UK representative of the General Union of Oil Employees. Ewa
spent nine months living in Iraq June 2003-February 2004 working with
trade unions, women's groups, Iraqi families, and human rights groups.
Greg Muttitt - a researcher at PLATFORM, a London-based organization
working on issues of environmental and social justice. Greg
specializes in the impacts of multinational oil corporations of human
rights, development and environment. Since 2003 he has monitored and
worked to expose the hidden plans to open Iraq's oil reserves to
western corporations for the first time since 1972.
Dr Martha Mundy - Reader in Anthropology at the London School of
Economics. As an academic she is a specialist in studies of kinship,
law in society, and the anthropology of the Arab world. Martha has
long worked with civil society associations working for social
justice in Iraq and Palestine.
Thursday, June 9
Press release from the Basra Workers' Conference
Iraqi Oil Union Rejects Privatisation; Calls for Cancellation of all
Odious Foreign Debts
** International conference delegates available for Interview**
Iraq, May 25-26 The General Union of Oil Employees, Basra held a
historical conference on the privatisation of Iraq's public sector.
The conference took place under the banner 'To revive the public sector
and to build an Iraq free of privatisation'.
150 trade union activists, mostly GUOE members and union council leaders
from Nassiriyah and Amara and Basra, plus Iraqi Federation of Trade
Unions reps and local party political party activists attended.
International delegates, organised by Iraq Occupation Focus, and
representing civil society organisations in the UK and USA also
participated and spent a further four days touring oil sector locations
and interviewing oil workers and trade unionists. They were:
Ewa Jasiewicz, Delegation co-ordinator, joint UK Representative for
General Union of Oil Employees and activist with Iraq Occupation Focus.
Topic: International Solidarity, lessons from 'Solidarnosc' in Poland
and plans to impose the Polish free-market model on Iraq.
Greg Muttitt, researcher from PLATFORM. Organisation campaigning for
social and environmental justice. Topic: Plans to open Iraq's oil
reserves to multinationals, and ways certain oil production contracts
deprive host governments of revenue and control over their industry;
Justin Alexander, coordinator of Jubilee Iraq, organisation focusing on
cancellation of Iraq's foreign, regime incurred debts. Topic: The IMF's
role in using Iraq's foreign debt as a lever to prise open the economy
to privatisation, and the moral and legal arguments for the
unconditional cancellation of the debt.
David Bacon, US photojournalist, representing the million-strong
anti-war trade union organisation US Labour Against the War. Topic:
experiences and effects of privatisation in Mexico and how Mexican
workers in the electrical power and oil sector successfully prevented
the sell-off of their industries.
Dr Martha Mundy, Reader in Anthropology at the London School of
Economics and co-convenor on British Committee for Universities of
Palestine (BRICUP). (Personal capacity).
Contributions from instructors and professors from Basra University
focused on different aspects of privatisation, including: Iraq's current
industrial capacity; the need for new technology, construction, and
capital; shareholder systems; efficiency building; social welfare;
Iraq's debt; competition from cheap imports; monopolies, and state and
private sector corruption risks.
GUOE organisers and leaders repeatedly voiced their experiences of
independent reconstruction efforts, affirming that Iraqi workers had
defended and rehabilitated their industry despite mass looting and
deliberate degradation under the eyes and de-facto permission of the
Occupying forces.
As yet, no democratic debate has taken place regarding privatisation
within parliament and no commission has been established to publicly
discuss the issue - in contrast to procedures in other countries in
the Middle East.
The Union states in its' final conference communiqué (attached with this
release): 'The present conjuncture of Iraq is one where the country
lacks a stable political infrastructure and a clearly defined economic
system on which the people can rely. This being so, the conference
participants believe that the privatisation of the oil and industrial
sectors, or of any part of them, will do great harm to the Iraqi people
and their economy'.
International Solidarity messages were sent from the following trade
unions and organisations: the South Africa Anti-Privatisation Forum,
Liga Manggawaga (Philippines), the Canadian Autoworkers Union, Fiom-Cgil
(Italy), Patagonia oil workers (Argentina), National Union of
Journalists (UK), UNISON (UK), the Iraqi Union Solidarity Group (UK),
the Offshore International Liaison Committee (Scotland), The Stop the
War Coalition (UK), No Sweat (UK), Nova Scotia Government and General
Employees Union (Canada), US Labor Against the War (USA), Bridges to
Baghdad (Italy), University Council American Federation of Teachers
Local 2199, Santa Cruz (USA), SEIU, Local 415, California (USA),
Groundwork and the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (South
Africa), Iraq Solidarity Campaign (Philippines), NATFHE (UK), TGWU (UK),
International Confederation of Energy and Mining (ICEM), Trade Union of
Chemical Workers for Solidarity, Unity and Democracy and it's unions
branches in TOTAL group (France), UNT (Venezuela), Peaceworks (Canada),
ZZG - National Union of Miners (Poland), Inicjatywa Pracownicza
(Poland), Canadian Peace Alliance, Corporate Watch (UK), Voices of
Conscience (Canada), Asian Peace Alliance (Japan), Collectif Echec a la
guerre (Montreal, Canada), Swedish Workers' Centralorganisation
(SAC-Syndikalisterna), Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des
enseignants du Québec (Canada), Sjukvården Inte Till Salu - Healthcare
Not For Sale (Sweden), Pan Hellenic Federation of Employees in Petroleum
Products - Refineries & Chemical Industry (Greece).
Personal Greetings and solidarity: Prof Noam Chomsky (USA), Film Makers
and Writers Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein, Writer and Author of 'It's the
Crude Dude' Linda McQuaig (Canada), Zbyszek Marcin Kowalewski, former
Solidarnosc leader in Lodz and editor of 'Rewolujca' (Poland).
Notes:
The GUOE grew out of the Southern Oil Company Union which was
established a month after the invasion of Iraq.
It has 23,000 members in Basra, Amara and Nassiriyah.
The Leadership has a history of opposition to and imprisonment by the
Baath regime.
The Union does not belong to any trade union federation in Iraq. It is
not organised through or controlled by any political party in Iraq. It
is an independent trade union.
Trade union members expelled Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and
Root from oil sector locations in June 2003. KBR are still banned from
worksites.
The Union carried out strike action which has shut down oil exports in
2003 and 2004.
The Union successfully raised workers' occupation-set wages from a
69,000 ID minimum to 102,000 ID minimum in 2004 through negotiations and
threats of industrial action.
The Union is working to establish homes for oil workers, return workers
sacked under the regime for belonging to banned political parties,
protect pipelines from sabotage, and find jobs for graduates from the
Petroleum Institute.
Contacts
Ewa Jasiewicz, Iraq Occupation Focus and UK Representative, GUOE 0044
7749 421 576 freelance@mailworks.org www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk
Munir Chalabi, Iraq Occupation Focus and UK Representative, GUOE 0044
7952 683 415 munir@chalabi.screaming.net
www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk
Farouk Muhammad Sadiq, Secretary for International Affairs (Mobile)
00964 7801 094 635 (Union Landline) 0096440 319 310 ext 45
farouk101small@yahoo.com
**Photographs available from David Bacon, dbacon@igc.org 001 510 851
1589**
**Footage also available from Ewa Jasiewicz freelance@mailworks.org 0044
7749 421 576**
A website for the GUOE with full conference feedback, papers, photos and
general union info will be up and running shortly.
Background on International Delegates:
Ewa Jasiewicz UK rep GUOE, Iraq Occupation Focus activist, freelance
journalist (Big Issue, Red Pepper, Pride Magazine, Voices in the
Wilderness), NUJ Freelance Branch member. Nine months experience living
in Iraq June 2003-February 2004 working with trade unions, Palestinian
refugees, women's groups, the Unemployed, Iraqi families, and human
rights groups. She has spent six months working as a human rights
activist in occupied Palestine. freelance@mailworks.org 0044 7749 421
576
David Bacon, a US photojournalist. Has written extensively on Iraqi
labor for US publications for the last two years, and has received
awards for his coverage
of the threats to Iraqi workers from privatization and continued
enforcement of Saddam Hussein-era anti-labor laws. Worked for more than
a decade covering Mexico's corrupt and disastrous experience with
privatization. Bacon travelled to Basra to document in photographs and
interviews the work and home
lives of Iraqi oil workers. dbacon@igc.org 001 510 851 1589
Greg Muttitt is a researcher at PLATFORM, a London-based organisation
working on issues of environmental and social justice. Greg specialises
in the impacts of multinational oil corporations of human rights,
development and environment. Since 2003 he has monitored and worked to
expose the hidden plans to open Iraq's oil reserves to western
corporations for the first time since 1972. Greg has also researched and
campaigned on BP's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, including
co-authoring the 2002 book 'Some Common Concerns', on Shell's Sakhalin
II oil and gas project in Russia's Far East, and on a number of other
oil industry activities around the world. greg.muttitt@pobox.com 0044
7970 589 611
Justin Alexander is Coordinator of Jubilee Iraq - a network of groups
and individuals (business people, lawyers, economists, politicians, aid
workers and others) working to ensure that the Iraqi people - emerging
from decades of war, oppression and sanctions - are not unjustly forced
to pay Saddam's bills. Justin has spent over six months living in
occupied Iraq and has participated in Christian Peacemaker Teams
projects in both Iraq and occupied Palestine. justinalexander@gmail.com
0044 7813 137171
Dr Martha Mundy is Reader in Anthropology at the London School of
Economics. As an academic she is a specialist in studies of kinship,
law in society, and the anthropology of the Arab world; she taught at
Yarmouk University, UCLA, Universite Lyon 2 Lumiere, and the American
University of Beirut before joining the LSE. As a UK and US citizen she
has long opposed her governments' policies with regard to Iraq and
Palestine, belonging to several civil society associations working for
social justice in Iraq and Palestine. Currently co-convenor on BRICUP
(www.bricup.org.uk). M.Mundy@lse.ac.uk 0044 207 955 6242
Translation of the Final Communiqué of the Basra Conference on
Privatisation of the Public Sector by Dr Martha Mundy
Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim
"Wa-inna li-`l-insan illa ma sa`a wa inna sa`i-hi saufa yura" Sadaq
allahu al-`ali al-`azim From the holy Koran: "Indeed man has only what
he works and his work will be seen." OR "Indeed man has only his
struggle and his effort will be seen"
To the Parliament, the Iraqi government, the Ministry of Oil, the
Ministry of Industry:
The General Union of Oil Employees in Basra held its first scientific
conference on the topic of privatisation of the public sector between
25-26th May 2005 in the auditorium of the Cultural Centre of the Oil
Sector under the banner: "To revive the public sector and to build an
Iraq free of privatisation". Sixteen studies were presented and debated
during the conference sessions, eight studies by professors of the
University of Basra, four studies by figures from the oil sector, and
four studies by representatives of civil society from the USA and
Britain.
The papers, debate, and opinions expressed in the course of the
conference led to the following conclusions and recommendations:
1. The public sector economy of Iraq is one of the symbols of the
achievement of Iraqis since the revolution of 4th July 1958. It
represents the common wealth of all Iraqis who built this sector. Hence
it is impermissible that a Ministry or other party effect any change in
this sector without consulting the people through the Parliament or a
general referendum.
As for the oil sector, it could be said that the Iraqi economy and
people breathe with two lungs, in the north the Northern Oil
Company - and it is scarcely functioning for known reasons - and
the Southern Oil Company. In short at present the economy and
people breathe with only one lung. Therefore the conference
participants judged it inconceivable that this structure, so
central to the life of all Iraqis, be tampered with.
2. If certain of the public industrial plants suffer from problems and
faults, there are a variety of possible solutions and means, notably
with regard to machines, technology, and human resources required to
renew these plants. Iraqis have the capacity to do the work if given
the chance.
3. The present conjuncture of Iraq is one where the country lacks a
stable political infrastructure and a clearly defined economic system on
which the people can rely. This being so, the conference participants
believe that the privatisation of the oil and industrial sectors, or of
any part of them, will do great harm to the Iraqi people and their
economy.
4. It is Parliament, as representative of the Iraqi people, that we hold
responsible for preserving the wealth and achievement of Iraqi people
gained through long struggle. The conference participants call upon the
members of Parliament as representatives of the people all to take a
firm stand against political currents and directives calling for the
privatisation of the public sector in Iraq. It is the view of the Iraqi
people which must decide this vital matter.
5. The conference participants call upon all States to remit the odious
debts undertaken by the previous regime, without condition and without
infringing the independence, sovereignty and economic self-governance of
Iraq.
Wa-allahu al-muwaffiq
Committee of Presidency of the Conference
The first conference on privatisation
Basra 26th May 2005
Ibrahim Muhammad Radiy Faruq Muhammad Sadiq Dr. `Abd al-Jabbar
al-Hilfi
Falih `Abbud `Amarah Hasan Jum`ah `Awwad
Odious Foreign Debts
** International conference delegates available for Interview**
Iraq, May 25-26 The General Union of Oil Employees, Basra held a
historical conference on the privatisation of Iraq's public sector.
The conference took place under the banner 'To revive the public sector
and to build an Iraq free of privatisation'.
150 trade union activists, mostly GUOE members and union council leaders
from Nassiriyah and Amara and Basra, plus Iraqi Federation of Trade
Unions reps and local party political party activists attended.
International delegates, organised by Iraq Occupation Focus, and
representing civil society organisations in the UK and USA also
participated and spent a further four days touring oil sector locations
and interviewing oil workers and trade unionists. They were:
Ewa Jasiewicz, Delegation co-ordinator, joint UK Representative for
General Union of Oil Employees and activist with Iraq Occupation Focus.
Topic: International Solidarity, lessons from 'Solidarnosc' in Poland
and plans to impose the Polish free-market model on Iraq.
Greg Muttitt, researcher from PLATFORM. Organisation campaigning for
social and environmental justice. Topic: Plans to open Iraq's oil
reserves to multinationals, and ways certain oil production contracts
deprive host governments of revenue and control over their industry;
Justin Alexander, coordinator of Jubilee Iraq, organisation focusing on
cancellation of Iraq's foreign, regime incurred debts. Topic: The IMF's
role in using Iraq's foreign debt as a lever to prise open the economy
to privatisation, and the moral and legal arguments for the
unconditional cancellation of the debt.
David Bacon, US photojournalist, representing the million-strong
anti-war trade union organisation US Labour Against the War. Topic:
experiences and effects of privatisation in Mexico and how Mexican
workers in the electrical power and oil sector successfully prevented
the sell-off of their industries.
Dr Martha Mundy, Reader in Anthropology at the London School of
Economics and co-convenor on British Committee for Universities of
Palestine (BRICUP). (Personal capacity).
Contributions from instructors and professors from Basra University
focused on different aspects of privatisation, including: Iraq's current
industrial capacity; the need for new technology, construction, and
capital; shareholder systems; efficiency building; social welfare;
Iraq's debt; competition from cheap imports; monopolies, and state and
private sector corruption risks.
GUOE organisers and leaders repeatedly voiced their experiences of
independent reconstruction efforts, affirming that Iraqi workers had
defended and rehabilitated their industry despite mass looting and
deliberate degradation under the eyes and de-facto permission of the
Occupying forces.
As yet, no democratic debate has taken place regarding privatisation
within parliament and no commission has been established to publicly
discuss the issue - in contrast to procedures in other countries in
the Middle East.
The Union states in its' final conference communiqué (attached with this
release): 'The present conjuncture of Iraq is one where the country
lacks a stable political infrastructure and a clearly defined economic
system on which the people can rely. This being so, the conference
participants believe that the privatisation of the oil and industrial
sectors, or of any part of them, will do great harm to the Iraqi people
and their economy'.
International Solidarity messages were sent from the following trade
unions and organisations: the South Africa Anti-Privatisation Forum,
Liga Manggawaga (Philippines), the Canadian Autoworkers Union, Fiom-Cgil
(Italy), Patagonia oil workers (Argentina), National Union of
Journalists (UK), UNISON (UK), the Iraqi Union Solidarity Group (UK),
the Offshore International Liaison Committee (Scotland), The Stop the
War Coalition (UK), No Sweat (UK), Nova Scotia Government and General
Employees Union (Canada), US Labor Against the War (USA), Bridges to
Baghdad (Italy), University Council American Federation of Teachers
Local 2199, Santa Cruz (USA), SEIU, Local 415, California (USA),
Groundwork and the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (South
Africa), Iraq Solidarity Campaign (Philippines), NATFHE (UK), TGWU (UK),
International Confederation of Energy and Mining (ICEM), Trade Union of
Chemical Workers for Solidarity, Unity and Democracy and it's unions
branches in TOTAL group (France), UNT (Venezuela), Peaceworks (Canada),
ZZG - National Union of Miners (Poland), Inicjatywa Pracownicza
(Poland), Canadian Peace Alliance, Corporate Watch (UK), Voices of
Conscience (Canada), Asian Peace Alliance (Japan), Collectif Echec a la
guerre (Montreal, Canada), Swedish Workers' Centralorganisation
(SAC-Syndikalisterna), Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des
enseignants du Québec (Canada), Sjukvården Inte Till Salu - Healthcare
Not For Sale (Sweden), Pan Hellenic Federation of Employees in Petroleum
Products - Refineries & Chemical Industry (Greece).
Personal Greetings and solidarity: Prof Noam Chomsky (USA), Film Makers
and Writers Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein, Writer and Author of 'It's the
Crude Dude' Linda McQuaig (Canada), Zbyszek Marcin Kowalewski, former
Solidarnosc leader in Lodz and editor of 'Rewolujca' (Poland).
Notes:
The GUOE grew out of the Southern Oil Company Union which was
established a month after the invasion of Iraq.
It has 23,000 members in Basra, Amara and Nassiriyah.
The Leadership has a history of opposition to and imprisonment by the
Baath regime.
The Union does not belong to any trade union federation in Iraq. It is
not organised through or controlled by any political party in Iraq. It
is an independent trade union.
Trade union members expelled Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and
Root from oil sector locations in June 2003. KBR are still banned from
worksites.
The Union carried out strike action which has shut down oil exports in
2003 and 2004.
The Union successfully raised workers' occupation-set wages from a
69,000 ID minimum to 102,000 ID minimum in 2004 through negotiations and
threats of industrial action.
The Union is working to establish homes for oil workers, return workers
sacked under the regime for belonging to banned political parties,
protect pipelines from sabotage, and find jobs for graduates from the
Petroleum Institute.
Contacts
Ewa Jasiewicz, Iraq Occupation Focus and UK Representative, GUOE 0044
7749 421 576 freelance@mailworks.org www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk
Munir Chalabi, Iraq Occupation Focus and UK Representative, GUOE 0044
7952 683 415 munir@chalabi.screaming.net
www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk
Farouk Muhammad Sadiq, Secretary for International Affairs (Mobile)
00964 7801 094 635 (Union Landline) 0096440 319 310 ext 45
farouk101small@yahoo.com
**Photographs available from David Bacon, dbacon@igc.org 001 510 851
1589**
**Footage also available from Ewa Jasiewicz freelance@mailworks.org 0044
7749 421 576**
A website for the GUOE with full conference feedback, papers, photos and
general union info will be up and running shortly.
Background on International Delegates:
Ewa Jasiewicz UK rep GUOE, Iraq Occupation Focus activist, freelance
journalist (Big Issue, Red Pepper, Pride Magazine, Voices in the
Wilderness), NUJ Freelance Branch member. Nine months experience living
in Iraq June 2003-February 2004 working with trade unions, Palestinian
refugees, women's groups, the Unemployed, Iraqi families, and human
rights groups. She has spent six months working as a human rights
activist in occupied Palestine. freelance@mailworks.org 0044 7749 421
576
David Bacon, a US photojournalist. Has written extensively on Iraqi
labor for US publications for the last two years, and has received
awards for his coverage
of the threats to Iraqi workers from privatization and continued
enforcement of Saddam Hussein-era anti-labor laws. Worked for more than
a decade covering Mexico's corrupt and disastrous experience with
privatization. Bacon travelled to Basra to document in photographs and
interviews the work and home
lives of Iraqi oil workers. dbacon@igc.org 001 510 851 1589
Greg Muttitt is a researcher at PLATFORM, a London-based organisation
working on issues of environmental and social justice. Greg specialises
in the impacts of multinational oil corporations of human rights,
development and environment. Since 2003 he has monitored and worked to
expose the hidden plans to open Iraq's oil reserves to western
corporations for the first time since 1972. Greg has also researched and
campaigned on BP's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, including
co-authoring the 2002 book 'Some Common Concerns', on Shell's Sakhalin
II oil and gas project in Russia's Far East, and on a number of other
oil industry activities around the world. greg.muttitt@pobox.com 0044
7970 589 611
Justin Alexander is Coordinator of Jubilee Iraq - a network of groups
and individuals (business people, lawyers, economists, politicians, aid
workers and others) working to ensure that the Iraqi people - emerging
from decades of war, oppression and sanctions - are not unjustly forced
to pay Saddam's bills. Justin has spent over six months living in
occupied Iraq and has participated in Christian Peacemaker Teams
projects in both Iraq and occupied Palestine. justinalexander@gmail.com
0044 7813 137171
Dr Martha Mundy is Reader in Anthropology at the London School of
Economics. As an academic she is a specialist in studies of kinship,
law in society, and the anthropology of the Arab world; she taught at
Yarmouk University, UCLA, Universite Lyon 2 Lumiere, and the American
University of Beirut before joining the LSE. As a UK and US citizen she
has long opposed her governments' policies with regard to Iraq and
Palestine, belonging to several civil society associations working for
social justice in Iraq and Palestine. Currently co-convenor on BRICUP
(www.bricup.org.uk). M.Mundy@lse.ac.uk 0044 207 955 6242
Translation of the Final Communiqué of the Basra Conference on
Privatisation of the Public Sector by Dr Martha Mundy
Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim
"Wa-inna li-`l-insan illa ma sa`a wa inna sa`i-hi saufa yura" Sadaq
allahu al-`ali al-`azim From the holy Koran: "Indeed man has only what
he works and his work will be seen." OR "Indeed man has only his
struggle and his effort will be seen"
To the Parliament, the Iraqi government, the Ministry of Oil, the
Ministry of Industry:
The General Union of Oil Employees in Basra held its first scientific
conference on the topic of privatisation of the public sector between
25-26th May 2005 in the auditorium of the Cultural Centre of the Oil
Sector under the banner: "To revive the public sector and to build an
Iraq free of privatisation". Sixteen studies were presented and debated
during the conference sessions, eight studies by professors of the
University of Basra, four studies by figures from the oil sector, and
four studies by representatives of civil society from the USA and
Britain.
The papers, debate, and opinions expressed in the course of the
conference led to the following conclusions and recommendations:
1. The public sector economy of Iraq is one of the symbols of the
achievement of Iraqis since the revolution of 4th July 1958. It
represents the common wealth of all Iraqis who built this sector. Hence
it is impermissible that a Ministry or other party effect any change in
this sector without consulting the people through the Parliament or a
general referendum.
As for the oil sector, it could be said that the Iraqi economy and
people breathe with two lungs, in the north the Northern Oil
Company - and it is scarcely functioning for known reasons - and
the Southern Oil Company. In short at present the economy and
people breathe with only one lung. Therefore the conference
participants judged it inconceivable that this structure, so
central to the life of all Iraqis, be tampered with.
2. If certain of the public industrial plants suffer from problems and
faults, there are a variety of possible solutions and means, notably
with regard to machines, technology, and human resources required to
renew these plants. Iraqis have the capacity to do the work if given
the chance.
3. The present conjuncture of Iraq is one where the country lacks a
stable political infrastructure and a clearly defined economic system on
which the people can rely. This being so, the conference participants
believe that the privatisation of the oil and industrial sectors, or of
any part of them, will do great harm to the Iraqi people and their
economy.
4. It is Parliament, as representative of the Iraqi people, that we hold
responsible for preserving the wealth and achievement of Iraqi people
gained through long struggle. The conference participants call upon the
members of Parliament as representatives of the people all to take a
firm stand against political currents and directives calling for the
privatisation of the public sector in Iraq. It is the view of the Iraqi
people which must decide this vital matter.
5. The conference participants call upon all States to remit the odious
debts undertaken by the previous regime, without condition and without
infringing the independence, sovereignty and economic self-governance of
Iraq.
Wa-allahu al-muwaffiq
Committee of Presidency of the Conference
The first conference on privatisation
Basra 26th May 2005
Ibrahim Muhammad Radiy Faruq Muhammad Sadiq Dr. `Abd al-Jabbar
al-Hilfi
Falih `Abbud `Amarah Hasan Jum`ah `Awwad
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