The IFTU joined an official Iraqi delegation led by the Minister for Labour and Social Affairs to participate in the 31st conference of the Arab Labour Organization held in Damascus, Syria from 14-21st February 2004.
The IFTU delegation was led by its national President Mr Rasem Hussein Abdullah and brothers Hadi Ali the IFTU's First Vice President and Mahal Hardan Hamad, second Vice President.
The IFTU delegation participated in discussion on many issues and held a series of fringe meetings with trade union organizations and received invitations to attend future conferences elsewhere in the Arab World, Europe and beyond.
The IFTU presented a key note contribution which dealt with political and trade union developments in Iraq since the fall of Saddam's bloody regime.
"Our country and working people face enormous difficulties:economic dislocation and hyper-inflation as well as the absence of real economic strategies to tackle these deep-seated problems and the waste of so much of Iraq's resources."
This speech also stressed the need for all Iraqi union officials and activists to fully engage in building a real, independent and democratic union movement in Iraq. It also referred to the IFTU's new relationships with a growing number of other trade union centres around the world.
posted by Abdullah, 4 March 19:30 PM
Posted at March 4, 2004 07:32 PM