16 November, 2006
To : The general federation of Teachers
RE : Kidnapping of Ministry of Education Officials Baghdad
Recent Kidnappings
Dear Colleagues ,
I am in receipt of correspondence for the General Secretary of the TUC Brendan Barber informing me the latest events which I find shocking and totally unacceptably. I must inform you that the executive committee of my union ASLEF, the union for train drivers in the UK agreed with Brendan Barbers statement when he states that “This cowardly attack on some of the people most involved in keeping the education system going is a terrible reminder of the persistent persecution being suffered by workers and academics in Iraq. Workers in the education sector are in the front line, facing intimidation, harassment and sometimes death, all for the simple reason that they are trying to bring enlightenment, empowerment and education to Iraq’s children and young people.
“British trade unionists have little experience of the pressures under which Iraqi workers and educationalists operate every day, but we stand in solidarity with them in their struggle to build a new Iraq – non-sectarian, non-discriminatory and free”.
We join with Brendan Barber in calling on the government of Iraq to take all steps necessary to prevent sectarian and other violence against people at work, and to restore the freedoms that they should have to join the trade unions of their choice and to bargain collectively.
Keith Norman
General Secretary