Mary Davies (NATFHE) moved Motion 82.
82 Iraq
Congress reaffirms its opposition to the occupation of Iraq, condemns the abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners by the coalition forces, and calls for an accurate audit of the actual cost of the invasion and occupation.
Congress believes it is now more vital than ever to support the new independent trade union movement as an essential force in the creation of a secular, democratic Iraq, free from fundamentalism and Saddam’s Baathism.
Congress thus calls for the speedy withdrawal of the coalition forces and the dismantling of their military bases in favour of the Iraqi people being left free to build their country’s infrastructure, public services and education system, with assistance from international agencies if required.
Congress notes in particular the role women (who constitute over 50 per cent of the population in Iraq and account for 35 per cent of the productive workforce) are playing in the reconstruction of Iraq.
Congress urges the General Council to maintain and strengthen contact with Iraqi trade unionists, in particular the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), by:
i) initiating, together with affiliated trade unions, a solidarity committee to liaise with, and give practical support to, the trade union movement in Iraq, including the delivery of a structured education programme on the TUC model, and assistance with the provision of IT and other office equipment;
ii) facilitating visits and twinning arrangements between Iraqi and British trade unionists; and
iii) ensuring that links are made between Iraqi women trade unionists and their British counterparts.
NATFHE - The University and College Lecturers’ Union
The following AMENDMENT was accepted
Add new sub-paragraph iv):
working with the ICFTU and the ILO to press for the maximum involvement of Iraqi trade unionists in the drafting of new labour laws which conform with the core Conventions of the ILO.
Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians
The following AMENDMENT was accepted
Insert a new paragraph after paragraph 4:
Congress deplores the suppression of trade union activity by the occupying forces, and the physical destruction of the headquarters of the fledgling trade union organisation.
Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association
She said: To its credit the TUC opposed the war, and to its credit last year we passed a motion calling for the withdrawal of troops from this country and from the United States. The next step is practical solidarity, and that is what this motion concentrates on. At the same time, however, there should be no mistake whatsoever about our opposition to war and occupation. We do not support Anglo/US imperialism masquerading as a moral crusade to rid the world of tyrants. We want the cost of this war to be counted, both for the Iraqis and for us. How many hospitals and schools could have been built with the appalling waste of money on this continued occupation. We want an end to the abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners. We want an end to military and economic occupation.
The only sure way of defeating occupation, defeating Bathism and the threat of fundamentalism is by strengthening the forces of civil society so brutally crushed for 25 years under Saddam Hussein. Chief amongst these forces are the forces of the working class represented through their trade unions. This is the untold story of Iraq. Since the war the media would have us believe that Iraq has descended into barbarism. Look at today's front-page headline in the Guardian. It says 'Iraq, a descent into civil war'. The truth is that despite the devastation of war, the horrors of occupation and the misguided fundamentalist elements -- I cannot call them an opposition if they target Iraqi civilians -- civil society, once so rich in Iraq, is being re-born. Chief amongst them, and most significant amongst the elements of civil society, is the development of the Iraqi trade union Movement, in particular the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions.
Within 17 months hundreds of thousands of workers have been recruited to trades unions in 12 single trade unions in the Iraqi Federation. This is a very enviable rate of recruitment that we would do well to emulate in this country. Amongst those recruits women are a very important factor. They are 35 per cent of the workforce and they are playing a significant role. For example, Hashima Hussein, a woman, is the new President of the Electricity and Energy Workers' Union -- I think it is a male dominated membership but a woman President.
So why has this happened? Why has there been this success of the Iraqi trades unions? It is because Iraq actually is a highly developed society and has a long history of a strong and powerful labour Movement. Just for example, in 1959, on May Day, one million workers marched in Iraq out of a population of 6.5 million. Saddam Hussein, like all fascists, sought to smash the organisations of the working class first and therefore he concentrated on the trades unions. He set up his own stooge corporatist unions, just like Hitler did, but the underground trade union Movement was formed, the Workers Democratic Trade Union Movement, men and women of great bravery who still organised in Iraq and outside Iraq. This is the backbone of the new trade union federation now existing in Iraq. The federation has no resources. It needs support, not just for its own sake; it is key to ending the occupation and privatisation, and the development of a democratic secular Iraq. Support and solidarity are needed. Individual unions have already done much and the TUC fund is very welcome, but we need greater coordination of efforts as contained in the motion, including in particular solidarity between women trades unionists.
We do not need to tell the Iraqi Federation what to do; they know what to do. They have a clear program but they need the means to do it. Solidarity is not just a word, it is the core of what it means to be a trade unionist. In supporting our sisters and brothers in Iraq we can re-discover what is best in our own Movement. They deserve their solidarity and that is the key to building the secular Iraq that will end the awful privatisation, the dreadful occupation and the devastation that has been wrought on Iraq after years of war and occupational opporession.
Please support this motion. Workers of all countries unite.
Dennis Doody (UCATT) in seconding the motion said: I am very very disappointed.
Four or five minutes ago we heard from Seb Coe speaking about the possibility that we might create jobs as a consequence of the Olympic bid. I hope this Movement is not suffering from convenient amnesia because let me tell you what he was part and parcel of. He and his Party destroyed thousands upon thousands of jobs in mining communities the length and breadth of this country. It is an absolute disgrace! It is about time this Movement got back to its grassroots and where we emanated from. We should not be inviting people like him and Digby Jones here.
Two years ago this Congress was bitterly divided about Iraq. The majority opposed the conflict without United Nations backing. A minority opposed the war full-stop. As it turned out, the Movement was united in opposition to the war, and rightly so. It is important that we are also united today and that we send an unambiguous message to this Government that the forces of occupation, British included, the United States and the coalition, need to be removed from Iraq rapidly. As long as the US and United Kingdom forces are in Iraq there will always be instability and continuing resistance. The occupation prevents the Iraqi people from developing their own society, a society free from Saddam and a society free from foreign occupation. It is for the people of Iraq to determine their own future and not the coalition of the criminal masquerading as liberators.
The trade union Movement in Iraq will play a vital role in the reconstruction of that country. The trade unions are no friend of Saddam Hussein. Under the then Iraqi labour code trade unions were banned in the public sector in 1987 which, at that particular time, formed a major part of the Iraqi economy. Trade unions could not operate independently from the regime. It is hardly surprising that the trade union Movement in Iraq is divided politically.
Earlier this year the ICFTU organised a fact-finding mission to Iraq, which included a representative of the TUC. This should give us the confidence that independent trade unions will help to develop Iraq, provided of course they are give the freedom to organise.
Whilst in Iraq the ICFTU found a vibrant grassroots organisation dealing with day to day issues such as non-payment of wages, unemployment and poor management. Whilst trade union organisations are still hampered by the code left behind by the old regime, 17 months of the collapse of the Hussein regime, the ’87 labour code still exists.
I have to wind up now. If I had been given a real opportunity without having to make some interventions because of what the ex-Minister for Sport said, I would have got my message across more clearly. The Iraqi trade unions deserve our support. I hope that delegates in this hall do not believe that the new organisation is a stooge to American imperialism. It is not.
Mitch Tovey (TSSA) speaking in support of the motion said: We are seeing in Iraq day by day the logical and completely foreseeable results of the US inspired attack backed by Britain and others with the destruction of that nation. This daily barrage and slaughter of Iraqi people continues apace, so much so that we have no absolute idea of how many Iraqis have absolutely died, and certainly Bush and Blair do not seem to care. It appears that the so-called coalition have a very unsectarian approach to the slaugher, be it oil workers, bakers, railway workers or teachers. It does not matter. Be they men, women or children, it does not matter. Any religion, any time and in any way, it doesn’t matter. All of this is paid for by public money. Blair and Brown seem to have no trouble in finding the money for munitions that destroy another country’s infrastructure. There is much more difficulty in funding building at home. It is cheaper and easier to destroy a hospital in Bagdad than to build one in Britain. Before the war people marched in vast numbers to try and stop the war. School children, including my own daughter, came out on the streets but Blair ignored them. We should not be too surprised if, come the General Election, those people ignored Blair.
An important and increasing aspect is the willingness of the families of those service men and women killed in Iraq to speak out, to demand answers, to make clear their opposition to the war, and I pay tribute to the courage of those relatives for speaking out. They have let the population know the real angish, agony and tragedy of the reality of war.
The key aspect and reason for the war was, of course, oil. The Bush Government knows fullwell that a cheap oil supply owned and controlled by American-based multi-nationals need a flexible and cowed workforce. If they are not non-union, then they want passive and controlled unions like some of those around under Saddam Hussein. What it cannot afford is an organised and independent workforce. That is the reality behind the systematic wrecking of the offices in Baghdad of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions. It is vital for the Bush regime that the Iraqi people are not allowed to organise, and that is why a small office with a dozen laptops could not be tolerated, and that is why it was ransacked by US forces. We must offer our full and unqualified support to our comrades working in the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions in this hour of need. Destroying the Trade Union Federation in Iraq would be a great achievement for Bush. He must be stopped and he can be stopped. Support the motion.
Keith Sonnet (UNISON) speaking in support of Motion 82 and amendment, said: Congress, each day we watch with horror the continuing carnage in Iraq. We must remember who is to blame for the chaos - George Bloody Bush and Tony Blair. Just as we know that there will never be peace in the Middle East until Israel stops occupying Gaza and the West Bank, and an independent viable Palestinian State created, so we know that there will never be peace in Iraq until the occupying British and American troops leave. We demand in the motion that our Government take immediate steps to end its occupation of Iraq and to return Iraqi assets back to the Iraqi people. The war was illegal, based upon lies and deceit, and it has spawned continued human rights abuses by occupying forces and now by the so-called interim government headed by a former US intelligence agent.
We have seen the systematic abuse and torture of prisoners in gaols throughout Iraq, just as we know takes place in Guantanamo, personally endorsed, as we learn in the newspapers this week, by Donald Rumsfeldt. We have seen the bombing of civilian areas in Faluja and in Najaf, with bodies piling up in the streets. We have seen the harassment of journalists and the closure of Al Jazera in Iraq because they do not want the full horror of the situation in Iraq being reported. Congress, we have no moral right to be in Iraq or to remain there, and we must leave completely. There must be no bases left behind to guard the oil fields.
As Mary Davis said in moving the motion, the motion and amendments are calling for support for the Iraqi trade unions. I was proud that the General Secretary of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions was able to address my union conference in June and that a group of Iraqi trade unionists will be coming to UNISON in early November, and other initiatives are planned. It is important for all the unions to develop relationships to assist the emerging Iraqi trade unions. Equally, we must keep the pressure up at home. We cannot simply concentrate, as some people would like, on domestic issues whilst the suffering continues to take place in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. That includes building support for the anti-war movement, including supporting the demonstration called by the European Social Forum supported by the Stop the War Coalition in London on Sunday 17th October I hope all unions here will be encouraging their members to attend. Let us stop the occupation and let’s stop another Bush-inspired war.
Stewart Brown (FBU) speaking in support of the motion said: What many of us opposing the invasion of Iraq feared has come to pass and worse. Iraqis - men, women and children - are paying a terrible price. We heard yesterday of at least another 47 people killed as a result of an explosion in a Baghdad market. In total some 14,000 civilians, men, women and children, have been killed according to some estimates. More than 1,000 American troops and some 70 British troops have been killed. Meanwhile, Britain continues to send working class young men and women to their deaths in Iraq. They are just teenagers with rudimentary training. Many are like 19 year old Gordon Gentle from Glasgow.
Coalition forces must withdraw from Iraq and Iraqis themselves must choose how they start to deal with regaining normal life with the help of the international agencies, if necessary. We must learn the wider lessons of the war in Iraq. The US and the UK must never again take pre-emptive military action against sovereign nations. The world’s hyper-power and its lapdog, Britain, must never again ignore the UN and the rule of international law. We must be immediately moved to reduce, with a view to removing totally, their giant arsenals of weapons of mass destruction. We in Britain and in the trade unions must not forget Iraq.
We have a special responsibility to help ordinary Iraqi people find a way out of their nightmare. We must work with them to build a stable, democratic and prosperous Iraq. In particular, as trade unions, we must support the effort of the IFTU trade union federation to build a strong and democratic trade union Movement. We must support them in whatever way we can in achieving their aims. Practical solidarity is crucial.
A delegation from the FBU has visited the country twice in recent months; first, on a fact-finding mission and on the second occasion an FBU official returned with practical help for the country’s fire-fighters. He brought some fire-fighting equipment. Iraqi fire-fighters are in the frontline, risking their lives every day in ways in which those British public sector workers, like fire-fighters, would find difficult to image.
Great strides have been made in building trade union structures and building a trade union Movement which truly represents workers and is not an instrument of a former or current regime of occupying forces, but much more has to be done. It is time to stop the war. It is time for the UK to withdraw its troops. It is time for respect of international law. It is time for global disarmament led by the US and UK. It is the time to make peace, not war. We must strengthen links with the Iraqi trade unions, visiting the country and providing real practical help. Thank you.
The President: Motion 82 is supported by the General Council.
· Motion 82 was CARRIED.
At its recent Conference in Brighton from 12th –17th September 2004, delegates to the Conference of the British Trades Union Congress voted unanimously to back a historic resolution (82: Iraq) submitted by NATFHE - The University and College Lecturers’ Union as amended by the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) - see TUC website http://www.tuc.org.uk/congress/tuc-8494-f0.cfm?theme=congress2004#tuc-8494-7
At a fringe meeting held on the evening of Monday 13th September at TUC Conference celebrating the increasingly close relationships that continues to be built between British unions and the IFTU, leading figures of the British labour movement joined IFTU representative Abdullah Muhsin on a truly internationalist platform, which included Comrade Luis Hernandez from the Sintremicali union of Colombia.
(left to right) Comrade Luis Hernandez from the Colombian Sintremicali trade union, Abdullah Muhsin (IFTU) and Paul Mackney (NATFHE): a truly internationalist platform
Sue Bond (Vice President, Public and Commercial Services union - PCS) addresses the IFTU fringe meeting at the TUC 2004 Conference alongside (left to right) Tony Donaghey (President National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers - RMT), John McGhee (National Officer, Fire Brigades Union - FBU), Mary Davis (NATFHE), Harry Barnes MP, Abdullah Muhsin (IFTU, Paul Mackney (GS, NATFHE, chair) and Jeremy Dear (General Secretary, National Union of Journalists - NUJ)
Jeremy Dear (General Secretary, NUJ) who sponsored the 'Khalil Shawqi Appeal' leaflet distributed to delegates at the TUC Conference addresses the fringe meeting
Mary Davis (NATFHE) who moved resolution 82 on Iraq speaking at the fringe meeting
The full TUC decision as amended, which was carried unanimously by delegates, reads as follows:
"82 Iraq
"Congress reaffirms its opposition to the occupation of Iraq, condemns the abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners by the coalition forces, and calls for an accurate audit of the actual cost of the invasion and occupation.
"Congress believes it is now more vital than ever to support the new independent trade union movement as an essential force in the creation of a secular, democratic Iraq, free from fundamentalism and Saddam’s Baathism.
"Congress thus calls for the speedy withdrawal of the coalition forces and the dismantling of their military bases in favour of the Iraqi people being left free to build their country’s infrastructure, public services and education system, with assistance from international agencies if required.
"Congress notes in particular the role women (who constitute over 50 per cent of the population in Iraq and account for 35 per cent of the productive workforce) are playing in the reconstruction of Iraq.
"Congress urges the General Council to maintain and strengthen contact with Iraqi trade unionists, in particular the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), by:
"i) initiating, together with affiliated trade unions, a solidarity committee to liaise with, and give practical support to, the trade union movement in Iraq, including the delivery of a structured education programme on the TUC model, and assistance with the provision of IT and other office equipment;
"ii) facilitating visits and twinning arrangements between Iraqi and British trade unionists;
"iii) ensuring that links are made between Iraqi women trade unionists and their British counterparts; and
"iv) working with the ICFTU and the ILO to press for the maximum involvement of Iraqi trade unionists in the drafting of new labour laws which conform with the core Conventions of the ILO.
"Congress deplores the suppression of trade union activity by the occupying forces, and the physical destruction of the headquarters of the fledgling trade union organisation." - ENDS
Abdullah Muhsin (IFTU) addresses the TUC fringe meeting
The IFTU welcomes the exemplary solidarity with the independent labour organisation of the Iraqi working class displayed by the British labour movement in recent years. The TUC’s latest decision is a logical continuation of that excellent internationalist tradition, which is an invaluable support for trade unionists in Iraq struggling under the most arduous circumstances to rebuild the Iraqi trade union movement.
Harry Barnes MP, an unstinting supporter of free Iraqi trade unions addresses the fringe meeting at the TUC Conference
Tony Donaghey, President RMT reminded the fringe meeting of the long history of labour movement internationalism, including the struggle for Irish freedom.
On 10th September 2004 Oxford Labour Party welcomed IFTU representative Abdullah Muhsin to address a joint meeting of the Oxford Constituency LPs. The 50 or so Labour Party members present from across the city responded positively to IFTU’s call for the labour movement in Britain to help to provide practical and financial support for independent trade unions in Iraq. Anne Black a member of the Labour Party National Executive Committee had invited the IFTU and chaired the meeting.
Many LP members present said they had recently campaigned against the war on Iraq and many of them had over 30 years’ personal history of working in their trade unions or in the Labour Party. This experience of running political and social campaigns and organising at every level of civil society gave them an understanding of the day-to-day tasks facing the IFTU’s members in Iraq. For instance, the meeting warmly greeted the IFTU’s initiative in lunching the ‘Khalil Shawqi Appeal’ http://www.iraqitradeunions.org/archives/000049.html
The members Oxford Labour Party strongly empathised with IFTU’s project for a travelling theatre bus. They immediately grasped how this would help to spread the message of new independent trade unionism, in order to bury Saddam’s legacy of trade unions as state-fronts and to reassure Iraqi people that now it is essential to talk openly about politics and labour rights. The meeting was also visibly moved by the secular and democratic perspective of the independent Iraqi trade union movement and the IFTU’s determination to overcome religious, political and regional divisions.
The IFTU representative explained that although opinion surveys would show an overwhelming no vote amongst Iraqis for the question, ‘Do you want the American Occupation?’ an equal number would answer no to the question ‘Should the Americans leave immediately?’ And because of this paradoxical situation, the IFTU has chosen not to take up arms but instead to fight within the transformational process for labour rights.
The IFTU also oppose those sinister forces where Saddam’s loyal Ba’athists blocks with religious Fundamentalists to lead a movement of dispossessed young men back to a tyrannical state in one form or another. These sinister armies murder workers and proclaim no political or social programme other than opposition to America but actually harbour some of the most reactionary ideas in the world. The meeting agreed that massive investment is needed to provide jobs and hope to these self-same young workers; otherwise the chance of creating a sovereign, democratic secular Iraq may be lost.
The IFTU asked delegates to identify other forums for discussion; union branches, colleges and peace groups, and to invite the IFTU to speak to them. We hope a firm bond will develop between the Oxford CLPS and the IFTU.
International Union Rights
Volume 11 Issue 3 2004
Journal of the International Centre for Trade Union Rights
http://www.ictur.labournet.org/
Abdullah Muhsin, International Representative of the IFTU looks at the Iraqi interim government and the development of the labour code.
The dictatorship has gone but after more than three decades of internal repression, turmoil, wars, unjust economic sanctions, Iraqi society has been devastated. The trade unions are essential to the fabric of the civil society we must rebuild. A large, organised and confident trade union movement could do a great deal to bring workers together regardless of their religious, ethnic or national origins.
Political situation:
As a consequence of the war, the occupation and the failure of Iraqi parties to agree on holding of a national conference April 2003 to elect a transitional government, the occupation authorities (US and UK) became de facto the transitional authority in Iraq. Their authority was further consolidated by the UN Security Council resolution 1483, which internationalised the occupation of Iraq.
The US administration interpreted one of UN resolution 1483 articles which relates directly to the formation of an Iraqi political transitional authority as meaning that the new Iraqi political body would exist merely to advise and assist the
occupation authority during the transitional period of the occupation. All Iraqi forces rejected this flawed idea. The UN helped in forging a compromise and the idea of the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was born. Both Iraqis and the UN supported it. The US and UK administrations agreed. In July 2003 the IGC was formed.
The IGC, despite the fact that is not the best or the preferred ultimate perfect model of running Iraq post-Saddam, nevertheless remains an acceptable alternative to the US vision. It represents all sections of Iraqi society - including Arabs, Kurds and other nationals.
The IGC was entrusted with task of issuing:
* A transitional constitution with active consultation with the UN- by no later than May 2004 (that has now had been achievedand will guide the state and society during the interim period until January 2006);
* Preparing the ground to end the occupation, dissolving itself and handing power to an Iraqi interim government (which was achieved on 28 June 2004);
* Preparing the ground to hold a national conference to elect an interim National Assembly. The National Conference was held 15-18 August in Baghdad. 81 delegates were elected at the conference with the remaining 19 seats going to former members of the IGC who are not memebers of the interim government.
Iraq's transitional constitution:
The Iraqi Transitional Administrative Law passed on 8 March 2004, despite its drawbacks, offers on paper a balanced system of governance, giving clear separation between the three state institutions, and it guarantees (in Article 13) the right to form and join a union and the right to strike. It also guarantees the role of women with the leadership of the state and its institutions. It says that women should constitute at least a quarter of the National Assembly. And it also
recognized Iraq as a federal state. Islam is recognized as a source but not the sole source of legitimacy.
However there is no mention of social welfare provision, nor of the role of the occupation forces during the two-year transition.
Post-28 June 2004 Iraq interim government:
The unanimous UN resolution 1546 on Iraq is an important signal for ending the occupation and regaining Iraqi national sovereignty. It will help to undermine anti-Iraqi terrorism and will assist Iraqi democrats - like the new trade union movement - to help build a secular and secure civil society.
Whilst the IFTU is aware that the legacy of Saddam's dictatorship, war, sanctions and the effect of the recent invasion will not be eradicated on June 28th, the IFTU nonetheless welcomes and endorses the commitment given in the resolution to the ending of the power of the Coalition Provisional Authority on that day and handing the political power to the Iraqis. The interim government is not an end in itself- it is a means to an end. Its role must be to prepare Iraq for full democratic sovereignty. This will include full authority and control over Iraq's financial and natural resources. The IFTU will play a full part in this process and will seek to ensure that workingmen and women are alerted to the importance of participating in the democratic renewal of their country.
The IFTU also support the convening of a national conference to reflect the diversity of Iraqi society. The concrete goal of the national conference is elect 100 seat transitional assembly that will oversee the current interim government until national elections are held in January 2005.
Achieving a Labour Code:
The Iraqi Transitional Administrative Law passed in 8 March 2004, guarantees (in Article 13) the right to form and join a union and the right to strike, but Iraqi working people have no labour code to guide and protect them. The IFTU sees the principles contained in the ILO declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work as fundamental human rights that must be fully respected. These fundamental principles are:
* Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining (conventions 87 and 98);
* Elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour (conventions 29 and 105);
* Effective abolition of child labour (conventions 138 and 182);
* Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
In line with above, the IFTU is in consultation with the ILO, the Iraqi Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs and representatives of Iraqi businesses. IFTU is working for ensuring the issuing of a Labour Law, that will guarantee workers' basic rights to employment, health & safety and legal compensation for injury at work.
During the 92nd ILO Conference (held in Geneva 1-18 June, 2004) IFTU met with two ILO governing bodies; The Arab coordinator and the ILO works group secretary. Both assured the IFTU that a labour code is at final stage of completion. The proposed code will be published for discussion amongst the Iraqi labour movement, media and those interests in the labour law for amendments and suggestion before becoming binding law.
Two Italian women aid workers, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta who are both aged 29 and their two Iraqi colleagues were kidnapped on Tuesday 7th September 2004. Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both Italians, and Ra'ad Ali Abdul Azziz and Mahnoaz Bassam, both Iraqis, are members of "Un Ponte Per Baghdad/A Bridge to Baghdad", an independent Italian humanitarian organization that has been working in Iraq since 1992 and "INTERSOS", supported by the Italian trade union movement. Their abduction has led to demonstrations in Baghdad by children who have been involved in Bridges to Baghdad projects.
Kidnapped: Ra'ad Ali Abdul Azziz, Mahnoaz Bassam, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta - an Iraqi child calls for their release yesterday
Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad on Thursday 9th September with banners entitled "Release our Friends". Another banner said "Un Ponte Per Baghdad is a bridge for hope".
One mother on the demonstration said "My son has been sick since he was four years old, and through the long years of the embargo they were the only people supplying medicines and thereby keeping him alive. Now we are here because we are deeply moved and are praying that their lives will be saved."
There have also been many demonstrations in Italy, and messages of support from all over Iraq and the world. Silvio Berlusconi's government was criticised for not doing enough to secure the release of journalist, Enzo Baldoni, who was killed in Iraq last month. In April, four Italian security guards were kidnapped and one of them was shot dead. No ransom demands have been issued in connection with the latest kidnapping. France is also facing a hostage crisis and is still working to try to free two journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, who were kidnapped more than two weeks ago. More than 100 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since March 2003. Most have been freed, but 25 were killed.
Demonstration in Rome on Thursday by the Italian Peace and labour movement
Intersos is a humanitarian aid organisation promoted by the three Italian trade union confederations CGIL, CISL and UIL. The Italian aid workers are in Baghdad working on humanitarian programs sponsored through a general fundraising campaign promoted by all the three trade unions, other Italian NGOs and social groups, all of which organised a large number of public initiatives against the war in Iraq.
In order to support the call by Iraqis living abroad for the release of the two kidnapped Italian aid workers, Simona Terrotta and Simona Pari please follow the link below and sign the on-line petition at: http://www.petitiononline.com/iraqis/petition.html
The Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions calls urgently and unconditionally for the immediate release unharmed of the kidnapped aid workers so that they may return to the safety of their families. Further, there must be an end to the targetting of civilian humanitarian aid and other foreign and Iraqi workers.
trade union guide 2005 _ 13 September 2004 _ newstatesman xi
http://www.newstatesman.co.uk/pdf/tradeunionsupp2005.pdf
Abdullah Muhsin
In 1979, Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party seized power after a bloody internal coup. His regime broke independent unions, transforming them into "yellow unions" recruiting sergeants for wars. Union offices were turned into centres of interrogation and torture. For many Iraqi workers, the term "trade union" became associated with state oppression.
In 1980, an illegal, underground trade union movement was formed – the Workers’ Democratic Trade Union Movement (WDTUM). In 1984, it organised a strike of 4,000 tobacco workers in Iraqi Kurdistan, openly defying the regime. Saddam’s security apparatus crushed the strike and executed four workers. For nearly 20 years, the WDTUM organised clandestinely and in exile. In March 2003, it marched against the war on Iraq, conscious that the victims would once again be Iraqi workers and innocent civilians.
On 16 May 2003, following the regime’s collapse the previous month, the WDTUM organised an open meeting in Baghdad to establish the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU). It was attended by 350 Iraqi trade unionists. The IFTU has since established 12 national unions in key economic sectors. This year, six affiliate unions held the first open and democratic workers’ conferences in Baghdad for more than 25 years. Despite deteriorating security, the IFTU unions are active industrially and politically.
The IFTU faces three principal challenges: to win a labour code that enshrines in law the right to form independent trade unions; to build our unions and affiliate to international union confederations; and to achieve the withdrawal of foreign forces and restore full sovereignty in a democratic Iraq.
After decades of internal repression, turmoil, economic sanctions, wars and now occupation, Iraqi society is devastated. Trade unions are essential to Iraq’s democratic reconstruction, ensuring a powerful secular voice especially for women workers, the country’s many disabled people and the unemployed – currently more than 50 per cent of the workforce. The IFTU plans to open centres for the unemployed that address the needs of young people in particular.
The IFTU has called on the international labour movement for assistance and has not been disappointed. British trade unions, including the RMT, FBU, NUJ, Unison, Natfhe, GMB, T&G and PCS, have inspired the federation with gestures of solidarity. The IFTU also has good relations with international and European trade union confederations.
The hardest task for the Iraqi labour movement is to achieve a sovereign, democratic Iraq. For this to happen, foreign troops must leave in order to isolate the cynical, antisocial forces that indiscriminately bomb Baghdad churches and Shia pilgrims in Kerbala, shoot Iraqi cleaning women and butcher Nepalese and Turkish workers or Italian journalists. This so-called "resistance" is no "national liberation movement", as some have argued, but rather a sinister and reactionary coalition of sectarian economic and religious interests exploiting popular anti-US sentiment. The IFTU has argued that UN forces can play a role in the transition to democracy but, most importantly, Iraqis must govern themselves.
Iraq is crippled by debt. The country’s oil wealth was looted by Saddam’s regime to spend on arms and personal enrichment; today it is squandered to pay for occupation. Such odious debt must be cancelled. However, the Iraqis are rich in history of struggle, culture and education. Thus the IFTU has launched the Khalil Shawqi Appeal to equip a bus as a travelling theatre to tour Iraqi workplaces and communities.
For more information or to help, contact the IFTU, c/o ICTUR, UCATT House, Abbeville Road, London SW4 (www.iraqitradeunions.org) TUC fringe meeting: Monday 13 September, 5.45-8pm, Brighton Conference Centre
At a meeting with the Iraqi Minister of Labour and Social Affairs on Monday 30 August 2004, the IFTU called for the implementation of a new Labour Code without delay and demanded that the Ministry tackle unemployment. The Minister Mrs. Leyla Abdel Latif met the IFTU delegation composed of the first two vice presidents Mr. Hadi Ali and Mr. Mahal Al Delimy, the General Secretary Mr. Subhi Abdullah and EC members, Adnan Al Safar, Kamal Aziz and Abd Mohammed Sughi.
The IFTU gave a presentation to the Minister on its formation, its work and that of its affiliated unions. The IFTU also outlined the increasingly strong and fraternal relationships with regional and international trade union centres.
The Minister re-iterated the government’s recognition of the IFTU as a legitimate trade union body that represents the aspirations of Iraq working people and emphasised the importance of strengthening her ministry's work and cooperation with the International Labour Organisation (ILO). She agreed to meet the ILO in Beirut in September along with an IFTU representative.
The IFTU’s priority in meeting the Minister was to stress the urgency and importance of issuing a new labour code to replace Saddam's repressive 1987 labour code. IFTU insisted to the minister that any the new labour code must adhere to key ILO principles.
IFTU also discussed the issue of unemployment and demanded that Iraqis must have a right to employment before foreign workers.
IFTU outlined their opposition to privatisation of Iraqi industries and also discussed foreign investment, the training and re-skilling of the Iraqi workforce and protection of national capital from uneven foreign competition.
Finally IFTU insisted that they should be included in all future discussions affecting Iraqi workers’ rights such as the forthcoming meeting in Beirut.
A delegation from the Italian "Stop the War" coalition, humanitarian organisations and trade unions, including the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) recently visited Baghdad at the invitation of the IFTU.
Women workers at a Baghdad cardboard box factory meet the Italian delegation
Fabio Alberti, a member of the Italian delegation thanked the IFTU for giving them the opportunity to get to know Iraqi civil society better. Both the activities and points of view of Iraqi trade unionists on the current situation in Iraq were the subject of much interesting and informative discussion with members of the Italian delegation. 
Gian Franco Benzi, CGIL International Officer meets IFTU members in the factory
There is a great need for organisations of civil society to maintain and reinforce the links between Iraqi trade unions, womens organisations and the international peace and labour movement. The Italian delegation confirmed it's wish to meet the IFTU again in the near future.
IFTU officers including the second Vice President Mahal Hardan and General Secretary Subhi Ali Mashadani meet with members of the Italian delegation including Gian Franco Benzi, CGIL International Officer
INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS
ICFTU OnLine...
142/070904
Jordanian government threatens to nullify union election
Brussels, 7 September 2004 (ICFTU Online): Undue interference in trade
union affairs was the charge levelled today by the international trade
union movement against the Jordanian government.
Participants at the ICFTU's Coordinating Committee for the Middle East
(*) meeting roundly condemned the Jordanian authorities for threatening
to invalidate the results of a recent election (14-15 August 2004) held
by the country's national trade union centre, the GFJTU (General
Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions). Following the GFJTU elections,
the government threatened to nullify the results on the illegitimate
grounds that the union body should have first consulted the authorities
about the organisation of its upcoming congress.
This episode of interference is another episode in a series of
intrusions by the Jordanian government into union affairs. In its
correspondence to the Jordanian Prime Minister, the ICFTU, joined by the
International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU), underlined
that such action constitutes a breach of the principles of the freedom
of association.
Reminding the Jordanian government of its obligation to respect these
principles as a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO),
the ICFTU called upon the authorities to refrain from unjustified
intrusion into union affairs.
(*) For the Committee's statement, please click here:
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991220514
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