ICFTU - 25/1/2006
Brussels, 25 January (ICFTU OnLine) Alaa Issa Khalaf, a member of the Executive Board of the Baghdad branch of the mechanics union, and a prominent member of the recently created General Federation of Iraqi Workers, GFIW, has been killed.
He was shot dead at around 7.30 am on January 25 by several unidentified men as he left for work from his home in Baghdad. In a letter to the authorities of the country, the ICFTU firmly condemned what it considers to be a targeted attack on a trade union activist.
In its condemnation of this murder, the ICFTU also recalled that Iraq, as a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), has an obligation to respect the fundamental labour standards established by it, particularly Convention 87 on freedom of association, and urged the Iraqi authorities to immediately ratify this convention. It is unacceptable that Iraqi trade unionists should exercise their activities in a climate of extreme tension and violence.
The case of Alaa Isaa Khalaf is unfortunately not unique. It is not the fist time that a trade unionist has been murdered or abducted in Iraq. The ICFTU strongly urged the Iraqi authorities to ensure that this case is fully investigated and that those responsible for the murder are detained and brought to justice. It also called for immediate steps to be taken to ensure that trade unionists are able to carry out their work without fear for their safety and their lives.
The ICFTU represents 155 million workers in 236 affiliated organisations in 154 countries and territories. The ICFTU is also a partner in Global Unions: http://www.global-unions.org
For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2 224 0204 or +32 478 32 91 03. http://www.icftu.org
Letter from International Confederation of Free Trade Unions to Iraqi Prime Minister.
Ibrahim Jaafari
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Bagdad
Iraq
By fax: c/o Iraqi Embassy in Brussels:
02/374.76.15
TUR/FW 25 January 2006
Dear Prime Minister,
Murder of Executive Board member of General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW)
I am writing to protest at the murder of brother Alaa Issa Khalaf, Executive Board member of the GFIW, at 7:30 am today. Mr. Khalaf was shot by several unidentified men who were awaiting him outside his house in Bagdad when he left for work.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), which represents more than 155 million workers through its 236 affiliates in 154 countries and territories, considers this to be a targeted attack on a trade union activist. On a separate matter, the ICFTU is also concerned at reports of government interference in union affairs, namely the GFIW-affiliated engineers' and lawyers' unions.
Mr. Prime Minister, as a member of the International labour Organisation (ILO), Iraq has an obligation to respect the fundamental labour standards established by Convention 87 on freedom of association, regardless of ratification. It is unacceptable that trade unionists should exercise their activities in a climate of violence, and it is your government's responsibility to ensure security for trade unionists.
I therefore strongly urge you to ensure a full and immediate investigation is launched into the murder of Alaa Issa Khalaf, and that adequate steps are taken to provide security for trade unionists, so they can do their legitimate trade union work without having to fear for their security or their lives. Finally, I urge you to ratify ILO Convention 87 on the right to freedom of association.
Yours sincerely,
General Secretary
UNI Brussels, 25 January
(ICFTU OnLine) Alaa Issa Khalaf, a member of the Executive Board of the Baghdad branch of the mechanics union, and a prominent member of the recently created General Federation of Iraqi Workers, GFIW, has been killed. He was shot dead at around 7.30 am on January 25 by several unidentified men as he left for work from his home in Baghdad.
In a letter http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991223343&Language=EN to the authorities of the country, the ICFTU firmly condemned what it considers to be a targeted attack on a trade union activist.
In its condemnation of this murder, the ICFTU also recalled that Iraq, as a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), has an obligation to respect the fundamental labour standards established by it, particularly Convention 87 on freedom of association, and urged the Iraqi authorities to immediately ratify this convention. It is unacceptable that Iraqi trade unionists should exercise their activities in a climate of extreme tension and violence.
The case of Alaa Isaa Khalaf is unfortunately not unique. It is not the fist time that a trade unionist has been murdered or abducted in Iraq. The ICFTU strongly urged the Iraqi authorities to ensure that this case is fully investigated and that those responsible for the murder are detained and brought to justice. It also called for immediate steps to be taken to ensure that trade unionists are able to carry out their work without fear for their safety and their lives.
The ICFTU represents 155 million workers in 236 affiliated organizations in 154 countries and territories. The ICFTU is also a partner in Global Unions: http://www.global-unions.org
For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2 224 0204 or +32 478 32 91 03. http://www.icftu.org
UNI Global Union has sent the following letter in support:
Ibrahim Jaafari
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Baghdad
Iraq
C/O Embassy of Iraq
Switzerland
Fax: 031 351 83 12
Nyon, 26 January 2006
Our Ref : CDM/sol/iraq/pj
Dear Prime Minister,
Murder of Alaa Issa Khalaf of General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW)
We are writing to protest at the murder of Brother Alaa Issa Khalaf, Executive Board member of the GFIW, on Wednesday 25 January 2006. Mr. Khalaf was shot by
several unidentified men who were awaiting him outside his house in Baghdad when he left for work.
UNI Global Union, which represents 15 million workers, considers this to be a
targeted attack on a trade union activist. On a separate matter, UNI Global Union is also concerned at reports of government interference in union affairs, namely the GFIW-affiliated engineers' and lawyers' unions.
Mr. Prime Minister, as a member of the International labour Organisation (ILO), Iraq has an obligation to respect the fundamental labour standards established by Convention 87 on freedom of association, regardless of ratification. It is totally unacceptable that trade unionists should exercise their activities in a climate of violence, and it is your government's responsibility to ensure security for trade unionists.
I therefore strongly urge you to ensure a full and immediate investigation is launched into the murder of Alaa Issa Khalaf, and that adequate steps are taken to provide security for trade unionists, so they can do their legitimate trade union work without having to fear for their security or their lives.
Finally, I also urge you to ratify ILO Convention 87 on the right to freedom of
association.
I look forward to a positive response.
Yours sincerely,
Philip Jennings
General Secretary
January 27, 2006
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Iraq.
Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) of the murder of Mr. Alaa Issa Khalaf, a member of the Executive Board of the Baghdad branch of the Mechanics Union, and a prominent member of the recently created General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW).
According to the information received, Mr. Alaa Issa Khalaf was shot dead at around 7.30 am on January 25 by several unidentified men as he left for work from his home in Baghdad.
The Observatory recalls that it is not the first time that a trade unionist was murdered or abducted in Iraq. For instance, on February 18, 2005, the Iraqi labour leader Mr. Ali Hassan Abd (Abu Fahad), a prominent and outspoken member of the Oil and Gas Union, was murdered on his way home. Mr. Ali Hassan Abd was one of the first activists to organise trade unions in the oil industry, encouraging union voice in a post-Saddam Iraq as early as April 2003. Likewise, on January 4, 2005, Mr. Hadi Saleh, International Secretary of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), was brutally tortured and murdered at his Baghdad home (See Observatory urgent appeal IRQ 001/0205/OBS 016, dated February 28, 2005).
The Observatory is very concerned that murder of labour leaders in Iraq has become a troubling trend in a country where trade unionists still operate under anti-union legislation which dates back to the Saddam-era, and urges the Iraqi authorities to immediately ratify the Convention 87 on freedom of association
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 01/26/06
Author: Susan Webb
Iraq’s labor movement has formed a united permanent coordinating committee to “make its positions known” to the Iraqi government, and to challenge the dictates of international financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Six union federations, including two Kurdish labor organizations, issued a joint statement, Jan. 16, stressing “the importance of complete sovereignty for Iraq over its petroleum and natural resources” to “develop them in a way that assures a complete reconstruction of the country” and to “provide a decent living standard for Iraqis.”
Just recently, complying with IMF/World Bank demands, the transitional government tripled the price of fuel, sparking street demonstrations and other protests throughout Iraq. Moves have also been made to privatize the country’s significant public sector, part of transnational-corporate-friendly “structural adjustment” measures demanded by the international agencies.
Responding to these moves, Iraq’s labor unions called for retraction of the oil price increase and “rejection of the reduction of spending on social services, especially the elimination of government support for the food distribution system or the reduction of the number of items covered.”
The global institutions must “stop imposing structural adjustment conditions for loans,” and must agree to “provide funding for public services and state-owned enterprises without demanding their privatization,” the unions declared. They called for cancellation of debts owed by Iraq that “resulted from the policies of the former [Saddam Hussein] regime,” and demanded that the international financial institutions “engage in dialogue, discussion and negotiations with the trade union federations regarding their policies in Iraq.”
The joint statement noted that “the Iraqi economy has been severely affected by decades of sanctions, wars and occupation” and that “the wars and occupation have caused a dramatic decrease in the living and social standards of Iraqis and especially of workers.”
The unions called for adoption of “a new labor law and a pension and social security law that assure workers’ rights and are in conformity with international labor standards and human rights conventions.”
Iraq Federation of Trade Unions spokesperson Abdullah Muhsin told the World the unified labor coordinating committee was formed “as a response to anti-union order no. 875 issued by the government of Prime Minister al Jafaari.”
Decree 875, announced last summer, revoked previous agreements permitting trade unions to function without government interference. Under the new decree, the government authorized itself to seize control of all trade union monies and prevent the unions from dispensing any funds.
“The notorious Decree 875” was issued “to try to prevent this united, democratic national trade union center emerging in Iraq, and we will not let him succeed,” IFTU President Rasem AlAwady told a British trade union conference last fall.
The IFTU, the largest of the country’s labor federations, was a key player in helping form the unified labor committee, Muhsin said. The IFTU has merged with other smaller federations to form the new General Federation of Iraqi Workers, which is now preparing to hold its first national conference.
The Jan. 16 statement was signed by the General Federation of Iraqi Workers, Oil Unions Federation in Iraq/Basra, Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq, Kurdistan General Workers Syndicate Union/Erbil, and Iraqi Kurdistan Workers Syndicate Union.
suewebb@pww.org