Huge queues at petrol stations in Baghdad stretch for several kilometers and law enforcement agencies deployed to keep order are doing their best to contain the chaos.
The country’s fuel and power crisis,; Lack of security, onslaught of extrimists and unemployemnt are puting huge burden on working people.
Transport costs have soared, pushing up the price of food and other essential commodities and this has impact severly on working people and the unemployed
Oil Ministry officials blamed smuggling of oil for the fuel crisis in the country.
Hundreds Of Thousands Rally and March Against The War in the US
By Steve Zeltzer - January 27, 2007
Hundreds of thousands of people rallied and march in the US today to demand and end to the US war on Iraq and against the Bush administration's plan to escalate the war with additional 22,000 troops.
The demonstrations, which took place in dozens of cities, were also joined for the first time nationally by the AFL-CIO. Representing AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, Fred Mason, President of the Maryland AFL-CIO and a leader of the US Labor Against the War called on Bush to "resist the bullying of President Bush" and called on the Congress to "stop funding efforts directed towards war".
He along with AFSCME President Gerald McEntee, NEA President Reg Weaver as well as SEIU president Andy Stern have all spoken out against the war escalation but have done very little to mobilize their membership. In fact, the Washington rally would have swelled by hundreds of thousands of workers if these unions which say they are opposed to the war had organized their apparatus to participate with contingents and funding for buses. Only a small number of locals such as SEIU 1199 and the NY UFT supported busses going to the demonstration in D.C. For more information please click here: www.transportworkers.org
The World Economic Forum in Davos held a workshop on Iraq. The keynote speakers were: the Vice President of Iraq, A'adel Abdulmahdi; the Foreign Minister, Hoshiar Zeebari and Mr Adnan Bachachi MP.
The Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moosa and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zaeid were among the participants. Some media and business people were also present.
The GFIW representative told the workshop of the important role civil society and, in particular, free trade unions could play in helping to stabilize Iraq and building parliamentary democracy. The GFIW representative pointed out that, instead of abolishing Saddam's repressive anti-union laws of 1987, the government of Iraq issued a new anti-workers law - Order No 8750 of August 2005.
Mr Adnan Al Bachachi MP replied by saying that civil society and democratic unions are the bedrock of democracy and must be supported.
24th January
As chair of the Campaign Against Repression of Democratic Rights in Iraq and chair of Indict, I have, of course, received thousands of letters about Iraq over the years. Recently, a number of Iraqi medical doctors wrote to me. One suggested that I should resign as the special envoy on human rights. Several letters from other doctors followed. I want to read just one of them because it sums up for me what the war was all about. It is from Dr. Leonard Jacob. He wrote:
“Dear Dr. X,
I had the misfortune of reading the terrible letter that you sent to Ann Clwyd. Let me begin by saying that whilst I do not by any means condone the terrible present situation in Iraq, and whilst I criticise the governments of the USA and the UK for allowing the situation to get out of hand, and for not having an exit strategy, I still believe that it is possible to bring this chaotic situation under control after crushing the remnants of the defeated Saddam’s party and his henchmen, albeit at a greater cost to all parties concerned.
Like you, I am also a Christian doctor from Iraq who has been working in this country for the last 26 years.
Unlike you, however, I and my family, have not only watched but also sensed and experienced bitterly and in person, the physical and the psychological torture and the terror that we were subjected to, at the hands of Saddam’s thugs and secret service criminals.
I am not here trying to compare your family’s situation with mine, but if your family was perhaps fortunate enough for 35 years, to enjoy the privileges of Saddam’s tyrannical and brutal reign, my family and relatives, had to escape the intimidation and the imminent danger to their lives...They fled the country in 1991 leaving behind very good jobs and homes and their livelihoods.
In doing that, we lost a member of the family. We were the lucky ones; many lost more than one member and some could not make it at all and were killed under torture or disappeared completely.
You say that all this time, you have been active in human rights...But I and many other political prisoners and detainees...have not even heard of you...Other human rights personnel, in this country and abroad, were very active in condemning the brutality of the criminal Saddam and his regime, in various publications and in mass gatherings and meetings, but we never saw you in any of those meetings nor did we hear any condemnation like that from you. So where were you all that time?
Where were you...when Saddam and his regime were arresting, torturing and killing thousands of Communists and Shia in the late 70s, 80s and 90s? Or did not that matter to you?
Where were you when he, his sons and his thugs were inventing new methods of torture, like dangling the bodies of their victims in acid baths, starting from the perineum, and pulling them in and out, so that they would die a slow and painful death; or pumping the rectum with petrol and then shooting them, so that they would burst into a ball of fire?
As a doctor, working in a human rights organisation and claiming to be one of the founders of the medical group” within that organisation “wasn't that something that stirred at least some repulsion in you to prompt you to campaign for the human rights of those people?
And what about some of Uday’s crimes? Have you written or spoken about them? Have you ever denounced him publicly, when he and his thugs, used to behead young decent women from respectable families, who would refuse to surrender to his lust, after raping them, and then throw their severed heads in front of the doors of their parents’ homes, with a message ‘whore’ displayed on their heads?
Where were you, when Saddam first used chemical weapons in 1983, during the war with Iran, and then again in 1987 and in 1988, in Halabja, or haven’t you heard of it? And where was your human rights campaign when Ali Kimyawi supervised the throwing of whole families from helicopters in Kurdistan and the throwing of shackled Shia victims, from the roofs of tall buildings in the south of the country? Wasn’t the condemning of that savagery an essential part of your human rights job?
I have not heard, or seen you, condemning Saddam’s regime, when his torturers...rape the wives, mothers and sisters, of the detained members of the Communist party, the Shia political parties and Shia religious leaders, in front of their eyes, in order to obtain forced and false confessions from them!
Didn't that incite some anger in you similar to the one that you expressed in your letter to Ann Clwyd?!
The mass graves are yet another example of the recent additions to that reign of terror. Did you do, or write, anything about that?
You say that you are a Christian doctor, where were you when Dr Habib Almalih, a Christian doctor from Ainkawa and many others were virtually cut into pieces and put in black sacks and thrown at the doorstep of their parents’ houses, forbidding them even to hold any funeral service for them?
And again, being a Christian doctor, where were you, when Saddam gave the order to wipe out and flatten to the ground, 65 Christian villages of the Assyrian community in Kurdistan and hanged four young leaders of the Assyrian democratic movement and left them, hung and strapped on the electricity poles for days, for everybody to see?
It will take several books, to write about the crimes against humanity, the vicious torture and violations of human rights, the mass murders and extra-judicial killing and the genocide that have been committed by that fascist and repressive regime, which I haven’t seen you denouncing!
Finally, in stark contrast to your shameful silence in condemning these atrocities of the criminal Saddam and his regime, in the UK and internationally, Ann Clwyd, and for the last two decades, has been one of the torch-bearers”— I include in that my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn)—
“in the fight against the violations of human rights by that repressive regime.
I have therefore inevitably arrived at a conclusion that it should be you that must reconsider your position in the human rights organisation and not Ann Clwyd.”
The letter is signed Leonard H. Jacob, physician from Sheffield.
December 2006, Congresswoman Sánchezshe joined AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and leading labor leaders from Iraq to honor the efforts, achievements and sacrifices of the growing labor movement in that country.
“Iraqi leaders like Abdullah Muhsin and the late Hadi Saleh remind us that you can not separate economic justice for all workers from other fundamental human rights,” added Congresswoman Sánchez. For more information please click here: www.lindasanchez.house.gov
Brussels 26 January 2007 (ICTUC OnLine): The delegation of global trade
union leaders attending the Davos World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
has launched a strong attack on the activities of private equity firms
and hedge funds, as undermining decent employment and sustainable
business. At a press conference on Thursday, Philip Jennings, General
Secretary of Union Network International, accused them of being "like a
global vacuum cleaner hoovering up assets any place, anywhere, any time"
and pledged that the international trade union movement would "bring
them out of the shadows."
The trade union movement's concerns have also been reflected in comments
made by several high-profile figures from intergovernmental bodies,
academia and business at the Forum.
The union delegation has also criticised business leaders for ignoring
the employment and social aspects of action around climate change,
pointing to the urgent need for a global "green jobs" agenda, a proposal
welcomed in discussions with Achim Steiner, the head of the United
Nations Environment Programme. The unions plan to deepen their existing
close cooperation with UNEP to work on solutions which integrate
employment concerns with the urgent need for action on global warming.
"We have been giving a clear message to business and government
representatives here that globalisation is not working for millions upon
millions of people" said ITUC President Sharan Burrow. "A massive
rip-off of wealth is taking place, with a tiny cohort of the world's
richest people creaming off vast amounts of money while incomes for the
great bulk of the worlds' population are stagnating or falling. This is
the gorilla in the living room of globalisation, and politicians and
companies ignore it at their peril" she added.
The labour group, led by Burrow and ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder, is
holding a series of key meetings with heads of other international
institutions during the week-long Davos programme, including Ann Veneman
of UNICEF, Angel Gurria of the OECD, Richard Feachem of the Global Fund
Against AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, Pascal Lamy of the WTO, and John
Lipsky, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.
Sessions with International Crisis Group chief Gareth Evans and WEF Head
Klaus Schwab also figured in the 13-member delegation's programme.
Founded on 1 November 2006, the ITUC represents 168 million workers in
153 countries and territories and has 304 national affiliates.
http://www.ituc-csi.org
For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2
224 02 10 or +32 475 670 833.
The GFIW jions the ITUC leadership and the head of the global union federations at the Wold Economic Forum
Brussels, 23 January 2007: A delegation of 12 international trade union leaders at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos this week will be calling companies to account on corporate taxation, the role of private equity investment and the social and environmental responsibilities of business.
With the launch of the campaign “Decent Work for a Decent Life”*, the union representatives will be putting the spotlight on major impediments to decent jobs in the global economy.
For more information please click here:
www.ituc-csi.org
Tribune 19 January 2007
Abdullah Muhsin argues that progressive forces can prevail and it is possible to build a democratic and secure Iraq.
There are two tales to tell about post-totalitarian Iraq and they are both true.
The first tale is familiar to anyone who watches the news and involves death and destruction. The other is less-known and concern hope democracy and human rights.
The future of Iraqi freedom and security development depends on the outcome of this battle being fought across between the friends and enemy of democracy.
It is far from clear who will win. The commitment of most Iraqis and their elected representatives to forge a new democratic state suggests that they still have the initiative. But for how long? The viciousness of the enemy’s attacks means they are running out of time and patient.
Those who oppose a democratic Iraq seek the restoration of extreme form of nationalism or, the balkanization of the country, and the establishment of a Taliban- like al Qaeda Islamic state. This is coupled with deliberate proxy regional interferences in the internal affairs of Iraq by foreign powers funding extreme nationalists with arms and money and allowing terrorists to cross into Iraq unchecked. These countries are supporting sectarian militias from both side of the religious divide who are committing heinous crimes against innocent Iraqi civilians.
Iraq’s security depends on constructive engagement with neighbouring countries. The alternative is social and economic instability for all concerned. A secure and stable Iraq is in the best interest of whole Middle East, so Iraq’s must stop all active and passive support for armed militias and terrorist groups.
Extremist nationalists and Islamists seek to formant a civil war to achieve their aim of dividing Iraq. The atrocities of November 23 in Sadar City (Althowra) in which more than 200 innocent Iraqis lost their lives were followed by sectarian retaliation and the attacks on Iraqi intellectuals. The British Council for Assisting Refugee Academic (CARA) estimate that more than 230 Iraqi prominent academics have been so far murdered since the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the US, UK and their allies.
The failure of the democratically elected Iraqi Government to restore basic security, delivering essential services and advance national reconciliation has encouraged much of the western media to describe the violence in Iraq as a civil war.
The scale of violence is devastating. Iraqis are being massacred in their thousands. But in my view, the country is yet in a state of civil war. The violence in not being perpetrated by mainstream Iraqi political forces but a tiny minority with external backing. The violence has not engulfed the whole nation. It is concentrated in confined if very important area of Iraq. Iraqi Kurdistan is safe and the South of Iraq is relatively secure-Although the cost of this has been the independence of civil society organizations and there has been accusation that a blind eye has been turned to some of the activities of the militias and Islamist hardliners. The violent physical attack on university student picnic of male and female in Basra late
The second reason why I argue that there is not a yet civil war is that the state in the form of government, its institutions and bureaucracy is functioning. It is all-too evident that it is weak. But the key Iraqi political parties are still working together to steer Iraq towards calmer waters. If the Iraqi government buckles under the pressure and collapses then civil war would almost certainly follow. So, too would humanitarian catastrophe for Iraq and its neighbours.
Iraqi patriotic and democratic forces are holding their ground to give the second tale of the post-totalitarian Iraq its chance. This tale finds less room in the liberal media but in it lays the great hope for my country-the tortuous creation of a new, modern and democratic Iraq of human rights, democracy organized as a unitary state with a federal structure for Iraqi Kurdistan.
But so far, Iraq’s democratic forces are holding their nerve to give their post-totalitarian country a chance. There is still hope for the creation of a new, modern Iraq of human rights and freedom, organized as a unitary state with a federal structure for Iraqi Kurdistan.
Despite everything, the march towards democracy in Iraq proceeds. It started with the first open national elections in our history. The January 2005 election saw millions of Iraqis braving the threats of extremists and casting their vote to elect Iraq’s first democratically accountable government. Ordinary people then defied extremists again to ratify Iraq’s first permanent constitution. It may be flowed, but remains the most progressive constitution in the region.
There are other democratic achievements such as the move towards a free press and the development of a multiparty system and civil society. This includes a free trade union movement which has soared from a small underground movement to a significant force. It is not driven by ideology or religion. Its motivation by the improving is to improve the lot of ordinary Iraqis and work with other progressive forces to build a free and open society.
All these suggest that the vast majority of Iraq want a brighter future of democracy, prosperity and human rights. But nothing is ordained, and the international community can still make huge difference. The support of the United Nations and the European Union is vital. The alternative is misery and death on a massive scale that will haunt humanity.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION
ITUC OnLine...
011/210107
Nobel Peace Prize winner helps launch global Decent Work Campaign
Nairobi, 21 January 2007 A worldwide campaign for Decent Work was
launched today in Nairobi, Kenya at the World Social Forum by the Decent
Work Alliance and with the help of Wangari Maathai, Kenya's 2004 Nobel
Peace Prize winner.*
It aims to place Decent Work , a concept covering equal access to
employment, living wages, social protection, freedom from exploitation
and union rights at the core of development, economic, trade, financial
and social policies at the national, European and International level
through public campaigning and lobbying. The campaign will take its
message from Nairobi to the World Economic Forum in Davos, and then on
to the G8 meeting in Germany.
"As a guiding principle, the achievement of decent work for all should
be the object and the outset of increased policy coherence between the
main actors of global economic and social governance. The global
institutions such as the IMF. WTO and World Bank must recognise that
their policies are leading to more insecurity, irregularity and
informality for most of the world's workers. For the sake of human well
being we cannot let this continue," Bart Verstraeten, from Social Alert
International commented.
"Although decent work is starting to figure in international statements,
it is still not being promoted by the main actors of global governance"
said Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary. "We need to make those actors
change their minds and realize that international trade and economic
growth alone are neither creating enough good jobs nor eradicating
poverty. Decent work is a central part of the solution to
globalisation's unpopularity" he added.
"For the majority of the world's people who are missing out on the
benefits of global economic growth, decent work at this point is merely
a dream. This campaign will strive to make it not only a reality, but
through it to reconnect people with the political process and give them
hope that they can in fact change what from afar seems the
unchangeable," Conny Reuter, Solidar's Secretary-General said today.
Maathai joined Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary, Conny Reuter, Solidar
Secretary-General, Harlem Desir, the Vice-President of the Global
Progressive Forum, Bart Verstraeten, from Social Alert International and
Joel Decaillon from the ETUC in launching the campaign.
Over 50 activities will take place in Nairobi under the banner of Decent
Work, Decent Life including the launch of a new campaign on Decent Work
for the 2010 World Cup focusing on the construction industry (23
January).
*Decent Work, Decent Life is a joint campaign led by the International
Trade Union Confederation, the Global Progressive Forum, Social Alert
International and Solidar.
Venue: Kasanari stadium - Nairobi: Decent Work Pavillon - 8:30 - 11: 00
For interviews and more information contact Mathieu Debroux ITUC Press
Officer, mobile: +32 (0) 476 62 10 18.
In Kenya: + 254 (0) 725 618 773
mathieu.debroux@ituc-csi.org
Elizabeth Tapper, Solidar Communications Officer, Tel.: + 32 (0)2 500 10
34, elizabeth@solidar.org
See also: http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?rubrique69
http://www.solidar.org/doclist.asp?SectionID=6
Organisations launching the campaign:
International Trade Unions Confederation
http://www.ituc-csi.org/
Solidar
http://www.solidar.org
Global Progressive Forum
http://www.globalprogressiveforum.org/index.cfm
Social Alert International
http://www.socialalert.org/j/
European Trade Union Confederation
http://www.etuc.org/
Founded on 1 November 2006, the ITUC represents 168 million workers in
153 countries and territories and has 304 national affiliates.
http://www.ituc-csi.org
For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on +32 2
224 0204 or +32 475 670 833.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC)
ITUC Online
012/230107
WSF 2007: unions out in force to demand decent work
Nairobi, 22 January 2007 (ITUC Online): The World Social Forum, an
international gathering for exchanging views on globalisation and human
and workers' rights, draws thousands of participants every year. This
year it is being held in Africa for the first time, in Nairobi, Kenya.
The opening of the Forum, yesterday, saw the launch of the global
campaign "Decent work for a decent life", which is being organised by an
alliance consisting of the ITUC, Social Alert, the GPF, Solidar and the
ETUC. The campaign is aimed at placing decent work at the centre of
national and international social, economic, development, financial and
trade policies. For the alliance, the notion of decent work comprises a
fair job, adequate pay, social protection, trade union rights and
non-discrimination.
"Decent work is a priority for everyone and one of the key factors for
getting us out of the current situation", stated Guy Ryder, the General
Secretary of the ITUC, attending the launch of the campaign.
"International trade and economic growth must be linked to that notion",
he added.
The launching of the campaign was followed by the traditional World
Trade Union Forum, bringing together trade union organisations from all
over the world. The Forum had a special note this year, since it was
organised by the newly-formed International Trade Union Confederation,
founded in Vienna in November 2006. The Forum demonstrated that the
unions were more united than ever and prepared to meet the challenge of
obtaining decent work. The unions again brought large numbers to the
Forum and are undoubtedly key players in the struggle for a fairer form
of globalisation.
Requests for interviews and other requests for information should be
made to Mathieu Debroux, ITUC Press Officer, who can be reached on the
following mobile phone number: +32 (0) 476 62 10 18
In Kenya the alternative phone number is: + 254 (0) 725 618 773
mathieu.debroux@ituc-csi.org
Founded on November 1 2006, the ITUC represents 168 million workers in
153 countries and territories and has 304 national affiliates.
http://www.ituc-csi.org
For more information, contact the ITUC Press Department on +32 2 224
0204 or mobile phone +32 477 580 486
News Release
Pending Iraq Oil Law
January 19, 2007
The issue of the pending Iraqi oil law was raised this morning at a news conference with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at the National Press Club
Commons Answer 17 Jan 2007
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support his Department is providing to strengthen trades unions in Iraq.
Hilary Benn: Under Saddam Husseins regime, trades unions were part of the Ba'ath Party machinery and had very little independence. After the fall of his regime, trades unions effectively collapsed. Trades unions in Iraq are therefore relatively recently established. DFID provides support to trades unions through our Civil Society Fund (CSF) programme. There are two main aspects to this assistance:
training trades union leaders; and
providing a resource centre for trades unions.
DFID-funded training for trades union leaders is conducted through the UK public services trade union, UNISON. The aim is to contribute to the social and economic stability of Iraq by building the capacity of trades unions through the training of a new generation of union leaders. Training has focused on the role of trades unions in the workplace and society; negotiating collective agreements; union organisation; and women's involvement in the unions.
DFID support for a resource centre for trades unions in Baghdad has been undertaken with the International Centre for Trades Union Rights (ICTUR). The purpose of this project is to establish an independent NGO office to provide information, technical support services, expertise and legal advice to Iraqi trades unions and act as a centre for open discussions between trades unionists and the legal, academic and NGO communities. The centre studies and promotes basic principles of trades union and labour rights throughout Iraq and aims to influence government policies on labour rights and standards.
Twin attacks on students at al Mustansiriya Univeristy kill 65.
A car bomb blew up at close to students who were waiting for transportation and then suicide bomber below himself up as students fled the first blast.
100 Iraqis were killed every day on average in 2006, the UN claimed in a report issued 16 January 2007. the report says that 34,452 were killed and 36,685 were injured.
The UN figures is much higher than the official Iraqi Government figures.
Workers at a cement Factory in al muthana (south of Baghdad) held an open meeting to discuss the policy to privatize their factory. The meeting overwhelmingly rejected the policy of privatization.
As 20,000 more US troops head for Iraq, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, the only correspondent reporting regularly from behind the country's sectarian battle lines, reveals how the Sunni insurgency has changed
Saturday January 13, 2007
The Guardian
11 January 2007
A new figure released by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs Shows Unemployment stands at 919 thousands.
BBC
A series of suicide bombings in Iraq has left at least 80 people dead and another 100 injured.
In the worst attacks, suicide bombers struck two Shia mosques in the town of Khanaqin near the
Iranian border, killing at least 74 people.
The bombers blew themselves up while hundreds of worshippers were attending Friday prayers, in what is being seen as an act of sectarian provocation.
Earlier, six people were killed in two suicide car bombs in Baghdad.
The attacks outside an interior ministry building in the central Jadiriya district injured at least 40 people and brought down a block of flats.
A hotel used by foreigners may also have been targeted in the attack.
A nearby interior ministry detention centre has been at the centre of a detainee abuse scandal.
The suicide bombs in Khanaqin, in north-eastern Iraq, are the latest in a string of attacks against Shia mosques.
The BBC's Jim Muir, in Baghdad, says the attacks were intended as an act of sectarian provocation, as all the casualties must have been Shia Muslims at prayer.
"Two suicide bombers wearing explosive belts walked into the Greater and the Smaller Khanaqin mosques and blew themselves up," Diyala provincial council leader Ibrahim Hasan al-Bajalan told the AFP news agency.
The blasts in enclosed spaces, packed with worshippers, caused horrendous casualties.
Abdullah Muhsin talks about the deaths of Iraqi union leaders during a reception at the AFL-CIO.
Friday, December 15 2006 @ 06:43 AM PST
Contributed by: WorkerFreedom
Twice this week, the headlines screamed out the gruesome statistics: “Bomb At Bus Stop Kills 11 in Baghdad”; “Suicide Bombing Attacks Leave 76 Dead, 200 Injured.” Most of these victims are innocent workers and their families going about their daily tasks or seeking work in a country where unemployment ranges between 60 percent and 70 percent in some places.
Desperate for Jobs, Iraqi Workers Too Often Become Victims of Terror
by James Parks, Dec 14, 2006
Abdullah Muhsin talks about the deaths of Iraqi union leaders during a reception at the AFL-CIO.
Twice this week, the headlines screamed out the gruesome statistics: “Bomb At Bus Stop Kills 11 in Baghdad”; “Suicide Bombing Attacks Leave 76 Dead, 200 Injured.” Most of these victims are innocent workers and their families going about their daily tasks or seeking work in a country where unemployment ranges between 60 percent and 70 percent in some places.
Every day, thousands of workers desperate for jobs risk their lives in war-torn Iraq to feed their families and eke out a living. Abdullah Muhsin, the international representative of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW), says workers are caught in the crossfire between the insurgents and the Iraqi and U.S. soldiers. Iraq’s workers and the union movement are under attack by forces sowing chaos in the country. Says Muhsin:
People are lining up to go to work, and a crazy suicide bomber comes into the crowd, and they all die. These people are not supporting any cause, any religion, any political agenda. They’re just trying to make a living.
Muhsin says many people are afraid to go out of their homes for fear of being killed, but they have no choice. They must go out and find work or go to the market.
Muhsin and Alan Johnson are co-authors of Hadi Never Died: Hadi Saleh and the Iraqi Trade Unions, a book about the life of Hadi Saleh, a prominent Iraqi union leader who was brutally tortured and murdered in January 2005 by enemies of democracy in Iraq.
In commemoration of International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, the AFL-CIO and the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center hosted a book signing and reception to highlight the lack of labor law and protection for workers in Iraq. The event included an exhibit of David Bacon’s photographs exposing the plight of workers in Iraq. Muhsin and Johnson also attended the AFL-CIO Organizing Summit last Friday.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad reported that as many as 654,965 Iraqis may have died since hostilities began in Iraq in March 2003.
While there’s disagreement on the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group’s report, the bipartisan study confirmed the situation in Iraq is “grave and deteriorating,” with civilians being killed daily and electricity, water and other basic infrastructure lacking.
The Los Angeles Times described the situation as desperate. In an article about the car bomb that killed 76 Tuesday, the Times said:
Workers at Tayaran, also known as Aviation Square, are poor and mostly Shiites. Some are professionals, college graduates who lost their jobs and businesses as Iraq’s economy faltered over the last three years. Others are craftsmen unable to find steady work.
They stand in the square, at the intersection of Nidhal Street and the busy road leading to the city center, in front of the stores that rent dirt compactors, cement mixers and other construction equipment.
One day last week, the crowd included a father caring for his sick daughter, a youth trying to provide for his elderly parents and a would-be groom who wanted to be able to furnish an apartment for his bride.
In a statement last month, the GFIW condemned insurgents who target workers:
As all of us know, the occupation has destroyed everything in Iraqi society, unleashed the sectarian and nationalist gangs to slaughter and jeopardize peoples’ safety. These groups have failed miserably to instigate people (primarily workers) to fight each other; therefore, they change tactics to target the workers in their workplaces and living neighborhoods, kidnapping women, raping and throwing them dead in abandoned areas as a sectarian revenge to add more fuel to the fire.
They seek breaking the unity of the workers by calling for sectarian federalism, and defining them based on their ethnic background and religious belief.
At the same time, dozens of trade union leaders, scholars and journalists have been assassinated, and thousands more workers have been killed by extremists since the war began in 2003.
In an ironic twist, the terrorism that threatens workers’ lives may also be exacerbated by the lack of jobs. According to The Los Angeles Times article:
Riyad Hasan, manager of employment and vocational training at the Labor Ministry, said the government recognized that unemployment was increasing as violence escalated, and that it might be feeding the sectarian conflict.
“On a daily basis, we witness that most of the shops are being closed and shut due to the security situation,” he said. “It’s getting worse.”
If the economy doesn’t improve soon, Hassan Jabbar (an unemployed Iraqi worker) said he and other workers will go to work for insurgents, tipping the balance further toward chaos.
“The government asks citizens to help stop terrorism, and yet they have failed so far in providing for us. You can’t blame people participating in terrorist activities if it provides them with steady income,” Jabbar said, and workers drinking tea with him at Tayaran Square last week agreed. “The only thing preventing us from participating in similar activities is our conscience.”
The need for jobs is so dire The Washington Post reported yesterday that a small Pentagon task force is trying to revive nearly 200 state-owned factories closed down after the 2003 invasion. Their goal is to employ tens of thousands of Iraqis and possibly lessen the violence. Previously, these state owned enterprises were considered an anachronism by the U.S.-led occupation and slated for privatization, a move that Iraq’s trade unions strongly opposed.
by James Parks, Jan 11, 2007
President Bush’s decision to increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq by more than 20,000 ignores the will of the American people and perpetuates this administration’s flawed policy, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a statement.
Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney On the President's Proposal to Expand American Troops in Iraq
January 11, 2007
No United States foreign policy can be sustained without the informed consent of the American people. Last November the American people spoke loudly and clearly that the President’s course in Iraq was flawed and that he should begin bringing our troops home rapidly.
Rather than heed the will of American citizens, or listen to military leaders speaking out against the current policy in Iraq, the President is choosing to make one last attempt to salvage his own legacy by putting in harm’s way more young American soldiers.
These soldiers – the men and women risking their lives in Iraq – come from America’s working families. They are our sons and daughters, our sisters and brothers, our husbands and wives. They always answer when called to duty. For that fundamental commitment to this nation, they deserve leaders who will call them only when the nation’s security is at risk and there is a clear plan for victory. This administration has failed and continues to fail that basic obligation.
As our generals on the ground in Iraq have said, there is no military solution to the civil strife that now wracks that country. Only a political solution – effected by the Iraqis themselves – can resolve what has become an internal struggle among Iraqis themselves.
What is needed in Iraq is an expansion of political and diplomatic efforts – not an increase in United States military performing police functions. Moreover, sustainable social and economic development and the guarantee of fundamental labor and trade union rights are absolutely essential. The President insists that we must succeed militarily in order to establish the conditions for a political settlement. In fact, the reverse is true. Unless there is first the political will to stop the violence, there can be no military solution involving American troops.
American policy in Iraq has been based on false premises and wishful thinking since the beginning. And we have tried to increase American troop presence in the most violent and dangerous areas of Iraq before without success.
We urge the Congress of the United States to perform its constitutional responsibilities and insist that the President, and his military leaders, clearly articulate the path for withdrawal of American troops from Iraq rapidly. The dedication and patriotism of those young men and women who answer the call to service deserve no less.
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This week, we’ll talk with Abdullah Muhsin and Alan Johnson, authors of the new book, Hadi Never Died: Hadi Saleh and the Iraqi Trade Unions, a fascinating history of Iraqi trade unions. In January 2005, Hadi Saleh, the international officer of the Iraqi trade union movement, was tortured and murdered by assassins in his Baghdad home.
Communities Without Borders: Images and Voices from the World of Migration
Tuesday, 9 January 2007, 10:58 am
Press Release: United Nations
UN Launches $60-Million Appeal for Hundreds of Thousands of Displaced Iraqis
New York, Jan 8 2007 3:00PM
The United Nations refugee agency today launched a $60-million appeal to fund its work over the next year for hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by the conflict in Iraq.
The funds will cover UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) protection and assistance programmes for Iraqi refugees in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey, as well as non-Iraqi refugees and IDPs, in what the agency says is the largest long-term population movement in the Middle East since the displacement of Palestinians following the creation of Israel in 1948. About one out of every eight Iraqis is now displaced.
“The burden on host communities and governments in the region is enormous. It is essential that the international community support humanitarian efforts to help the most vulnerable people,” High Commissioner António Guterres said. “The longer this conflict goes on, the more difficult it becomes for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced and the communities that are trying to help them – both inside and outside Iraq.”
UNHCR and its partners estimate that out of a total population of 26 million, some 1.7 million Iraqis are displaced internally and up to 2 million have fled to nearby countries. While many were displaced before 2003, increasing numbers of Iraqis are now fleeing escalating sectarian, ethnic and generalized violence.
In 2006 alone, UNHCR estimates that nearly 500,000 Iraqis fled to other areas inside the country and that 40,000 to 50,000 continue to flee their homes every month. Planning figures under the latest appeal are for up to 2.3 million IDPs by the end of this year. The new appeal concludes that unremitting violence will likely mean continued mass internal and external displacement affecting much of the surrounding region.
A significant proportion of both internally and externally displaced Iraqis has run out of resources or will soon do so, leaving them and their host communities increasingly vulnerable, UNHCR said. There are increasing reports of women forced to resort to prostitution, as well as growing child labour problems
At least 4 workers were killed and as many as 9 were injured by gunmen who opened fire on a buss carrying workers to Baghdad International Airport, this morning around 8am.
The rout to Baghdad's airport passs through one of the most dangerous highway in Baghdad since the fall of Saddam's regime.
Al Sabah Newspaper
Baghdad, Jan 8,
The State Company of the Iraqi railway belonging to the Transport Ministry has accomplished the final designs and the detailed surveys for Basra-al-Shalmacha railway – Baghdad -Baqouba railway
and -Khanqeen-al-Munthriya railway.An official source at the Transport Ministry stated to as-Sabah newspaper that the financial cost to accomplish these projects reached to $one billion and 110 millions, referring that the company had accomplished the drafts and detailed designs of Basra railway. The long of the project is 35 km and financial cost reaches to $110 millions, the period of implementing last for three years.
Old guard back on Iraq policy
An influential faction of neoconservatives is behind Bush's expected call for more troops.
By Peter Spiegel, Times Staff Writer
January 4, 2007
Click here - Help buy a bus for a workers' travelling theatre in Iraq
Left:Hadi Saleh, IFTU International Secretary, assassinated 4th January 2005. For full coverage of the global trade union response to the killing of Hadi Saleh, click here.
Right:Ali Hassan Abd, martyred Iraqi trade unionist and member of the Oil and Gas Workers' Union. Our brother was assassinated on Friday 18th February 2005 by terrorist extremists while returning with his children to his home in al-Dorah District, close to the Al-Dorah Oil Refinery in Baghdad. The IFTU wishes to express our gratitude to all the labour movement and progressive, internationalist forces who continue to show solidarity with Iraqi workers and trade unionists. For information on the global trade union campaign that helped to win the release of Talib Khadim Al-Tayee, the kidnapped President of the Iraqi Mechanics', Metalworkers' & Printing Union click here.