Pressure from PSI has forced a rethink on trade union rights in Iraq. For the full story, click here.
The TUC Iraq Bulletin has just come out and includes reports on:
* An Iraqi teachers union delegation visiting the UK
* A delegation from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) visiting Iraq
* A report on oil unions and the new oil law
* Further attacks on Iraqi unions
* Visit of Iraqi transport workers to the UK - coming soon
* The TUC's own solidarity work in support of Iraqi unions including fundraising and a striking leaflet available for download
The full newsletter is available here.
The head of the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions (LO) Roar Flaaten, has warned Norwegian oil company Statoil to postpone its plans to establish an office in Iraq, after the authorities have forbidden oil workers to join unions -- according to this report in The Norway Post.
Showing solidarity with unionists in Iraq, several dozen U.S. unionists marched on August 16 outside the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, protesting the Iraqi Oil Minister's ban on unions for oil workers.
The protesters, including Machinists, the Office and Professional Employees, the Teachers and the Air Line Pilots, demanded Iraq recognize and bargain with its oil workers' unions—who, like the AFL-CIO, oppose the Iraq War. They presented a letter from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney to embassy officials, with the demands, addressed to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.
The oil minister claimed the oil unions are illegal because they are not recognized as a legitimate union of government workers, as required by the Saddam Hussein-era Iraqi labor law. Neither the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority, when it ran Iraq for a year, nor the present shaky faction-ridden Iraqi government bothered to change that highly restrictive law, which covers 70 percent of Iraqi workers.
The Iraqi government has also denied the oil workers their internationally recognized rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, protesters said. But the Iraqi government is considering a U.S.-drafted oil law to yield control Iraq oilfields to multi-national corporations. That law was another target of the D.C. protest, organized by both the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center and U.S. Labor Against The War.
"The reality of the obstacles that oil workers face in Iraq is a major issue for us, just as the issue of ending the war is," said AFL-CIO International Affairs Director Barbara Shailor, the protest co-leader. Added Denice Lombard of USLAW: "It's no coincidence the Iraqi oil union has been fighting to keep the oil in Iraqi hands," while the law U.S. congressional "benchmarks" would force on Iraq would put the oil in corporate hands "for many years." A new Iraqi labor law should be our benchmark, she added.
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
TUC: 2 August 2005
Iraqi unions: TUC asks British unions to 'match their courage with our cash!'
British unions are being called on to step up efforts to help their Iraqi and Kurdish colleagues by donating money to the TUC Aid for Iraq appeal. The call comes as the TUC publishes Unions in Iraq, the report of a solidarity conference held in February ( http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-10310-f0.cfm )
The conference heard from Iraqi and Kurdish union leaders about the problems they face and the help that they need, and also from unions in Britain and abroad about what is already being done. Key needs identified were:
* trade union education and training;
* advice on developing labour laws; and
* solidarity visits and invitations to visit Britain.
The TUC Iraq Solidarity Committee, chaired by General Councillor and NASUWT Treasurer Sue Rogers, has already agreed to support a project helping the Iraqi journalists’ union to develop an independent news media in Iraq, and there are plans to bring an Iraqi and Kurdish teachers’ union delegation to Britain for International Education Week in November.
A full programme of solidarity work, including arrangements for visits, twinning, education and logistical support (buildings, communications technology and materials) was also discussed at the conference and detailed planning is underway.
But this work requires funds, and the TUC is calling on affiliated unions to donate money to the TUC Aid for Iraq appeal, which can be done direct to the TUC or online at http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/index.cfm?mins=376
TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: 'Iraqi and Kurdish unions need all the support we can give - this is a chance to make a real difference and help our brothers and sisters rebuild their movement. Now is the time to match their courage with our cash!'
Harry Barnes MP, Labour Friends of Iraq Joint President
Everyone here is interested in assisting Iraqi unions but there are many in the labour movement who don’t even know that there are trade unions in Iraq. We have to get this message across and increase action in their support.
Everyone here knows their history from how the Labour Representation Committee was formed when initially only two Labour MPs were elected, the Taff Vale and Osborne judgements against the trade unions and so on.
The Iraqi movement also has its history from organising the docks and oil industry after the First World War to the organisation of intellectual forces such as doctors and teachers, to the overthrow of the feudal monarchical system in 1958 by the Free Officers’ Movement with popular support.
Iraq was influenced by the UK until the Baghdad Pact in 1955. I was a soldier on national service in Basra in 1955/6. Back then a million people marched on the May Day march in 1959 out of a population of about 14 million people.
But then there was a series of coups and counter-coups which led to Saddam’s totalitarian state and his controlled yellow unions. Public sector unions were banned and union leaders were tortured and murdered. Clandestine networks were established. They opposed the war and thought there were internally based alternatives. It is better for people themselves in struggle to create their own futures.
The Ba’athist laws continue. Trade unions in the public sector are technically illegal and there is a need for new laws to allow trade union activity. But freedom of organisation and association are threatened by terrorists as we saw with the terrible murder of Hadi Saleh.
The unions also face the problem of rip-off capitalism being imposed as it was in Russia after the fall of communism. The unions need training in industrial relations as well as computers and mobiles.
The elections present the beginnings of real possibilities for change with, in relation to the foreign troops, Iraq and its Parliament defining what they want. But democracy is more than voting; it is about the rights of unions, women, youth and ex-prisoners groups to speak out. As groups will for better schools and hospitals.
We have set up Labour Friends of Iraq to help provide solidarity with such groups as they take control over their own lives. And change in Iraq can lead to change in the whole of the Middle East.
Walid Hamdan, International Labour Organisation
Thank you very much for having invited me to this conference in solidarity with the workers of Iraq.
Many people in the Arab region still believe that we must rely on governments to bring about change. It is now apparent that the most important changes can only be bought about by ourselves: the people. In strong, independent, democratic trade unions, lies the essential force to effect change in Iraq, in the Arab region and in the world.
The Iraqi trade union movement, with the support of the international trade union movement, has an opportunity to use the clear international consensus to promote the active participation of Iraqi workers in shaping a free and united Iraq. An Iraq where no one is marginalised on the basis of race, religion or political views. An Iraq that can avoid the ugly risks of internal religious or ethnic conflicts that are so profoundly damaging to the dreams of ordinary Iraqi people.
Of course, your active participation in the economic and social debate will largely depend on your political will for real changes, and the strategies and structures you put in place to deal with them. But without a democratic and independent trade union movement, the Iraq we all envision will be unattainable.
However, in Iraq, we should keep in mind that we are dealing with a situation that has been described as ‘tough and lethal’. We are dealing with a society that is fighting against both old and new tyrannies; against brutal and inhuman practices that actively aim to kill the hope of all those who dare to believe in a better future for Iraq. It is still fighting against poverty, unemployment, exclusion, reduced social protection and diminished sovereignty and respect for human rights.
And let’s not forget that many Iraqis still fight what they consider to be the continued occupation of their country, and the concomitant impediment to security, prosperity and progress. One recent UNDP Report on Human Development states that development, 'is the process of expanding choices…nothing hinders development more than subjecting a people to foreign occupation.'
Workers in Iraq are in a weak position; levels of union membership remain low; styles of management need to be revisited; union impact on public policies remain undetectable; and if independence is to be promoted and fortified, the nature of political alliances and allegiances need to be thoroughly reassessed.
Trade unions are essential to democratic stability; they are vehicles not only for expressing, but also structuring workers’ concerns. Labour weakness in the initial stages of democratisation may have profound political implications. Some sociologists conjecture that without unions, workers’ anger can be particularly open to mobilisation by extremist agendas.
We must endeavour to build the capacity of unions in Iraq so workers are not left on the sidelines, watching passively as new elites restructure the national economy in line with fashionable neo-liberal trends, which threaten regulation, participation and equality. We must support them to counter attempts to make them ineffective and marginalised.
We at the ILO are committed to providing every assistance to the workers of Iraq. We are ready to join forces with the TUC, the ICFTU, the Solidarity Center, and the free international union movement in a consolidated effort to help the Iraqi workers build independent and democratic unions that are capable of taking up their role as a democratic force. We are ready to provide assistance in:
* developing and promoting mechanisms essential for the efficiency for social dialogue and industrial relations;
* organising weak spots: agriculture, the informal sector, women; and
* improving workers’ education and skills capacities to enhance participation in economic and social debate.
Iraq is changing; let’s help our Iraqi brothers and sisters take a lead in building the new democratic Iraq - where security concerns are not limited to policing and armies, but extended to the security from deprivation, from poverty, from marginalisation; for the rule of law and the upholding of human rights. Without these securities, we increase the risk of something that has been especially clear since September 11, a form of extremism and fundamentalist clashes that knows no borders.
Unions in Iraq: what British unions can do to help
Report of a conference held on Monday, 14 February 2005 in Congress House.
Contents:
Workshops on Iraqi trade unions
What unions are doing and what more can we do?
* Glossary
* Pre-conference press release
* TUC Iraq Solidarity Committee
UNISON delegates at this year’s national conference gave a delegation of Iraqi trade unionists a standing ovation after hearing about the immense bravery they have shown in promoting union rights.
Hangaw Abdullah Khan from the Kurdish General Workers’ Union told delegates how the Saddam regime took all the power away from the trade unions to strengthen their position in power.
“The international rule has been important in helping us have our first free elections and to avoid more disasters we need a federally united parliament,” he said.
“We would like the British people to help restore stability in Iraqi Kurdistan and greater Iraq.”
Bahra Othman, president of the Iraqi Kurdistan General Workers’ Syndicate Union women’s section, said it has not been easy for trade unionists in Iraq with the country recovering from dictatorial rule.
“We are working hard to have relationships with different syndicates across the world as well as nationally,” she said.
Delegates then called for international aid for the reconstruction of Iraq to be provided unconditionally and for the early withdrawal of troops by no later than the end of this year.
They also committed to work with all legitimate, independent and democratic trade unions in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan.
UNISON deputy general secretary, Keith Sonnet, said that although conference recognises the rights of the Iraqi people to resist the occupation it cannot support the indiscriminate targeting of civilians and the murder of trade unionists.
“We condemn the continuing violence in Iraq and salute the courage of the Iraqi and Kurdish people,” he said.
He also pointed out that in the Iraqi election campaign most political parties campaigned on the basis that the occupation must end.
Carrie Murphy from Glasgow Health branch emphasised the importance of helping with reconstruction.
“We need a sensible approach to the rebuilding of Iraq,” she said. “It must be on Iraqi terms for the good of the Iraqi people so let us support the planned withdrawal of troops.”
Report from the delegation of British trade unionists to Iraq
18-25 March 2005
See full report on:
http://www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/B1882.pdf
Introduction
The delegation, comprising seven people from three British trade unions (FBU, NATFHE and UNISON), as well as the International Representative of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions and a journalist from the Financial Times, visited Iraq from18-25 March 2005. The delegation followed the 2004 TUC Congress resolution on Iraq which called for the exchange of delegations and twinning arrangements between British and Iraqi unions and took place only a few weeks after a TUC organised seminar on Iraq in London at which a number of Iraqi unions had participated and at which it was agreed to organise a return visit.
The trade union context in Iraq
Trade unions began organising in Iraq in the 1930s, initially in the nascent oil industry but later in transport, public utilities and education. By the time of the overthrow of the Hashemite Monarchy in 1958 the unions were a major political force capable of organising hundreds of thousands of workers. Following a coup in 1963 by the Ba’ath party the union movement began to be restricted in its activities, however, it was only after Saddam Hussein seized power in 1979 that the unions ceased to exist as independent organisations and became part of the Ba’athist apparatus. In 1987 a new labour code banned public sector workers from joining trade unions altogether.
Following the 1990-1 Gulf War trade unions began to organise in Iraqi Kurdistan, which was autonomous from the rest of the country. Iraqi trade unionists also founded the Workers’ Democratic Trade Union Movement, which operated underground and in exile.
Following the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003 a number of trade union organisations emerged. The Workers’ Democratic Trade Union Movement re-founded itself as the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) in May 2003. The Ba’athist General Federation of Trade Unions still exists but has sought to distance itself from the past and reorganise, whilst the former General Secretary of the GFTU has tried to set up a new organisation linked to a political party, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq. The Kurdish unions are in the process of consolidating themselves. During the period between 1991 and 2003 the Kurdish General Workers Syndicate Union (KGWSU) a federation of blue-collar unions – was divided along the same political/administrative lines as the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). Following the elections of January 2005 and the moves to create a single KRG the two wings of the KGWSU are also looking to form a single body. A number of white-collar unions, most notably the Teachers Union, also organise in Kurdistan. A similar blue-collar/white-collar divide exists in the rest of Iraq with several white-collar unions, again including the Teachers Union, not belonging to any of the federations. Finally, the Union of Unemployed in Iraq has created the Federation of Workers Councils and Trade Unions.
Security Context
The delegation was only able to visit the territory administered by the Kurdish Regional Government (Dohuk, Erbil/Hawler and Sulaimania provinces) due to the security situation in Iraq. These three provinces have been effectively autonomous of the rest of Iraq since the first Gulf War ended in 1991 and the uprising by the Kurdish ‘peshmerga’ militia. The KRG militia and police are in effective control of all three provinces and there have been relatively few incidents in the area since 2003 compared to the rest of Iraq.
The delegation entered Iraq by road from Turkey. The journey is safe from a security point of view but long (4 hours from Diyakabir in Turkey to the border with at least another 4 hours from the border to Erbil/Hawler). Crossing the border is a laborious process due to the controls imposed by the Turkish authorities. Flights do exist between Amman in Jordan and Erbil/Hawler but are operated by a charter company and fly subject to demand. The flights also stop-over in Baghdad, which poses a potential security risk due to missile attacks on the airport. The Foreign Offices currently advises British nationals to avoid flights in and out of Baghdad airport.
Travel within Iraqi Kurdistan between the three main cities is safe due to the regular controls by the militia, although the roads are often in a poor condition. The delegation felt completely safe walking and driving around in the three main cities.
Travel from the rest of Iraq to Kurdistan remains difficult and potentially dangerous. However, all the delegations we met insisted that they would rather travel within Iraq to meet international visitors than have to travel to Jordan for example, a journey which is equally potentially dangerous.
Meetings
During the visit the delegation was able to meet with a broad cross section of Kurdish and Iraqi unions, as well as representatives of the main Kurdish political parties and government.
The delegation met with the leaderships of the Kurdish General Workers Syndicate Union in Dohuk, Erbil/Hawler and Sulimania provinces. It also met with a large number of Kurdish white-collar unions/professional associations including the Teachers Union, the Chemists Union, doctors’, dentists’ and lawyers’ associations. The delegation also visited several fire stations to meet fire-workers, who are currently not unionised.
The delegation received the leadership of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions from Baghdad as well as the local leaderships from Mosul and Kirkuk who had travelled to Kurdistan. In addition the delegation met the leadership of the Iraqi Teachers Union.
The delegation also met representatives of both the Kurdish Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, including newly elected members of the Kurdish Regional Parliament and the Iraqi Parliament. It also met members of the Kurdish Regional Government in all three provinces: the Governor of Dohuk; the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Housing and Development, Minister of Local Government, and Governor of Erbil/Hawler; and the Deputy Prime Minister in Sulimania.
Recommendations
1. Co-operation with confederations:
* Given the continued allegations of links between the GFTU and those harassing IFTU activists, the TUC should no longer work with the GFTU and should work to see that the ICFTU also ceases to work with the GFTU
* The TUC should work within the ICFTU to recognise the Kurdish unions (once a merger has taken place) as a legitimate confederation. Until such time invitations to ICFTU events should be sent directly to the Kurdish unions, rather than via the Iraqi confederations.
2. Practical support to be given:
* All unions requested training for the members. This ranged from training for branch activists, via training for their leaderships to workforce development for ordinary union members. UNISON has already agreed a capacity building project – the TUC and other affiliates should be encouraged to take part in this and possibly develop their own work, especially where they have expertise in communication skills and work with the media. TUC training material should be translated into Arabic and Kurdish (Sorani) so it can be made available to Iraqi unions. DfID should be approached to see if it would be prepared to fund workforce development projects through trade union run education centres. There was also a need for wider civil society training.
* All unions require basic IT and communications equipment and office facilities. The IFTU in Mosul, for example, said it would cost just $200 a month to rent office space. Iraqi and Kurdish unions could also benefit from foreign language training, especially English, for people in their leaderships to help them develop international contacts.
* Development of sector to sector relationships between British and Iraqi unions through twinning, delegations etc as is already taking place with the teaching unions.
* Iraqi and Kurdish unions should be invited to TUC Congress this September and a fringe meeting should be held.
* During our meetings with the professional associations the issue of international links and the lack of international recognition of qualifications was raised. A link was also made to an urgent need to upgrade the teaching syllabus. Approaches could be made to organisations such as the BMA and the Law Society to encourage them to develop links in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan.
Work to be undertaken by UNISON
* 6 guests ( 2 from the IFTU and 2 each from the Kurdish federations) to be invited to UNISON National Delegate Conference.
* Re-model the ‘organising skills’ training to allow a greater number of trainers to be trained and for training to take place within Iraq itself
* Develop training for the leaderships of the IFTU and Kurdish federations. Training to include; negotiation skills, communications skills, IT and a fact-finding visit to the UK
* UNISON to work in developing language and communication skills of the Iraqi federations to help them communicate more effectively with other unions world-wide.
Delegation
Brian Joyce and Dave Green, members of the FBU Executive Council
Keith Sonnet and Nick Crook, Deputy General Secretary and International Officer of UNISON
Mary Davies, member of the NATFHE National Executive and the TUC Women’s Committee
John Lloyd, Editor of the Financial Times Magazine
Abdullah Muhsin, International Representative of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions
Iraqi praises solidarity of firefighters
(Friday 13 May 2005)
by LOUISE NASTRATPOUR in Southport
IRAQI Federation of Trade Unions spokesman Abdullah Muhsin praised Britain's firefighters yesterday for their "magnificent show of solidarity" with the Iraqi people in their struggle against war and occupation.
The trade unions' international representative told conference of the "brutal and systematic" torture and murder of his comrades at the hands of Saddam Hussein. But he stressed that Iraqi people never wanted the US-led war and occupation.
"The principled position that the FBU took against the war and occupation of Iraq and your call for the return of the full sovereignty of that country is highly appreciated by the people," he said.
"The IFTU was against the war from the outset because we knew that the victims would be innocent civilians, not the regime.
"We knew that Saddam had no support among the masses and could be overthrown by the Iraqis. But our cry for genuine international help was ignored."
Mr Muhsin called for Iraq's "crippling" debt to be cancelled and condemned the US-led occupation's "squandering" of the country's oil wealth.
"The country's oil wells were looted by the regime for arms, wars and personal enrichment. And today, that wealth is squandered to pay for the occupation," he noted.
He explained that the Iraqi trade unionists' priorities are now to "keep Iraq intact" - as the risk of Iraq decending into a civil war is still very real - and to include free and democratic trade union laws in the new constitution.
"We accept nothing less than a strong and democratic trade union movement and a fully sovereign Iraq," the speaker declared.
Mr Muhsin gave a dark and horrific account of the fate of Iraqi trade unionists under Saddam's regime, noting that, like many others, he was forced to flee the country in 1978, as the regime launched a merciless campaign against the progressive elements in the country - in particular, trade unionists, communists, students and women's organisations.
"Saddam's regime initiated a campaign of terror, where most of the union activists were imprisoned, tortured, executed or disappeared," he said.
"For many Iraqi people, the term union became associated with oppression and terror. Their response to joining a union was 'keep away from us. We want to live in peace.'."
As a result, an underground movement was established in 1980 and this helped to organise strikes around the country. Many of those strikes were "brutally crushed."
Mr Muhsin blamed the high unemployment for the recent explosion of violent attacks in the country and condemned the insurgents as "a sinister and reactionary coalition" of religious fundamentalist who exploit the popular anti-US sentiment in the country.
"The foreign troops must leave in order to isolate the cynical and the anti-social forces that indiscriminately bomb and kill innocent people," he insisted.
Mr Muhsin went on to highlight the Iraq election in January, branding it a "historic breakthrough." He said that 60 per cent - 8.5 million - Iraqis had gone to the polls, despite the constant bomb attacks on voters.
"As lines of voters were being blown up by suicide bombers, they cast their ballots. These are the martyrs of the new Iraqi democracy," he added.
MAY DAY GREETINGS TO THE LABOR MOVEMENT AND WORKING PEOPLE OF IRAQ
FROM U.S. LABOR AGAINST THE WAR AND ITS 110 AFFILIATED LABOR ORGANIZATIONS
In the name of peace, freedom and social justice, US Labor Against the War sends our greetings to the labor movement and workers of Iraq on May Day. With great courage, you have begun to reorganize your country's unions, and reclaim the historic traditions of Iraq's labor movement.
You are organizing in the face of very difficult economic conditions, including massive unemployment and extremely low wages, which have been imposed on you by the US/British occupation. In spite of these difficulties, workers throughout Iraq have organized strikes and demonstrations, and have successfully begun to raise the living standards of working families.
You have opposed the Bush administration plan for the privatization of Iraq's workplaces and resources. You have called for an end to the US occupation, and for a democratic political process to ensure that Iraq has a government that represents the needs and aspirations of Iraqi workers. We share these goals.
You have faced extreme violence, and the assassination of your leaders, without succumbing to fear, terror and intimidation. In the face of all these challenges you have remained courageously resolute in your commitment to a peaceful, democratic and just multi-ethnic, multi-cultural Iraq. You deserve the congratulations and support of unions and workers throughout the world for your efforts.
We are very proud that May Day, the international workers' holiday, was born in the United States in struggle for the 8-hour day. Our own country contributed martyrs like Albert Parsons and the murdered labor heroes of Chicago, who died for the same ideals for which you fight today. We are your brothers and sisters in this struggle We will redouble our efforts to end the occupation of your country, to achieve full respect for the sovereignty and independence of Iraq, and to support you in your struggle to establish a democratic state with full respect for workers' rights. We will march beside you, and support your movement, in any way we can.
Long live May Day! Long live the solidarity between the workers of Iraq and the United States!
A British trade union fact-finding delegation composed of the Keith Sonnet, Deputy General Secretary of Unison (Britian's largest union) and Nick Crook UNISON International Officer, Professor Mary Davis of Natfhe (the University & College Lecturers' Union), Brian Joyce and Dave Green of the Fire Brigades Union and John Lloyd (a member of the National Union of Journalists and a writer on the Financial Times) has recently completed a visit to Iraqi Kurdistan. The delegation was accompanied by Abdullah Muhsin (IFTU) who acted as their guide and translator.
The delegation met with trade unionists in all Iraqi Kurdistan three provinces (Dohuk, Arbil and Sulymania). They also met with a delegation from the IFTU led by IFTU first Vice President, Hadi Ali and with delegations from the IFTU branches in Mosul and Kirkuk.
The delegation was able to meet politicians, media representatives and the Teachers Unions in both Iraqi Kurdistan and Iraq.
The delegation also paid homage to the grave of Masoud Al-Barzani, the national hero of the Kurdish people where Keith Sonnet delivered a televised speech.
The delegation will issue a full report soon.
IFTU
26 March 2005
Brian Joyce, a member of the National Executive Commitee of the Fire Brigades Union provides an account of a recent trade union visit to Iraqi Kurdistan by his union to oversee delivery of 1250 sets of fire kit sent by the FBU. The FBU has been at the forefront of practical solidarity with the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU).
"My journey through Turkey was coming to an end, signified by mile after mile of empty petrol tankers, hundreds of the hungry beasts queuing for hours on the Turkish Kurdistan border; our reliance and need for petroleum became extremely visual after passing nearly 400 petrol tankers.
"Abdullah Muhsin, the IFTUs international representative was once again acting as my interpreter as we travelled to Duhok with Jalal Kayef President of the Kurdistan General Syndicate Workers Union (KSWU) for the province of Duhok. We had been joined by him and several other officials including my old friend Subdi Al-Mashadani, the General Secretary of the IFTU at the border.
"Having been to Baghdad and Basra, I now found myself having the opportunity of extending our relationship to the trade union movement in Kurdistan. The Kurdistan General Workers Syndicate Union is the equivalent to the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions and has unions within Kurdistan affiliated to it. These unions range from the building industry, mechanics, public services, to transport, textiles and agricultural workers.
"Meetings had been arranged in Duhok, Arbil and Sulaimania, each of these provinces having its own KWSU President. The unions affiliated also having their own President in each of the three provinces. The structure of the KWSU is currently under discussion, the debate being that of unification, many believing this to be the way forward and future for the KWSU
"I was warmly welcomed at each meeting; officials were eager to explain the issues, problems and needs of their unions. Training and education being a priority, recognised by all as imperative for the future of not only their officials and members but for the unions themselves. Computers, printers and faxes were high on the list of requirements as well as financial funding. These requests and needs are vitally important, but so is the necessity of a trade union delegation going to Iraqi Kurdistan this year, in fact it is essential.
"My visit was also to assist in facilitating the first meeting of KWSU and IFTU; this has led to successful discussions between the two unions.
"I felt safe and secure as I travelled through Kurdistan, armed security being apparent and check points frequent. But with the history and relationship with Saddam’s Iraq, it is not only understandable but desirable.
"Kurdistan lies across the top of Iraq in a blanket of beautiful mountains and forms northern Iraq. The Kurdish people have suffered imprisonment, torture and death at the hands of Saddam’s Baath’ist party and military power. In the provinces of Duhok and Arbil over 5000 villages were destroyed, thousands of people made homeless, countless numbers missing and killed, bombed, machined gunned, gassed, and poisoned by chemicals.
"Since 1991 due to the intervention of the United Nations and the courage of the Kurdish people, the country has had the opportunity to build, improve and modernise. The difference those years have made is remarkable, and can only pay tribute to the people of Iraqi Kurdistan and give hope to the people of Iraq for the future.
"During my days and time in Kurdistan I visited fire stations in all the provinces. Personal protective clothing was limited. On one station, there were six sets of ppc shared amongst the whole station of thirty firefighters.
"There were requests from each brigade visited for technical information, fire kit, equipment and the need for all types of training was identified as a priority.
"None of the stations I visited had breathing apparatus, although I was proudly shown some new appliances recently delivered. As in Iraq these firefighters are not allowed to join a trade union due to existing legislation, and little appears to be going to change in the near future.
"We have, as a union, arranged for approximately 1250 sets of fire kit to be sent to Kurdistan, and should be distributed over the following weeks.
"But there is still a desperate need for further support and assistance, above all we must maintain and continue our relationship with those to whom we have held out the hand of trust and friendship. However, there were no expectations from those I met, for these were not people who simply talk about freedom and democracy, most have physically fought to achieve it and all have suffered under the regime of Saddam’s Iraq for it.
"The KWSU also arranged for me to meet with the Governor of Duhok Nejerfan Ahmed and the political leader of the PDK Khader Abdel-Aziz Rashied; I also met Abdul Razag, minister for humanitarian aid and a member of the PUK.
"This series of meetings gave me the opportunity to question and explore the views of these officials over a variety of issues, one of which being the future of a federal Iraq with specific reference to the role of and political relationship with the trade union movement. The war and occupation created debate with views being expressed freely and openly by all. Further discussions included the unjust and totally unnecessary legislation in relation to firefighters and their right to join a trade union, as well as the function and responsibilities of the fire service.
"Interviews were arranged with two national television networks and several national newspapers. Television coverage of my trip appeared on the news for two nights, and was transmitted by satellite over all the Arab states.
"As I travelled back from Suliamania, I couldn’t help but notice the regeneration of the countryside, burnt beyond recognition by Saddam’s air force ten years past but now young saplings stood four foot high, and the blackened scorched earth replaced by fresh green. Yet my mind was still at the Red House in Suleimaniya.
"Simply called the Red House due to its colour, quite unassuming in appearance, you could easily be forgiven for thinking it was an office block. But for thousands of those who walked across its courtyard, the Red House meant imprisonment, torture and execution. Now it is a museum, its walls displaying a pictorial history to those who had to flee their homes and escape to the mountains of Kurdistan. Many died in the freezing snow, both young and old. There were also pictures of families, mothers and fathers, daughters and sons who were murdered simply because they were born Kurdish.
"Two days before Kurdish partisans attacked this building; all those held within its walls were executed.
"Life for many in Iraq is still unsafe; this is certainly the case for trade union official Nuzad Ismail President of the IFTU in Kirkuk. Nuzad, has survived two assassination attempts on his life over recent months.
"Each day he and his family receive death threats, as Nuzad said “If they can’t get to me they will get to my family, that’s the way they work”. He was referring to Saddam loyalists.
"Sadly whilst writing this article I was made aware of the death of my friend Hadi Saleh, International Secretary for the IFTU, assassinated on Tuesday night the 4th of January in Baghdad. Masked assassins broke into his home bound his feet and hands blindfolded him, and then tortured, burnt and finally strangled Hadi with electric cord.
"Not surprisingly there is the belief that Hadi’s murder was carried out by Saddam’s Mukhabarat, the Baathist KGB. Sadly there are those in this country who, not only give credibility to these murderers and cowards, but support them. Called or being named the “new resistance” by those who seem blinkered to the irony of that statement. The political amnesia of these individuals and organisations is quite breathtaking.
"Hadi Saleh was a trade unionist, a man with a wish for a free and democratic federal Iraq. He worked through the trade union movement to achieve his beliefs for the people of Iraq.
"Seized at the age of 21 by Saddam’s secret police and sentenced to summary execution for forming a trade union at his work place. Hadi spent five years of his life in the filth of one of Saddam’s prisons, tortured and beaten but still alive, he had his sentence by some miracle commuted to permanent exile.
"He opposed the war, and continued his work to unite the people of his country. But he never gave up his fight against Baathism, and for that he was murdered.
"Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who assisted in making my trip possible, especially those brigades who made the vital contributions of fire kit to the firefighters of Kurdistan. Equally my thanks goes to all those who I met during my travels but have not named, and my special thanks to Jalal Kayif and his family for the particular friendship and kindness they showed me during my short time in their country."
MURDER OF IRAQI FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS' LEADER IN IRAQ
24.02.05
Barnes/Harry
That this House unreservedly condemns the murder of Ali Hassan Abd, a leading member of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Union's (IFTU) Oil and Gas Union, who led the way in rebuilding independent unions after the fall of Saddam Hussein and who was assassinated on Friday 18th February by terrorist extremists while returning with his children to his home close to the Al Dorah oil refinery in Baghdad; supports the statement issued by the IFTU Executive Committee, which 'condemns this cowardly act and resolves to continue to organise for free, democratic and independent unions' and 'pledges to its martyred hero Abu Fahad to carry on organising workers and also for a new and democratic Iraq'; and strongly supports the IFTU's call for the international labour movement to condemn this atrocity against a brave trade unionist, which once again confirms that the so-called resistance is deliberately targeting leaders of the Iraqi labour movement in order to prevent the growth of a new civil society in Iraq, after the brave defiance shown by millions of Iraqis in the last elections.
Signatures (19)
Harry Barnes
Mike Hancock
David Lepper
Bob Russell
Alan Meale
Gregory Campbell
Martin Caton
Rudi Vis
Alan Williams
Ernie Ross
Paul Flynn
Mark Lazarowicz
David Drew
David Hamilton
Brian Jenkins
Rob Marris
Eric Illsley
Jim Sheridan
Michael Clapham
David Cockroft, General Secretary of global union federation the ITF, today condemned the murder of Ahmed Adris Abbas, member of the Transport and Communication Workers’ Union and the IFTU (Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions). Cockroft said: “We are saddened to learn of the second murder of a trade union leader in as many months, and appalled that those who faced the worst that Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship could throw at them are slaughtered as they fight for the rights and living standards of their fellow countrymen and women.
TO THE IRAQI FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS (IFTU)
It is with feelings of disgust, anger and vehement protest that we learn of the murder of brother Ahmed Adris Abbas a member of the Transport and Communication Workers Union Baghdad.
The killers, who pretend to be for the Iraqi people and to be spearheading the so-called resistance to the occuption of your country by the US, British and Australian troops in particular, are actually directing their main blows against the Iraqi people. Hundreds have died in their indiscriminate terrorist assaults - workers, intellectuals, farmers - men, women and children.
We join you in mourning the loss of your brother trade unionist and fellow worker and give honour to all those who are genuinely fighting for independence, democratic trade unions and a situation in which it becomes possible to rebuild your country and continue its glorious history in peace and freedom.
Peter Symon
General Secretary
Communist Party of Australia
Amicus Regional Council members in the West Midlands who met with the IFTU recently have pledged £1,000 to help to organise a theatre bus for Iraqi trade unionists as part of the IFTU's Khalil Shawqi Appeal. IFTU will also be meeting shortly with the Amicus London Regional Committee at their King's St Head Office in Covent Garden.