May Day Statement from the Iraqi Labor Movement

May Day Statement from the Iraqi Labor Movement

[Extensive coverage of the May Day antiwar demonstration
by members of the Pacific Coast International Longshore
& Warehouse Union (ILWU) on the including articles,
photos and video, is available on the USLAW website:

http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?=1&cache=0&id=15833]

May Day 2008 Statement from the Iraqi Labour Movement
To the Workers and All Peace Loving People of the World

April 29, 2008

http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=15826

On this day of international labour solidarity we call
on our fellow trade unionists and all those worldwide
who have stood against war and occupation to increase
support for our struggle for freedom from occupation -
both the military and economic.

We call upon the governments, corporations and
institutions behind the ongoing occupation of Iraq to
respond to our demands for real democracy, true
sovereignty and self-determination free of all foreign
interference.

Five years of invasion, war and occupation have brought
nothing but death, destruction, misery and suffering to
our people. In the name of our 'liberation,' the
invaders have destroyed our nation's infrastructure,
bombed our neighbourhoods, broken into our homes,
traumatized our children, assaulted and arrested many
of our family members and neighbours, permitted the
looting of our national treasures, and turned nearly
twenty percent of our people into refugees.

The invaders helped to foment and then exploit
sectarian divisions and terror attacks where there had
been none. Our union offices have been raided. Union
property has been seized and destroyed. Our bank
accounts have been frozen. Our leaders have been
beaten, arrested, abducted and assassinated. Our
rights as workers have been routinely violated.

The Ba'athist legislation of 1987, which banned trade
unions in the public sector and public enterprises (80%
of all workers), is still in effect, enforced by Paul
Bremer's post-invasion Occupation Authority and then by
all subsequent Iraqi administrations. This is an attack
on our rights and basic precepts of a democratic
society, and is a grim reminder of the shadow of
dictatorship still stalking our country.

Despite the horrific conditions in our country, we
continue to organise and protest against the
occupation, against workplaces abuses, and for better
treatment and safer conditions.

Despite the sectarian plots around us, we believe in
unity and solidarity and a common aim of public
service, equality, and freedom to organise without
external intrusions and coercion.

Our legitimacy comes from our members. Our principles
of organisation are based on transparent and
internationally recognised International Labour
Organisation standards.

We call upon our allies and all the world's peace-
loving peoples to help us to end the nightmare of
occupation and restore our sovereignty and national
independence so that we can chart our own course to the
future.

1) We demand an immediate withdrawal of all
foreign troops from our country, and utterly reject
the agreement being negotiated with the USA for
long-term bases and a military presence. The
continued occupation fuels the violence in Iraq
rather than alleviating it. Iraq must be returned
to full sovereignty.

2) We demand the passage of a labour law promised
by our Constitution, which adheres to ILO
principles and on which Iraqi trade unionists have
been fully consulted, to protect the rights of
workers to organize, bargain and strike,
independent of state control and interference.

3) We demand an end to meddling in our sovereign
economic affairs by the International Monetary
Fund, USA and UK. We demand withdrawal of all
economic conditionalities attached to the IMF's
agreements with Iraq, removal of US and UK economic
"advisers" from the corridors of Iraqi government,
and a recognition by those bodies that no major
economic decisions concerning our services and
resources can be made while foreign troops occupy
the country.

4) We demand that the US government and others
immediately cease lobbying for the oil law, which
would fracture the country and hand control over
our oil to multinational companies like Exxon, BP
and Shell. We demand that all oil companies be
prevented from entering into any long-term
agreement concerning oil while Iraq remains
occupied. We demand that the Iraqi government tear
up the current draft of the oil law, and begin to
develop a legitimate oil policy based on full and
genuine consultation with the Iraqi people. Only
after all occupation forces are gone should a long
term plan for the development of our oil resources
be adopted.

We seek your support and solidarity to help us end the
military and economic occupation of our country. We
ask for your solidarity for our right to organise and
strike in defence of our interests as workers and of
our public services and resources. Our public services
are the legacy of generations before us and the
inheritance of all future generations and must not be
privatised.

We thank you for standing by us. We too stand with you
in your own struggles for real democracy which we know
you also struggle for, and against privatisation,
exploitation and daily disempowerment in your
workplaces and lives.

We commend those of you who have organised strikes and
demonstrations to end the occupation in solidarity with
us and we hope these actions will continue.

We look forward to the day when we have a world based
on co-operation and solidarity. We look forward to a
world free from war, sectarianism, competition and
exploitation.

Endorsed by: (signers as of 4/29/08)

Hassan Juma'a Awad, President, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)
Faleh Abood Umara, Deputy, Central Council, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)
Falah Alwan, President, Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI)
Subhi Albadri, President, General Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI)
Nathim Rathi, President, Iraqi Port Workers Trade Union
Samir Almuawi, President, Engineering Professionals Trade Union
Ghzi Mushatat, President, Mechanic and Print Shop Trade Union
Waleed Alamiri, President, Electricity Trade Union
Ilham Talabani, President, Banking Services Trade Union
Abdullah Ubaid, President, Railway Trade Union
Ammar Ali, President, Transportation Trade Union
Abdalzahra Abdilhassan, President, Service Employees Trade Union
Sundus Sabeeh, President, Barber Shop Workers Trade Union
Kareem Lefta Sindan, President, Lumber and Construction Trade Union, General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW)
Sabah Almusawi, President, Wasit Independent Trade Union
Shakir Hameed, President, Lumber And Construction Trade Union (GFWCUI)
Awad Ahmed, President, Teachers Federation of Salahideen
Alaa Ghazi Mushatat, President, Agricultural And Food Substance Industries
Adnan Rathi Shakir, President, Water Resources Trade Union
Nahrawan Yas, President, Woman Affairs Bureau
Sabah Alyasiri, President (GFWCUI) Babil
Ali Tahi, President (GFWCUI) Najaf
Ali Abbas, President (GFWCUI) Basra
Muhi Abdalhussien, President (GFWCUI), Wasit
Ali Hashim Abdilhussien, President (GFWCUI) Kerbala
Ali Hussien, President (GFWCUI) Anbar
Mustafa Ameen, Arab Workers Bureau, President (GFWCUI)
Thameer Mzeail, Health Services, Union Committee
Khadija Saeed Abdullah, Teachers Federation, Member
Asmahan, Khudair, Woman Affairs, Textile Trade Unions
Adil Aljabiri, Oil Workers Trade Union Executive Bureau Member
Muhi Abdalhussien, Nadia Flaih, Service Employees Trade Unions
Rawneq Mohammed, Member, Media and Print Shop Trade Union
Abdlakareem Abdalsada, Vice President (GFWCUI)
Saeed Nima, Vice President (GFWCUI)
Sabri Abdalkareem, Member, (GFWCUI) Babil
Amjad Aljawhary, Representative of GFWCUI in North America

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