Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
DECLARATION OF
THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN
AGAINST THE OCCUPATION & FOR LABOR RIGHTS IN IRAQ:
SUPPORT OUR DELEGATION TO THE ILO OFFICE IN GENEVA!
Dear Sister
and Brother Trade Unionists Around the World:
On June 15, 2003, an International Campaign for Labor Rights in Iraq was
launched in Geneva at the International Conference in Defense of ILO
Conventions and Trade Union Independence by representatives from US Labor
Against the War (USLAW), the International Liaison Committee of Workers
and Peoples (ILC) and the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions
(ICATU).
The signatories asserted their strong opposition to the U.S.-led war and
occupation of Iraq and stressed the need for the international labor
movement to pursue the fight against the illegal and immoral occupation of
Iraq.
The Appeal affirmed that there can be no democracy in Iraq if the Iraqi
people do not have the right to freely determine their fate and establish
their sovereignty over their resources, and if the Iraqi workers are not
able to organize themselves freely to build trade unions of their own
choice.
The Appeal concluded by stating the conveners' intent to organize an
international labor delegation to Iraq some time in the fall of 2003 to
evaluate the conditions of workers and the status of the labor movement.
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
In early October 2003, a five-person international labor delegation (two
U.S. trade unionists, two French unionists, and an Iraqi antiwar labor
activist living in exile in France) traveled to Iraq. It was meant as an
initial exploratory tour, understanding that other larger broader-based
delegations would be necessary in the future.
During five days, the labor delegation met with the top officers from the
main unions that had formed, or are in the process of forming, in Iraq.
They met and talked with rank-and-file workers, organizers of the
unemployed movement, factory managers and representatives from the Interim
Governing Council in charge of labor affairs in Iraq today.
Among other things, here is what the delegation learned:
- Since George W. Bush declared an end to the war in Iraq in April,
unemployment among Iraqi workers has reached 70%, facing many families
with hunger and dislocation. The U.S. Occupation Authority, moreover, has
frozen Iraqi wages for most workers at $60/month, while at the same time
eliminating bonuses, profit sharing, and subsidies for food and housing,
causing a sharp cut in the income and already deficient standard of living
of those Iraqi workers still employed.
- Since April, Iraqi workers have begun to reorganize their trade union
movement, seeking a better standard of living, and to preserve their jobs
and workplaces. At this time, however, none of the main unions in
formation have been legally recognized by the U.S. Occupation Authority.
- Shockingly, the U.S. Occupation Authority has continued to enforce a law
issued by Saddam Hussein in 1987 prohibiting unions and collective
bargaining in the public sector and state enterprises where most Iraqis
work.
- The emerging trade union movement in Iraq is extremely concerned that
the U.S. Occupation Authority has announced its intention to privatize the
factories, refineries, mines and other state enterprises, selling them off
to private owners despite the fact that these enterprises belong to the
Iraqi people, not to the United States. The U.S. Occupation Authority, in
fact, has just issued a new decree, Public Order 39, allowing 100% foreign
ownership of Iraqi businesses and the repatriation of profits.
- The Iraqi trade union movement fears the privatization of Iraqi
workplaces will result in the massive layoff of Iraqi workers, at a time
when unemployment is already at crisis levels. The union movement is most
concerned that the U.S. Occupation Authority is in effect making it
illegal for Iraqi unions and workers to organize at the workplace to
oppose privatization or have any voice at all in the future of their own
jobs.
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
On October 24-26, USLAW held a National Labor Assembly for Peace in
Chicago. After hearing a report-back from the two U.S. trade unionists who
traveled to Iraq, the delegates from unions across the United States
pledged to conduct a multifaceted labor rights campaign that includes a
call for Congressional hearings into the violation of basic labor rights
under the U.S. Occupation Authority.
On an international level, it is the responsibility of the International
Labor Organization (ILO), which is based in Geneva, to conduct an
investigation into the situation of labor rights in Iraq.
That is why we call on all trade union federations, national and local
unions, union members and supporters of labor rights the world over to
register their support for Iraqi labor rights and to endorse an
international labor delegation from our Campaign that will travel to
Geneva in the coming weeks to deliver our conclusions and our appeal to
the ILO officials.
We call on you to support us in demanding that the ILO file a formal
complaint, and conduct a full-scale investigation, into the situation of
labor rights in Iraq.
Join us in calling for full trade union rights in Iraq, for immediate
nullification of the 1987 Hussein law banning unions in public enterprises
and for repeal of any other restriction on the full exercise of labor
rights.
Join us in demanding that ILO Conventions 87, 98 and 138, guaranteeing the
rights to organize and bargain collectively and prohibiting child labor,
be implemented immediately in Iraq.
Join us in our demand that the Iraqi economy not be privatizated by the
Occupation Authority, and that the people of Iraq be allowed to decide for
themselves, without any foreign interference, the future of their country
and the structure of their economy and disposition of public assets.
Join us in our pledge to continue the fight to end the U.S. occupation of
Iraq, so that Iraq can be governed by and guarantee the rights of its own
people, labor rights included.
Please endorse this Declaration and join us in this important campaign for
labor rights in Iraq.
In solidarity,
Amy Newell, National Organizer, US Labor Against the War (USLAW); Bob
Muehlenkamp, Co-Convenor, USLAW; Gene Bruskin, Co-Convenor,
USLAW; Alan Benjamin, San Francisco Labor Council & USLAW; Clarence
Thomas, Exec. Bd., ILWU Local 10; Northern California Chapter,
Coalition of Black Trade Unions; USLAW Delegate to Iraq; David Bacon,
Labor journalist, USLAW Delegate to Iraq.
Hacene Djemane, General Secretary, International Confederation of
Arab Trade Unions (ICATU); Amar Takdjout, General Union of Algerian
Workers (UGTA); Louisa Hanoune, Spokesperson, Algerian Workers
Party; Subhi Toma, Iraqi antiwar labor activist; member, labor
delegation to Iraq; Ibrahim A. Gandour, General Secretary, Sudan
Workers Trade Unions Federation (SWTUF).
Daniel Gluckstein, Coordinator, International Liaison Committee of
Workers and Peoples (ILC); Olivier Doriane, Workers Party (France),
Marie-Claude Schidlower, International Women's Commission, ILC; Jean-Pierre
Barrois, Antiwar labor activist; member, labor delegation to Iraq
(France); Didier Schein, Trade unionist; member, labor delegation
to Iraq (France); Luc Deley, Hosting Committee, International
Conference in Defense of ILO Conventions (Switzerland); Alexandre Anor,
Socialist Party (Switzerland).
Contact Information:
- US Labor Against the War, PO Box 153, 1718 M Street, NW,
Washington DC, 20036, USA. E-mail: info@uslaboragainstwar.org; website:
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org
- International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, 213, rue Bagdad,
PO Box 3225, Damascus (Syria). Tel. : (963 11) 445 95 44 - Fax : (963 11)
442 03 23. E-mail: icatu@net.sy
- International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples, 87, rue
du Faubourg-Saint-Denis, 75010 Paris (France). Tel.: (33-1) 48 01 88 28.
Fax: (33-1) 48 01 88 36. E-mail: eit.ilc@wanadoo.fr and ilcinfo@earthlink.net;
website, ILC section of http://www.owcinfo.org
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ˆ Please Add My Name to the List of Signatories of the International
Declaration Against the Occupation
and For Labor Rights in Iraq
[ ] I am endorsing in my own personal capacity. You can list my union
and title for identification purposes only.
[ ] I am endorsing in the name of my union. You can list my union as an
endorser of this Declaration
NAME
UNION (list if for id. only)
TITLE (list if for id. only)
ADDRESS
CITY
STATE
COUNTRY
EMAIL
TEL & FAX (please list country code)
(please fill out and return to: info@uslaboragainstwar.org, icatu@net.sy,
eit.ilc@wanadoo.fr, ilcinfo@earthlink.net)
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