Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
International Campaign Against the Occupation and For Labor Rights
in Iraq
Dear supporters of labor rights,
Dear antiwar activists:
On March 15, an international labor delegation will travel to the
headquarters of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva,
Switzerland, to press for the central demands of the International
Campaign Against the Occupation and For Labor Rights in Iraq.
The delegation will be led by Gene Bruskin, co-convenor of US Labor
Against the War (USLAW); Hacene Djemane, secretary general of the
International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU); and Daniel
Gluckstein, coordinator of the International Liaison Committee of Workers
and Peoples (ILC).
Also participating on the delegation will be the general secretaries of
the Federation of Workers Councils and Trade Unions of Iraq (FWCUI) and
the Union of Unemployed of Iraq (UUI). In addition, the Iraqi Federation
of Trade Unions (IFTU) has notified the delegation organizers of its
intention to be present in Geneva on March 15.
Leaders of trade unions from various countries in Europe also have
announced their participation on the delegation.
The delegation will be welcomed on Monday, March 15 at 10 a.m. in Geneva
at the headquarters of the Workers Federation of Industry, Construction
and Services (FTMH) of Switzerland.
It will then proceed to the headquarters of the ILO, where it will be
received by the director of the ILO Workers Group in charge of Iraqi
affairs.
In addition to delivering to the ILO the main conclusions of the
International Campaign's fact-finding trip to Iraq last October, the labor
delegation will call upon the ILO to do the following:
* File a formal complaint, and conduct a full-scale investigation into the
situation of labor rights in Iraq.
* Take action to demand the 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.
* Take action to demand that ILO Conventions 87, 98 and 138, guaranteeing
the rights to organize and bargain collectively and prohibiting child
labor, be implemented immediately in Iraq.
The International Campaign delegation will also use this occasion to
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.
And last, but not least, it will reiterate its 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.
The International Campaign welcomes your statements of support for this
delegation and its demands. All statement received before March 14th will
be delivered to the officials at the ILO.
The International Campaign can be contacted at the following addresses
and numbers:
* US Labor Against the War, PO Box 153, 1718 Street, NW Washington DC,
20036 USA
e-mail: info@uslaboragaisntwar.org
* International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, 213 rue Bagdad, PO Box
3225 Damas, (Syria) tel: (963 11) 445 95 44- Fax: (963 11) 442 0323 -
Email: icatu@net.sy
* International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples, 87 rue du
Faubourg-Saint-Denis, 75010 Paris (France). Tel: (33-1) 4801 88 28 Fax:
(33-1) 48 01 88 36. Email: eit.ilc@fr.oleane.com
********************
Background on the International Campaign Against the Occupation and For
Labor Rights in Iraq:
* June 14, 2003: During a meeting in Geneva an appeal was launched
"against the occupation and for labor rights in Iraq" by:
- the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC)
- US Labor Against the War (USLAW)
- the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU)
* June 15, 2003: The 12th annual meeting in defense of ILO conventions
registered this initiative and agreed to publicize it widely.
* July 2003: The report prepared by USLAW on the U.S. multinationals that
have been awarded the bids to take over Iraq's economy was translated into
Arabic and French.
* October 3-10, 2003: An independent delegation went to Iraq representing
the International Campaign Against the Occupation and For Labor Rights in
Iraq. The delegation met with labor organizations in Iraq and learned
about the ongoing repression facing labor organizers and the anti-union
laws still prevailing in occupied Iraq. These Iraqi labor organizations
indicated a great interest in alerting the international labor movement
about this situation in Iraq.
* October 24-26, 2003: The National Labor Assembly for Peace held in
Chicago at the initiative of USLAW decided to initiate a campaign to
inform the U.S. Congress of the violation of labor rights in occupied
Iraq.
* November 17, 2003: An appeal was launched to organize an international
delegation to the ILO's headquarters to demand an inquiry by the ILO into
the situation of labor rights in Iraq, as well as the immediate repeal of
all anti-union laws and the ratification/implementation of ILO Conventions
87, 98 and 138..
* January 15, 2004: A request for a meeting was addressed to Mr. Juan
Somavia, director general of the ILO requesting that he or a top official
at the ILO receive the delegation from the International Campaign on March
15th.