Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
IN THIS MESSAGE:
1)
Presentation
2) Letter from Luc Deley (on behalf of the Swiss Organizing Committee of
the International Campaign Against the Occupation for the Labor Rights in
Iraq) to ILO Director-General Juan Somavia Requesting That He Receive a
Delegation from the International Campaign on March 15, 2004, in Geneva
3) Declaration of the International Campaign Against the Occupation and
For Labor Rights in Iraq
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1) Presentation
Feb. 25, 2004
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
This letter is to inform you that on March 15 an international labor
delegation organized by the International Campaign Against the Occupation
and For Labor Rights in Iraq will travel to Geneva, Switzerland, to meet
with ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. Announcement of the delegation was
made public this week by Gene Bruskin, national coordinator of U.S. Labor
Against the War (USLAW); Hacene Djemane, general secretary of the
International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU); and Daniel
Gluckstein, coordinator of the International Liaison Committee of Workers
and Peoples (ILC).
The purpose of the delegation, according to the spokespersons of the three
organizations that launched this International Campaign, is to inform ILO
Director-General Juan Somavia of the results of the International
Campaign's fact-finding trip to Iraq in early October and, most important,
to press for the immediate ratification, implementation and enforcement in
a sovereign Iraq of ILO Convention 87 (on the right to freedom of
association and the right to organize and choose the trade union of one's
choice) and ILO Convention 98 (on the right to collective-bargaining).
This campaign was launched last June in Geneva by USLAW, the ICATU, and
the ILC. On the basis of an International Appeal Against the Occupation
and for Labor Rights in Iraq, an international labor delegation traveled
to Iraq in early October to gather all the facts on the state of the union
movement in Iraq and the condition of labor rights. The various reports by
the two U.S. members of the delegation, David Bacon and Clarence Thomas,
have been published widely in the U.S. and international labor press. [For
copies of these reports, visit the OWC website at www.owcinfo.org as well
as the website of USLAW -- www.uslaboragainstwar.org .]
Following USLAW's National Labor Conference for Peace on October 24-25,
the three initiating organizations of this campaign issued a new
statement, urging widespread support for an International Labor Delegation
to the headquarters of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in
Geneva.
Please find in this message the Letter from Luc Deley, coordinator of the
Swiss Organizing Committee of the International Campaign, to ILO
Director-General Juan Somavia requesting that he receive our delegation in
Geneva on March 15th.
Also below is the Declaration of the International Campaign Against the
Occupation and for Labor Rights in Iraq, with its appeal for support for
the delegation to the ILO.
We in the OWC Continuations Committee fully support this initiative, and
we call on all our supporters across the United States and internationally
to endorse the labor delegation to the ILO.
Thanks, as always, for your support,
In Solidarity,
Ed Rosario and Alan Benjamin,
For the OWC Continuations Committee
San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO)
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2) Letter From Luc Deley to ILO Director-General Juan Somavia
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE OCCUPATION AND FOR LABOUR RIGHTS IN
IRAQ
Geneva, 15 January, 2004
Attention:
Mr. Juan Somavia
Director-General,
International Labour Bureau
CH 12-11 GENEVA, Switzerland
Dear Mr. Director-General,
I write this letter in the name of the International Campaign Against the
Occupation and For Labour Rights in Iraq, which was constituted last June
in Geneva, to request that you receive an international labour delegation
organised by our Campaign. The intent of our delegation is to present our
deep concerns about the state of labour rights in Iraq to the
International Labour Bureau (ILB).
We wish to present you and the ILB with a Memorandum on this matter that
was put together on the basis of documents and interviews that we have
gathered in the recent period, including during our recent international
labour fact-finding delegation to Iraq.
The Preamble of the Founding Charter of the ILO states the following:
"Universal and lasting peace can only be founded upon social justice;
existing labour conditions result in injustice, poverty and deprivation
for a great many people, creating such discontent that universal peace and
harmony are endangered. ..."
It was therefore quite natural that as early as 28 March 2003, the
International Labour Bureau, in a declaration concerning the war in Iraq,
was able to affirm:
"History has taught us that wars have far-reaching ramifications that
affect people's lives, going beyond those directly involved in the
conflict. The loss of lives on all sides will represent a tragedy for
families everywhere and disruption of economic activities in the region
will jeopardise the sources of income for millions of workers.
"In this situation, the founding principles of the ILO, based on
social justice and protection of workers, respond to the needs of people
who will be affected by the war."
This declaration affirmed, moreover, the measures the ILO would be called
upon to take in the coming period:
"In response, the ILO is taking a number of emergency measures as
part of a UN-wide initiative on Iraq designed to address immediate needs,
through an action plan to protect displaced workers, assess the needs of
the job market after the conflict, and launch a number of reconstruction
projects designed to create jobs and ensure adequate social protection for
vulnerable groups."
For its part, the Workers' Group of the ILO, in the course of the 91st
Session of the ILO in June 2003, declared, in a resolution on Iraq:
"The Workers' Group believes that in the rehabilitation exercise,
support must be provided for all the people of Iraq, especially the poor,
the disabled and vulnerable groups. The Group calls for the immediate
resumption of work for all Iraqi workers, with due protection for their
wages. It also demands that the oil resources of Iraq be used solely by
the people of Iraq and exclusively for their benefit.
"In the new Iraq there must be, consistent with ILO standards, full
freedom of Association guaranteeing the Iraqi workers the right to
organise and to bargain collectively; there must be true democracy with
full civil liberties, permitting trade unions to choose their own
leadership independently and without interference; there must be the right
to self-determination by the Iraqi people."
From 1919 to the beginning of the 1980s, Iraq ratified 57 ILO Conventions.
In the International Appeal that launched our campaign, we pointed out the
following:
"Those who launched the war against the Iraqi people speak about
democracy, but democracy requires that the workers be able to organise
themselves freely. Democracy presupposes the existence of independent
trade union organisations.
"The workers or Iraq urgently need trade unions to fight for their
interests. They must be able to organize themselves freely to build unions
of their own choice. These basic labour rights, these anchors of
democracy, have been codified in International Labour Organisation (ILO)
Conventions 87 and 98."
That is why, on the basis of all these considerations and all the facts we
have gathered regarding the state of labour rights in Iraq -- and given
that the Administrative Council of the ILO will be meeting in mid-March --
we are hereby requesting that you receive our delegation on Monday, 15
March so that we can present to you our Memorandum and discuss its content
with you -- all with the aim of helping to ensure that ILO Conventions 87
and 98 will be ratified, implemented and enforced in Iraq in the interest
of the Iraqi workers.
Awaiting your response, and thanking you, in advance, for your attention
to this urgent matter,
Sincerely,
Luc Deley,
Swiss Organising Committee
International Campaign Against the Occupation
and for Labour Rights In Iraq
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3) 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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