(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
On December 6, about XNUMX American soldiers stormed the newly established headquarters of the Iraqi Trade Union Federation (IFTU). Eight of the union leaders were arrested, all equipment destroyed (the office did not have as much as a PC), posters and banners torn down and windows smashed. Black paint was used to remove all signs that this was a trade union office – also to cover up a slogan that demanded an end to the terrorist attacks.
The eight arrested were released the next day – but received no explanation as to why the office was stormed. These are, of course, trade unionists who have been staunch opponents of the Saddam regime.
The Baghdad attack has sparked protests worldwide. COSATU in South Africa, Scottish LO and the largest Italian trade union movement CGIL are among those who have protested. Information about the arrests and other abuses against professional activists can be found on the labourstart.org/iraq/ website.
International support
The international trade union movement is now trying to support the independent trade union movement in Iraq. This weekend, the ICFTU, the International Trade Union Federation, initiated the meeting in Amman on the difficult situation of all professional work in Iraq. Representatives of the academic environments in Iraq are invited, and the trade union movement in Arab countries is fully represented. The ICFTU is particularly concerned about what will happen when US-controlled privatizations accelerate.
Since the fall of the Saddam regime in April, unions have sprung up in all parts of Iraq. In Basra, the independent unions organized a two-day strike as soon as British troops took control of the city. The strike was a protest against the British appointing a member of the Baath party to a new mayor of Basra.
The reports of strikes and other professional actions from both Shia and Sunni areas are coming so close that it is amazing how little is reaching such a point in Western media.
Trade unions are formed
In June, 400 trade union activists met in Baghdad and founded the Democratic Trade Union Federation with the aim of forming branches in twelve of the major industries.
On December 8, a nationwide organization of Workers' Councils and Unions (WCUI) was founded. People came from all over the country, from Basra in the south to Kurdish cities in the north. The Union of Unemployed in Iraq (UUI) seems to be joining the new organization.
A statement from the founding meeting stressed that Iraq's professional circles do not recognize any divisions of workers on religious, racial or ethnic grounds – and that the new organization condemns the game of power on such grounds in the US-appointed Governing Body.
Saddam's law applies
The one major problem for unions is that the US-appointed Governing Council will not repeal the Labor Act of 1987.
Local employers today are often willing to enter into agreements with their employees, but all such attempts are rejected by the new authorities and the occupation management. Any such agreement is contrary to Iraqi law – with Saddam's law of 1987.
The Occupation Management (The Coalition Provisional Authority, CPA) doubts this ban on independent unions and strikes. The leader, Paul Bremer, has warned that workers can be arrested and detained as prisoners of war if they initiate protest actions in their workplace.
Unlawful by privatization
The other main problem is the privatizations that must now be pushed through. If employees of Saddam's innumerable state-owned companies are not allowed to organize and enter into agreements, they stand completely lawless and without any influence on what will happen if the company is privatized.
On September 19, the occupation leadership issued Order No. 39, which allows for foreign capital to take over up to 100 percent of all state-owned enterprises in Iraq – and for profits to be freely exported from Iraq.
The oil industry is the only exception.
In October, the occupation management presented a list of industries in which privatization is imminent. Cement factories, fertilizers, phosphate and sulfur mines, pharmaceutical factories and the airline are at the top of the list. It is reported that 138 out of about 600 state companies have already been put up for sale.
There is no private equity in Iraq that can compete to buy these companies if foreign companies start bidding. The director of a major plant oil plant says to the US monthly magazine The Progressive that foreign owners will appreciate the value of the business, "But will they like the workers?"
No money
The newly appointed head of the Al Daura refinery estimates that he will have to lay off 1500 of his 3000 employees if the refinery comes into private hands. "But if I do, I'll kill them and their families." There is no unemployment benefit or social assistance that can keep them alive.
An assistant to the new Labor Minister says The Progressive that a scheme is being worked on with unemployment benefits for the unemployed. But there should be up to 70 percent unemployed today – "and unfortunately we have not been able to find any country that is willing to help us finance the scheme".
Of course, it does not help that order no. 37 from the occupation management took away all tax on individuals and companies for the rest of the year – and from the New Year sets a ceiling of fifteen percent on all such tax.
Following the collapse of the Saddam regime, there has been an explosion of protests around all major workplaces in Iraq. Insufficient pay is an important driver. Most people today receive around $ 6 a month. The salary scale is determined by the occupation management, and is also called emergency wage.
The command lines are crystal clear to the newly appointed directors. It has no right to enter into agreements with its employees. They must go to the ministry to approve all changes in pay and working conditions, and the ministries must to the occupation management. It says a lot about the situation that when a US trade union delegation met a secretary of state in the Department of Labor in October, a British representative for occupation management sat next to him on the couch. (The Progressive, December 2003)
