Mayday Messages from Iraqi Unions

U.S. Labor Against the War is pleased to be able to share with you two important communications from the working people of Iraq to the workers and people of the world. The first is a statement of solidarity from the General Union of Port Workers in Iraq to the members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in support of the decision by ILWU members to shut down all the ports on the West Coast as a demonstration of their opposition to the war and occupation of Iraq.

The second message is a May Day greeting from a broad cross-section of union leaders from many different unions and labor federations in Iraq as an expression of their appreciation for the solidarity demonstrated by organized labor, working people and all peace-loving people of the world in support of their efforts to end the foreign occupation of Iraq and the sectarian violence that occupation has spawned.

[This statement continues to be circulated in Iraq and as additional signers become known, their names will be added to the copy posted on the USLAW website.]

May Day Message
from the General Union of Dock Workers in Iraq
to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in the United States

Dear Brothers and Sisters of ILWU in California

The courageous decision you made to carry out a strike on May Day to protest against the war and occupation of Iraq advances our struggle against occupation to bring a better future for us and for the rest of the world as well.

We are certain that a better world will only be created by the workers and what you are doing is an example and proof of what we say. The labor movement is the only element in the society that is able to change the political equations for the benefit of mankind. We in Iraq are looking up to you and support you until the victory over the US administration's barbarism is achieved.

Over the past five years the sectarian gangs who are the product of the occupation, have been trying to transfer their conflicts into our ranks. Targeting workers, including their residential and shopping areas, indiscriminately using all sorts of explosive devices, mortar shells, and random shooting, were part of a bigger scheme that was aiming to tear up the society but they miserably failed to achieve their hellish goal. We are struggling today to defeat both the occupation and sectarian militias' agenda.

The pro-occupation government has been attempting to intervene into the workers affairs by imposing a single government-certified labor union. Furthermore it has been promoting privatization and an oil and gas law to use the occupation against the interests of the workers.

We the port workers view that our interests are inseparable from the interests of workers in Iraq and the world; therefore we are determined to continue our struggle to improve the living conditions of the workers and overpower all plots of the occupation, its economic and political projects.


Let us hold hands for the victory of our struggle.

Long live the port workers in California!

Long live May Day!

Long live International solidarity!

The General Union of Port Workers in Iraq
An Affiliate Union with General Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI)

28-4-2008

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

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 foreigntroops from our country, and utterly reject the agreement beingnegotiated with the USA for long-term bases and a military presence. Thecontinued occupation fuels the violence in Iraq rather than alleviatingit. 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:

Hassan Juma’a Awad, President, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)

Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary, 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

Hot Hands Harmison

Well, since I was doing so little on the tour, Peter Moores suggested I respond to the British Olympic Committee request for a top cricketer to carry the Olympic torch. Freddy Flintoff refused to do it because the torch was a piece of Nazi propaganda constructed to suggest a historical continuity between Ancient Greece and Aryan Germany. Freddy said he believed such allusion between empires is still symbolically emodied in a torch that lights the start of a competition of sports encoded by the West. He said that until Yorkshire is recognised and ferret games are included, it is not an inclusive sporting contest- merely an invitation to the rest of the world to lose to the capitalist nations on their terms, something they do economically every day.

I think it's great though, all bright and orange, and wrote back to the committee to suggest myself for the ceremony. They agreed, saying my 'Ashes' performance would make great headlines. The plan, originally, was that I would bowl a cricket ball of fire into the Olympic cauldron to spark a flame, which would shoot into a pyrotechnic display of a burning Tibetan monk. It was a great idea, Jamie Oliver said he'd make a tomato, cumin and basil soup for the crowds over the fire. But he pulled out last week because of monosodiumglutamate in school dinners in Taiwan. I carried on regardless, and we practised the ceremony in secret in the Millenium Dome. Me, Kelly Holmes, Seb Coe and fifteen others suffered serious burns. Seb got caught in the back of the head trying to dodge a bouncer, then abandoned the idea of being a toga-clad batsman. I hit a cleaner with my slower ball, and Kelly Holmes got hurt after refusing to wear the asbestos gloves as wicket keeper. After two days of practice, we reached the conclusion that a 25metre square target for me would minimise the risk of casualties, but this just gave me confidence problems, and I stopped throwing the ball completely. So I was holding one of them for two hours, and burned my bowling hand. And that's the story of how Kelly Holmes got picked ahead of me for the last part of the Olympic torch ceremony in London.