5 April, 2010
With the support of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), trade unions in Iraq have come together to create a campaign and a website, calling for international solidarity and pressure on the government of Iraq to enact fair labour legislation. Seven years after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, workers in Iraq are still without legislative protection of their fundamental rights at work.
The ICEM strongly supports the campaign, and urges all trade unions from all corners of the world to offer similar support by logging onto the website here and join the campaign. (If your organization wants to endorse the campaign, send a mail to Abdullah Muhsin of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) here to give that endorsement.)
Many in the Iraqi government now perceive trade unions as government tools. However, momentum is building behind the campaign for free and independent trade unions, and fair and just labour laws. Important political figures inside Iraq are now pledging their support. These include former President Jalal Talabani, 85 members of Parliament, the Oil Minister, and many community and business leaders.
Hashmeya Muhsin
Hashmeya Muhsin, President of the GFIW-affiliated General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians, and a member of the ICEM Executive Committee, is a key figure in the campaign. She recently told the ITUC in an interview that international solidarity and pressure are crucial in pushing the government to enact fair labour legislation.
The key parliamentary drafting committee has consulted with the campaign's coordinating group, the National Labour Campaign Committee (NLCC), and MPs are petitioning for proposed legislation to be debated in Parliament.
Despite the right to organize being clearly guaranteed in the new constitution, Iraq’s government falls back on the blatant anti-union decree of the Saddam era. The current campaign calls for the abolition of Saddam’s Law 150 of 1987, and Order 8750 of August 2005 by the occupation forces, which effectively froze all trade union assets and financial accounts, making it impossible for unions to function.
Saddam’s Law 150 bans all public sector employees from organising or striking. Some 90% of all Iraqi enterprises are considered part of the public sector, including oil, gas, electricity, textiles, and most other manufacturing sectors.
While several versions of a new labour code have been drafted, with the aid of the ILO, political opposition and a gridlocked Parliament has blocked progress. When the campaign is successful in abolishing the draconian anti-union measures of Saddam and the occupation forces, only then can elections to union office be held, free and without government interference. Free trade unions in Iraq will enhance nation-building and contribute greatly to establishing democratic institutions.
Current evidence of the urgent need for new labour legislation is the government interference in the Iraqi Teachers’ Union (ITU). The government committee entrusted with overseeing the leadership elections of the union is attempting to install its preferred candidates into leadership positions.
The ICEM calls on all its trade union affiliates to join this campaign. Now is the time to raise the profile that Iraqi trade unions have been working towards since 2003 – labour statutes that comply with international labour standards, and strong trade unions that can enforce those statutes and protect global standards.