16 June, 2008
The ICEM joined four other labour union federations at the ILO’s 97th International Labour Conference to condemn the Iraqi government’s neglect toward global labour standards, and its harassment of trade unions and trade union leaders in the Middle Eastern nation.
The condemnation came at the ILO’s Committee on Standards on 11 June, during a session in support of complaints from Iraqi trade unions. The ICEM joined the national center of the UK, the Trades Union Congress (TUC); the American federation, AFL-CIO; and fellow Global Union Federations, Education International (EI) and Public Services International (PSI) in declaring, before world governing bodies, that peace and prosperity in Iraq depends on strong, free, and independent trade unions.
The statement denounces the occupying forces for raiding and ransacking union offices; condemns the government with maintaining laws that restrict trade unions and interferes with their internal and financial affairs; and admonishes “so-called insurgents” who “target and kill trade union leaders and ordinary workers like teachers who are training the next generation in tolerance and human rights.”
The statement, read by ILO Government Board Member and TUC Representative Simon Steyne, also sets forth five major concerns that hinder peace and normal lives for Iraqi citizens.
1.) Saddam’s 1987 Decree 150, banning public sector trade unions: “The public sector in Iraq – including oil, energy supply, public service, and health – accounts for 80% of the workforce. The decree prevents the vast majority of Iraqi workers from exercising their fundamental rights and must be abolished.”
2.) Decree 8750, imposed by the occupation’s forces: It “empowers the Government to take over trade unions at will, and has been used to freeze all Iraqi union bank accounts. It is odious, contrary to (ILO) Convention(s), and it too should be abolished.”
3.) Labour and Social Security Law: “Apparently, an ILO-compliant labour law sits in the Ministry of Labour. Though ready for several years, we are often told it is under review. It should be adopted and implemented as promised. Any review can take place once Iraqis have seen how it works in practice.”
4.) Government interference, through both Decrees 150 and 8750: “Earlier this year, the government told the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) that it would release some of the frozen funds so internal elections could be held. Those elections are needed – but it should be GFIW’s members’ decision when to hold them … the Government insists that election candidates must be Iraqi citizens, which is unacceptable to a free trade union movement representing workers wherever they come from. And in flagrant violation of Convention 98, (such nominees for union office) must have the support of their employer. The Government has used Decree 150 to insist that only unions in the private sector will be involved. This would forcibly restructure those unions with members both in and out of the private sector, and prevents the vast majority of GFIW members from having any say in their organisation’s leadership.”
5.) Physical Transfer of IFOU Activists: “Eight leaders of the ICEM-affiliated Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) are to be moved from their jobs and homes in the southern oil fields to a violent part of Baghdad, in a move calculated to disrupt the union’s activities and put them in danger. The same trick, tried previously against the leaders of the GFIW-affiliated port workers union in Um Asr, was prevented by international and Iraqi trade union opposition.”
In conclusion, the statement, read, “The Government must explain the contradictions between its words and its deeds, must halt anti-union repression and introduce a labour law promoting social dialogue, freedom of association, and collective bargaining.”
In a TUC statement, Simon Steyne said, “It is strange that a Government too busy fighting violence should spend so much time and effort harassing one of the few institutions which unites workers regardless of tribal, ethnic, or religious boundaries and is committed to women’s emancipation and the creation of a peaceful and prosperous Iraq.”