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5 March, 2007
The ICEM, the Global Union Federation for oil workers, is calling for “strong condemnation” of the two recent US and Iraqi military raids on union offices in Baghdad. The raids, during which one worker was arrested, and computers and fax machines at the central office of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) confiscated, occurred on 23 and 25 February.
The ICEM, with affiliates in 125 countries, is calling on trade unions worldwide to directly protest this unprovoked attack on a trade union federation that stands for nation building and bettering the living conditions inside Iraq.
ICEM is calling on trade unions and others to write to Iraqi embassies in their home countries, as well as to send messages of solidarity to GFIW leaders that their efforts to build strong trade unions in Iraq will succeed and with it, fair and just reconstruction for all Iraqi people.
Trade unions are asked to register a protest with the Iraqi embassy or consulate in their country by visiting: http://www.mofa.gov.iq/index.aspx. They are also being strongly urged to write GFIW leaders in Baghdad to tell them they protest these forceful and menacing acts.
Messages can be sent to these principal addresses:
[email protected]
[email protected]
The ICEM notes that the pair of raids on the GFIW offices represents disturbing and counter-productive acts inside Iraq. On 19 February, a raid also occurred at the offices of the Iraq Syndicate of Journalists, and American troops confiscated computers and membership records.
“These attacks are a clear violation of fundamental human and trade union rights,” wrote ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda to Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. “They are also a cynical attempt to not only harass the trade union movement of your country, but to limit their ability to communicate with both their members and their international contacts.
“This is appalling, particularly at the present time. Genuine and democratic trade unions are a cornerstone of democracy and at the same time are a force for reconciliation, peace and stability in a society,” said Warda.
To read the ICEM letter to the Iraqi Prime Minister, click here.