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27 August, 2007
Pointed with direction from ICEM Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi, the Nordic country's national labour centre, LO, has advised state oil company Statoil not to open an office in Iraq.
The reason cited is Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani's letter from July 2007, which bans trade unions in the public sector. His decree replicates the ban on unions in the country's oil sector imposed by both the regime of Saddam Hussein and the occupational forces following the 2003 invasion. (See here for more).
Statoil is planning to open the office in the northern Iraq city of Erbil. According to a Norwegian press report, LO President Roar Flåthen said the opening of the office shows poor judgement on Statoil's part. The LO has also officially called on Norway's government to block Statoil from moving into Iraq at this time. The Norwegian government is the majority shareholder of Statoil.
LO Norway's President Roar Flåthen
LO and Industri Energi's stand on this issue is also supported by the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFOU), a collection of some ten oil workers' unions in southern Iraq. IFOU President Hassan Jumaa Awad al Assadi has warned both Statoil and Norway's government that, until full recognition of trade unionism occurs, the company should not carry out any activity inside Iraq.