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31 January, 2011
In early January, the ICEM learned of a major workers’ protest in al-Ferdous Square in Baghdad by Iraqi public employees and civil servants. More details are now available on that 4 January manifestation, thanks to the Federation of Workers’ Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI). This legitimate protest was held to uphold work rights for Politically Dismissed Workers.
An inquiry commission is about to wrongly verify documentation acknowledging the sackings of hundreds of workers from ministries and agencies within Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, Irrigation, and other departments of government over political allegiances.
Public Workers Carry a Symbolic Coffin in Baghdad
The demonstration was vocal and visual, by all accounts.
The manifestation’s first demand called for the cancellation of all decisions by the inquiry commission. Secondly, the 4 January rally and march demanded that sacked workers’ dismissal periods count as actual employment and thirdly, the 500 protesters demanded a stop to proceedings of verification against the politically dismissed workers.
FWCUI President Falah Alwan
After trade union activists spoke at al-Ferdous Square, demonstrators carried a coffin as a death symbol to government officials destroying any semblance of global labour standards in this particular case. The march wound its way in central Baghdad to Square Wiz and then back again to al-Ferdous Square.
The protest was widely covered by Baghdad television, radio, and print media outlets.
The ICEM gives global support to Iraqi workers who exercise their legitimate rights under international labour standards.