Iraqi workers tour US, reach out to workers in the US to build solidarity against the US occupation
Submitted on Sat, 06/23/2007 - 2:10am
Hashmeya (pictured, right, with a written message of thanks to the IWW for its solidarity with workers in Iraq) is a native of Basra and a 25-year veteran in the Iraqi Department of Electricity. While she is the first woman to rise democratically from the ranks to represent a national Iraqi labor union, she emphasizes that she is not alone - that there are many dedicated and committed union women in the forefront of the Iraqi labor movement.
Ten days ago, two top leaders of Iraq's labor movement, Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein , President of the Electrical Utility Workers Union, General Federation of Iraqi Workers (EUWU-GFIW))and Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary of the Federation of Oil Unions (FOU) spoke throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as part of an Iraqi labor tour of the US. They spoke urgently of Iraqi labor's unified demand for the end of the brutal US occupation and sought for the support of US labor in rejecting the imposition of the Oil Law which the US is using to force the surrender of Iraqi oil resources to foreign corporations as the price of their withdrawal.
They called for labor's international support to help return full sovereignty to their land and Iraqi public ownership of the common resources of Iraq. They made it clear, however, that their successes have been dependent upon the unified power of rank-and-file Iraqi workers.
Within days of the invasion, workers spontaneously began to organize their workplaces and their industries and decide for themselves how they were to operate. Despite the United States' refusal to recognize the legitimacy of their unions and Paul Bremer's continuing in force of Saddam's draconian laws forbidding unions and union advocacy, they successfully fought for and won victory after victory.
Early on, when the Iraqi pie was first being sliced up among corporate vultures, the Basra Oil Employees forced KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary, out of refinery workplaces, despite Cheney's award of a "no-bid" contract. Last June (GFIW) organized large demonstrations to protest government decisions to hire private contractors to do reconstruction work, replacing the industry's own employees.
They fought successfully against starvation wages and the extended work-days that the US tried to impose. In January, 2004, workers in the Najibeeya, Haartha and Al Zubeir electrical generating stations mounted a wildcat strike, stormed the administration buildings, declared the lower September wage schedule void, and vowed to shut off power if salaries were not raised. The ministry agreed to return to the old scale. The Basra Oil Workers struck for two days last August and won their demands for higher pay.
The US and Iraqi Quislings unleashed financial weapons against them - their bank accounts were closed (they still are) and funds looted (something they were all too familiar with from Saddam)
The power of the IMF is being invoked in the attempt to privatize Iraqi industries. Not only is the passage of the privatizing Oil Law made a "benchmark" for the withdrawal, but IMF funds for infrastructure "reparations" are made dependent upon its passage.
In answer to a question concerning reparations, Faleh noted that the IMF allocated Iraqi "reparation" funds to Nigeria, on the west coast of Africa. He asked, "What damage could Nigeria have suffered from the Iraqi Invasion? Do you seriously think the United States would give reparations to Iraq?" He continued, "Iraq is a country rich in agriculture and national resources. We can build our own land ourselves. Just get out."
At the time of their visit in San Francisco, Basra oil workers had been on strike for several days. All the unions in Basra supported it - the steelworkers, the transport workers, the railroad workers, the education workers. On their final night in San Francisco, the strike ended successfully. At the end of the meeting, a labor tour organizer led everyone in singing "Solidarity Forever". The labor leaders gratefully accepted a signed copy of Utah Phillips cd "We have Fed You All a Thousand Years" on behalf of the IWW.
Earlier, in an attempt to break the strike, arrest warrants were issued by Prime Minister Maliki for the union's leaders, including Faleh Abood Umara, on charges of "sabotaging the economy". The military commander of Basra was instructed to pick them up. Faced with the strength of the unified workers movement, he refused.
THAT is the United Power of the Union.
[Further coverage of the Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein and Faleh Abood Umara and labor in Iraq will appear in the next issue of the Industrial Worker.]
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The labor leader's remaining appearances in the US are in Chicago (June 21-23), Washington, DC (June 24-27) and Atlanta, Georgia (June 27-28). For further information visit the website
www.uslaboragainstwar.org