SEARCH
AFL-CIO Protests Saddam-like Iraqi Labor Order
As U.S. combat troops head home from Iraq, new evidence shows there is much to be done before all Iraqis are truly free. In a letter to Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka strongly protests a recent government order that bans all trade union activities in the government-owned electrical industry.
The order by Iraq’s minister of electricity prohibits ministry officials from dealing with unions and instructs them to take back all the benefits electrical unions have negotiated in recent years. More ominously, it orders the ministry, along with the police, to close all electrical union offices and take control of their assets.
In the letter—which also was sent to Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton—Trumka reminds Al-Maliki that Iraq is a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and must abide by international treaties such as the ILO rules on the right of workers to join unions.
Trumka likens this order and other anti-union actions by Iraqi officials to those of the deposed dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, saying Al-Maliki’s government
continues to implement anti-union labor laws and practices which originated in a far less democratic and less hopeful era of Iraqi history.
Trumka calls on Al-Maliki to “immediately take all necessary measures to stop this unjust government attack on worker rights” and to stop implementing laws that restrict trade union organizing and collective bargaining,
until such time as the Iraqi legislature can enact new laws that live up to the promise of a new, democratic Iraq that Iraqi workers deserve.
 |
Become a Fan on Facebook |  |
Follow Us on Twitter |  |
Subscribe to YouTube |  |
Subscribe to Blog RSS | ||||
4 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
The AFL-CIO has a right to be upset, but what was on their minds when it chose to remain silent about the imperialist invasion of Iraq? Did the AFL-CIO believe all that crap about “weapons of mass destruction”? Did the AFL-CIO truly believe that Saddam Hussein had any connections to the destruction of the World Trade Center?
Folks as the military leaves private mercenaries are moving in to keep the Iraqi people under control. U.S. oil interests always trump the interests of the people whether they be American or Iraqi!
What a waste. Thinking you can change a Islamic country to a democracy is a joke. Treating workers fairly in a Islamic country is another joke. Man just leave and forget about hope and change. It is not going to happen.
It is obvious that sweartogod knows little of the history of Iraq during Saddam’s rein or even how Saddam came to power. Before the Ba’thist Party took power the leadership was under a left nationalist leader known as Qassem who decided to nationalize the oil wells. This was not to the US’ liking and by the 1950s the US had both him and Mossedeq in Iran overthrown. Saddam is a creation of US imperialism not the creation of Iraqi people. But when the United States took the reins in 1991 they did not overthrow Saddam since he could still be used as a weapon against labor. In 2003 they employed direct imperialist measures. L. Bremmer while overthrowing Saddam kept the anti-union laws in place – that is why workers cannot unionize today. Al Maliki is a stooge of American imperialism.
As for the AFL-CIO it is to their shame that they did not mobilize American workers to support their Iraqi brethren, but it is not surprising since it is doing little to save American workers’ jobs. And so let us put the blame where it belongs. American capitalists will destroy a country and murder over a million people so that they can continue to make profits by the billions, but it is the responsibility of labor to stop that from happening, and the AFL is guilty in this respect. It is an abomination that Trumpka should be talking about Al Maliki and not be talking about the puppeteer. This is unfortunately no surprise either.
Carol, what is surprising is that people should rail against the AFL-CIO concerning lack of action. Unions are the members.
not some entity housed in DC.
Any failure of unions is the failure of members to act.
We are the voice of workers, we allowed this to happen through our reluctance to speak out and to act.
The leadership is an empty chamber without the active support of the members.