4-27-05, 10:19 am

From IFTU

Most readers of Tribune will, like me and my comrades in the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), have opposed the war. I don't regret doing so and I would do so again.

I believed that the Iraqi people had other ways to overthrow Saddam Hussein's despicable fascist-type dictatorship.

But things have changed for us Iraqis. Our new priorities are to keep Iraq intact (the risks of Iraq descending into civil war are still real), to build a strong independent and democratic trade union movement and to create a federal democratic and fully sovereign Iraq.

The election at the end of January represented an historic breakthrough. 60 per cent of Iraq's population – 8.5 million people – went to the polls to elect a 275-member Transitional Assembly.

Without intimidation, elections irregularities and incompetence, we would have seen an even higher turnout. But the bland expression 'went to the polls' hardly captures what happened on January 30 2005.

Even as lines of voters were being blown up by homicidal bombers from the so-called 'resistance' they cast their ballot. At one polling station the fascist in question blew himself up before he could reach the lines of voters. All day long the voters walked around his body, spitting on it as they went in to vote, showing it the purple finger as they left.

One family saw their son blown up, did their duty to his body in the morning, and then insisted they vote in the afternoon in honour of his memory. These are the martyrs of the new Iraqi democracy.

January 30 2005 was a triumph of democracy and the human spirit comparable to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Of course, the shadow of Saddam's brutal dictatorship is long. Iraq will not be transformed overnight. And now, after decades of repression, sanctions and war, we are now facing a terrorist network that actually targets trade unionists.

A railway worker has been beheaded, his head placed on his stomach and prominently displayed. My friend and colleague, Hadi Saleh, the IFTU's International Secretary, was tortured and murdered, horribly, by remnants of Saddam's secret police. Rocket-propelled grenades have been fired at trade union headquarters.

The international labour movement has risen as one to condemn the killing of Hadi and to extend the hand of solidarity to the IFTU. If Hadi had survived he would have been vindicated by the tremendous turnout at the elections.

This election will enable Iraqis to move forward. Already the terrorists and ex-Saddam loyalists are in retreat. The great majority of Iraqis are battling for a new democratic, federal and united Iraq, governed by a secular constitution and the rule of law, parliamentary democracy and a proper separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and an independent judiciary.

A new police force and army that are culturally different from Saddam's repressive apparatus are being trained and will be ready soon. They played a crucial role in providing security during the 30th January elections and should be commended. But the process of building new Iraqi security forces is slow. They are insufficiently trained and remain small in size. As yet they are incapable of taking full responsibility for securing Iraq’s large borders and protecting civilians and maintaining law and order. It is vital that efforts are redoubled until Iraq has security forces able to defend the country and the civilians. These forces must be beholden to no political party or individual but loyal only to the Iraqi constitution and its people.

The political key to defeating sectarian violence is to develop a secular constitution that accommodates the aspirations of all Iraqis, including the Iraqi Kurds, for autonomy within a federal structure. Will Islam be the main source for the new constitution? Compromise must be reached here. Iraq has many other religious communities and discrimination against non-Muslims would be unjust.

The success of Iraqi nation building also lies with the growth of civil society. Genuine democracy cannot be imposed from above but must be built from below, through a strong social movement composed of free political parties, non-governmental organisations, environmental agencies and free unions.

Iraq's economy was abused by Saddam. Pulverised by his wars, bled by the consequent sanctions, devastated by the invasion of 2003, Iraq is crying out for emergency reconstruction. All sectors need rebuilding with foreign investment but national assets must remain publicly owned. We urgently need to diversify – 95 per cent of our income currently derives from oil.

An emergency reconstruction of Iraq – a Marshall Plan for the people of Iraq – can kick start the economy, improve the quality of life of the people and dry-up the recruitment pool for extremists who feed on poverty. Such a Marshall Plan for Iraq would help cement the UN political structure put in place after the fall of Saddam with the aim of building a new, secure and democratic Iraq.

Many Iraqi workers remain suspicious of the very term 'union', because of the repression they endured at the hands of Saddam's 'yellow unions' – part of the state machine of terror. To remedy this, the IFTU will commence a cultural project. A bus will function as a travelling theatre visiting workplaces and communities to promote the basic tenets of trade unionism and dismantle the culture of fear.

Right now, the new unions have little or nothing. Some have buildings, but they are in severe disrepair after the war and subsequent looting. We need computers and fax machines.

The TUC has launched an appeal for Iraqi unions and recently held a conference to boost solidarity and help us train our members and officers.

The IFTU is an integral part of the international trade union movement and has received support from international federations as well as many British unions.

Free trade unionism is growing in this more fertile political climate. The IFTU now represents 12 individual unions and has a membership of at least 200,000. The new and independent teachers' union has 75,000 members in Baghdad alone and 16 branches throughout Iraq. The Kurdistan Workers Syndicate Union has about 100,000 members. We all work together for a federal, democratic and secular Iraq.

Perhaps most significantly to left-wing critics of the war, we are mobilising to persuade the incoming Assembly to enact a progressive labour code that will allow workers to challenge the economic occupation of our country.

The IFTU recently led a successful strike of Hotel Workers in Baghdad. In Basra the IFTU led a solidarity march with students, male and female, who have been beaten by the Islamic Fundamentalists for holding a picnic.

Iraq is being reborn. The lengthy negotiations between the various parties eventually delivered a deal sharing out the key positions of the state. Hopes are high that a broadly based national government can be formed. This development would further attract those political groups, which initially boycotted the political process and the elections but are now looking to join in.

Please do not be fooled by the news. There is still too much intimidation and violence – and not only against the IFTU - but the so-called 'resistance' is increasingly withering and the majority of areas in Iraq are now secure.

The UN should also take an active role in compelling neighbouring countries to guard their borders and to prevent the continued influx of foreign fundamentalist fighters into Iraq seeking to incite sectarian conflict.

A strong labour movement is vital to our goal of rebuilding Iraq on the basis of social justice and unity. We desperately need the support of progressives around the world if basic social democratic and labour values are to take root in Iraq. Progressives desperately need an example of social democracy in the region. We need each other.



--Abdullah Muhsin is a representative of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions.