2/15/2005, 7:45 am

Report on TUC Iraq Solidarity conference

Approximately 70 trade unionists from Britain and Iraq attended an all-day conference organized by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), held in its headquarters in London.

The event was preceded the evening before by a memorial meeting organized jointly by the TUC and the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) in memory of the IFTU International Secretary, Hadi Saleh, who was tortured and murdered in his home in early January by Ba'athist terrorists. Speakers at the memorial meeting included Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, Hadi's widow, Abdullah Muhsin, foreign representative of the IFTU, and David Bacon from US Labor Against the War.

The morning session featured speakers from the International Labour Office (ILO), the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), Labour Friends of Iraq (LFIQ) and the IFTU.

Walid Hamdan, from the Middle East region of the ILO, opened by asserting the ILO's commitment to the creation of independent and democratic trade unions in Iraq. Amaya Fernandez, who is coordinating the ICFTU's work on Iraq, reported on a series of meetings between international and Iraqi trade unionists, and emphasized the importance of trade union unity in Iraq -- and the ending of the occupation. Harry Barnes MP, one of the founders of Labour Friends of Iraq, spoke about the importance of British support for efforts to create a new Iraq. Ghasib A. Hassan from the IFTU spoke about the challenges facing the Iraqi trade unions following decades of Saddamist rule.

This plenary session was followed by a series of workshops in which Iraqi trade unionists were able to speak directly to their British colleagues.

The workshop I attended was opened by Hangaw Abdulla Khan from the Kurdish unions, who spoke in Kurdish, which was then translated into Arabic, and from that to English. His union represents some 100,000 workers in Kurdistan, which achieved autonomy in 1991 following the Gulf War. When asked what British unions could do, the Kurdish unions had prepared a list of 12 requests, including items for their trade union offices and training both within Iraq and abroad. They urged British unionists to visit Kurdistan.

Ali Sharif Ali from the teachers union then spoke. The union claims some 400,000 members; 75,000 of them in the Baghdad region alone. He spoke about the Ba'ath era when the union existed as an arm of the regime, promoting its values. He offered some examples of practical solidarity, including courses on modern technology organized together with the American Federation of Teachers. He said that for every opening on that course, which would be held in Kurdistan, there were over 100 applicants. When discussing the union's needs, he emphasized the need for training.

The Iraqis were asked about obstacles to organizing and emphasized the lack of a labour code, protection of union rights in the constitution, and other issues. Attacks by the 'resistance' were also mentioned. Workers are prevented from attending union meetings and even going to work because of these attacks. Extremely high unemployment is also a key issue.

They reported that the proposed labour code would be presented to the interim national assembly. The unions expressed some reservations about the proposed code.

The Iraqi unions attending the conference included the IFTU, the Kurdistan Workers Syndicate, the Iraqi Teachers Union, the Iraqi Journalists' Union, the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq, and -- suprisingly -- the General Federation of Iraqi Trade Unions (GFITU), the national trade union centre controlled by the former Saddamist dictatorship. Colleagues who attended the workshop in which a GFITU representative spoke said that the answers he gave to questions about the organization's Ba'athist past went unanswered.

In addition to representatives of the ILO and ICFTU, there were also delegates from two global union federations (the International Transport Workers Federation and the ICEM), and the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center.

At least 16 British unions sent delegates, including the CWU, PCS, Unison, GMB, Connect, NASUWT, NATFHE, T&GWU, FBU, Amicus, Prospect, NUJ, TSSA, NUT, RMT, and Community. In a least two cases, these unions were represented by their general secretaries (NATFHE and RMT).

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