Unionising Iraq (1) IFTU leader opposes Occupation and Privatisation

Ghasib Hassan, member of the executive committee of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions, and general secretary of the Union for Aviation and Railway Workers is interviewed by David Bacon over at Truthout.

Hassan makes clear the IFTU are “campaigning to end the occupation of Iraq, to build a democratic, federal Iraq which will guarantee the rights and jobs of its people”.

In Britain there are many lies told about the IFTU by the Galloway-Respect-Socialist Worker-Seamus Milne-Andrew Murray axis. Hassan clear away the debris left by these people and tells some truths.

“Many of the people active in our union are very well known because of their struggle against the former regime of Saddam Hussein. They paid heavily. Our primary need is to create an independent trade union agenda and campaign on behalf of working people.

“In the IFTU we campaign on these issues. We must build a trade union movement which is independent, democratic and pluralist. Workers should be free to join the union of their own choice. We campaign for social, economic and political advances in the interest of working people. We want a strong working class positioned to engage fully in building a federal, prosperous and democratic Iraq.

“Women should take their place in society, government and trade unions. Their wages should be equal to those of men. We now have women who are leaders of national unions in the IFTU.

“The IFTU was established soon after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Those who participated were trade unionists who had been in exile or prison, and who had suffered terribly. The IFTU is building free, democratic workers' committees. Our executive committee was formed in an open meeting on May 16th, 2003, in a convention of grassroots trade unionists who were all opposed to Saddam Hussein.

“After that meeting, we initiated our work and began going out to factories. We formed committees in the workplaces, which were elected in meetings, and where we sent out notices two weeks beforehand. People could nominate and elect their representatives freely.

“The IFTU supported the first struggle under the occupation, after the fall of Saddam Hussein, where 800 workers in a bicycle factory in Mamoudiya called for raises, and the management refused. The union for the printing and mechanical industry negotiated with the management, and gave them two weeks notice that if there were no raises, the workers would strike. After striking for five hours, the management agreed.

“We've built 12 national unions, and six of them have held open conferences. We've held elections from the workshop level to the leadership - free and democratic elections, with competing candidates in an open process. In the next few months, we'll hold conferences for the other six unions”.
Check out the whole interview. (AJ)