Economist reports on the Iraqi unions including LFIQ meeting in Erbil

The Economist carries a piece examining the problems – 2,000 members murdered by insurgents as well as restrictive laws - and the non-sectarian potential of the Iraqi trade union movement including reference to the recent LFIQ summit meeting with Iraqi Workers Federation leaders in Erbil. The article quotes a participant at our meeting as follows: Hashmiya Mohsen, the feisty head of the Basra branch of the electricity workers' union, lists other ways in which independent, democratic unions can contribute to reconstruction: the inclusion of marginalised groups (women, for instance); the acceptance of elections as a part of life; and lessening the suspicion between local workers and foreign employers.