Urgent appeal for financial support for the workers conference in Baghdad!

To all unions, labour organizations, political parties and individuals - support the forthcoming conference of workers in Baghdad!

Dear comrades and supporters of the struggle of workers in Iraq:

The federation of workers councils and unions in Iraq (FWCUI) is preparing its second workers’ conference in Iraq. This event will take place in Baghdad in February 2005. As you are aware, we have already held a successful conference in Basra that attracted more than 350 representatives of workers from various unions and factories and from different cities in south Iraq.  These participants created a united leadership to move towards a more coordinated struggle of workers across the south. This has provided a model for workers in other parts of Iraq and now – responding to the demands of workers in Baghdad and other cities in central Iraq - FWCUI is preparing this second conference.

Our second conference is going to be another major step towards uniting workers around a clear progressive platform. It will facilitate the struggle of the workers of Iraq to impose their just demands on the pro-US administration. Crucially, it will also be a boost to the formation of strong independent unions across Iraq, fighting workers’ organizations that are independent and opposed to the US’s repressive machinations against our class.  The reason workers are gathering around our federation is because of its intransigent commitment to independent working class principles and its defense of workers’ rights. All of this was evidenced in recent successful wave of strikes lead by FWCUI.

The workers of Iraq are determined to hold their conference in Baghdad, the capital of their country. This conference will be an essential organizing tool to strengthen the many local initiatives that are taking place in the field of trade union struggles as well as to forge a united working class front with the struggles that are taking place the length and breadth of Iraq.

But we desperately need your help and solidarity. Concretely, we are asking for donations – large or small – to help make sure this vital working class gathering can go ahead.

The FWCUI’s budget for this conference is $10,000

We need this money In order to accommodate workers coming from different parts of the country as well transport, security, food, publicity, renting hall, etc…

Please rush your donations to FWCUI – help make sure that this historic step forward for working people in Iraq actually takes place.

In solidarity

Aso Jabbar and Houzan Mahmoud- FWCUI

For more information please contact:

Aso Jabbar

Houzan Mahmoud

E-mail:

asojabbar@yahoo.com ( Switzerland)

houzan73@yahoo.co.uk ( Brittain)

Tel: Aso Jabbar (0041 78 882 55 89)

Tel: Houzan Mahmoud (00 44 79 56 88 3001)

You can send your donations in different ways:

1.     You can send cheques to Aso Jabber - abroad representative of FWCUI through the following address.

Aso Jabbar, abroad representative of

Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq

FWCUI

Post Box 8553

3001 Bern

Switzerland

2.     You can send your donations through this partner account address in Switzerland with remarks FWCUI:

International Campaign to Defend Iraqi Women Rights

Solidarity with Iraqi Women Rights -SIWR

Post Finance Bank

Account Nr. 30-340462-4

Post Box 326

3000 Bern 11

Switzerland