An
Interview with Khasraw Saya and Aso Jabbar
on the Network of Representatives of the Union of Unemployed
15.January 2004
On December 18, 2003, the network of representatives of the Union
of Unemployed in Iraq was established on a proposal from some members
of the Worker-communist Party of Iraq. This network has started working
abroad in Canada, Australia and many European countries. To learn
more about the objectives and different activities of this network,
we conducted the following interview with Aso Jabar, spokesperson
of the UUI network and Khisro Saya, the coordinator of the network.
Question: From where did the idea of establishing the Network of
Representatives of the Union of Unemployed in Iraq come, and what
policies is it based on?
Khasraw Saya:Establishing the Union of Unemployed in Iraq was
the first sign that the Iraqi working class was coming to the fore
after the collapse of the Ba’ath regime. It represented a different
voice opposed to war and was committed to exposing the tragic conditions,
which control the lives of the Iraqi people. The Union of Unemployed
in Iraq represents a unique movement and shinning torch amid the dark
scenario brought about by America and various Islamic and ethnocentric
pro-US groups. This scenario has forced the Iraqi masses to experience
widespread honor killings, terrorism, lack of security, and an alarming
collapse of the pillars of civil society. The organized and united
struggle of all sectors of the working class in Iraq faces extremely
difficult conditions because of this scenario. The political uncertainty
in Iraq has caused a significant regression of the working class’s
struggle. Amid such conditions, the Union of Unemployed in Iraq has
emerged as an independent voice different from both the Islamist and
pro-US camps. Having led tens of protests and demonstrations of unemployed
people in various parts of Iraq, the Union of the Unemployed surfaced
in an emancipatory and modern way.
Throughout these civil gatherings and demonstrations, the UUI has
expressed the voice of workers and toilers as an undeniable class
reality to all political forces in Iraq and has launched a massive
political struggle for jobs and unemployment benefits. We believe
this troubling class reality in Iraq is grounds enough for every communist
and labor activist abroad to represent the demands and objectives
of this movement. Based on this belief, we have established the Network
of Representatives of the Union of Unemployed in Iraq in many European
countries, North America and Australia to convey the political and
class reality of Iraqi society to the world. We are especially exposing
the right-wing bourgeois media in the West that from the outset has
portrayed Iraqi society as tribal, nationalistic and Islamic. The
western media depicts Iraq as a society where only Talabani, Barzani,
Baqir al-Hakim, Jalabi, the heads of Zober and Khals tribes and remnants
of the monarchy are active, and that there is no room for the movements
which belong to workers, women, the youth, and the secular-civil society.
The right-wing bourgeois media has been presenting the US’s alternative
that intends to impose another “loya Jirga” similar to Afghanistan
on the Iraqi people. We know how they established the “Governing
Council” as a center where various ethnocentric, Islamic and
tribal gangs along with remnants of the former Ba’ath regime
come together under the pretext of democratizing Iraq from above.
Therefore, what we want to achieve through the Network of Representatives
of the Union of Unemployed in Iraq is a policy, which represents the
real picture of Iraqi society as a capitalist society. Iraq is a society
where its citizens are civilized, and whose lives are integrated with
modernity and secularism. It is society where the class struggle between
workers and capitalists is the axis of every political conflict and
every movement. Workers, women’s and youth movements who have
absolutely no relationship with these backward ethnocentric and Islamic
parties, often opposing them, occupy the center of a political arena
in Iraq where thousands of activists surface every day. With no doubt,
representing such a genuine picture of Iraqi society will draw extensive
support from the freedom-loving people, political parties and labor
organizations in Europe and America. The Union of the Unemployed in
Iraq can channel this support in the interest of a secular, modern,
democratic and humane future for the Iraqi people. For this purpose,
we established the Network of Representatives of the Union of Unemployed
in Iraq as a tool to struggle for freedom, worker’s rights, and
social welfare in Iraq.
Q- You work under the name of The Network of Representatives of
the Union of Unemployed in Iraq. Does that not mean neglecting other
sectors of the working class? Do workers who belong to other sectors
in Iraq have any room in your agenda?
Khasraw Saya: Representing the Union of Unemployed in Iraq
does not amount to neglecting the cause for representing the demands
and interests of the entire working class before public opinion in
the West. We want to make it especially clear that the interests and
struggles of workers’- employed or not- are one and inseparable.
However, when we place the Union of Unemployed in Iraq above other
sectors of the working class in our communiqué, it is because
of the role that the Union of Unemployed in Iraq has played and will
play amid our current situation. First, let me add in this regard
that the US war on Iraq did not simply result in overthrowing Saddam’s
regime but rather destroyed Iraqi society. The U.S war on Iraq disrupted
the masses’ economic and civil activities and resulted in unprecedented
levels of unemployment, leaving millions of people to face the danger
of starvation and difficulty in securing their daily livelihood.
The phenomenon of unemployment and the unemployed movement’s
struggle for jobs and unemployment benefits is a reflection of this
harsh reality. It is a serious predicament, which forces itself on
the Iraqi working class. It has also has become a political and organizational
reality within this class. Its effect on the workers movement has
reached such a level that the Union of Unemployed in Iraq and other
emerging organizations, which raise the issue unemployment can easily
organize and unite the majority of workers who are ready to fight
back. Obviously, this millions-strong force grants it a special political
and emancipatory position with regard to other sectors of the workers’
movement. Secondly, the Union of Unemployed in Iraq was able to attract
hundreds of thousands of members and organize tens of demonstrations
and mass protests under clear class slogans in a short period. The
UUI has been the first event for Iraqi workers in their struggle against
the political situation, which transpired after the war. This struggle
has been a sign of the vanguard role that the unemployed sector of
the Iraqi working class has played, a role that cannot be marginalized
by other sectors of working class and their leaders. Therefore, I
can say that based on its political influence and significant role,
the Union of Unemployed in Iraq and the unemployed movement is not
only a symbol of the Iraqi working class’s struggle but was the
first attempt by this sector to establish workers councils and trade
unions in other industrial fields. For us, representing the Union
of Unemployed in Iraq implies representing the entire Iraqi working
class and their demands.
Q- What are the objectives of this network and what form do its
activities take? What kind of organization is it and what means are
employed to reach its objective?
Aso Jabbar: In general, our objective for establishing the
Network of Representatives of the Union of Unemployed in Iraq is empowering
workers and their respective organizations within the current political
equations in Iraq. Our goal is that the workers and deprived masses
of Iraq play a crucial role to shape the future of political power
in Iraq in their own interests. Obviously, this objective can be achieved
by attracting the broadest international support and solidarity with
the workers, deprived people, and progressive organizations in Iraq.
We believe that the Iraqi masses are not alone but are part of a greater
international force, which consists of workers and freedom-loving
people worldwide.
Workers and freedom-lovers of the world face this war and both terrorist
poles; America’s New World Order on one hand and political Islam
and various Arab ethnocentric groups on the other. If this international
force supports the Iraqi workers and remains in solidarity with them,
without a doubt, the Iraqi masses will have a bright and humane future.
In this respect, we struggle to expose both the role of the US and
the Islamic and ethnocentric parties in Iraq. Our objective is to
exert more pressure on them to recognize the workers and unemployed
people’s demands so that the future law and government in Iraq
recognize these demands. We are trying to communicate the reality
of life and daily struggle of unemployed people, workers’ councils
and the labor movement in Iraq to the international public as a lively
movement full of progressive and humane potentials. As such, we hope
to attract the attention of trade unions, personalities, political
parties, human right organization and all those concerned about the
future of the Iraqi people worldwide.
With regard to the activities of the Network of the Representatives
of the Union of Unemployed in Iraq, they take on a campaigning form.
Our campaign aims to involve and rally the support of decision-making
centers, public opinion, media channels, and organizations of all
kinds throughout the West. In each period, depending on the circumstances
of the working class struggle in Iraq, we will address and prioritize
daily issues that are urgent and on the agenda of workers and unemployed
organizations in Iraq. Establishing the Network of Representatives
of the UUI depends mainly on a coalition of activists who are knowledgeable
about the class dynamics and labor relations, which face workers in
Iraq and abroad. These activists are able to campaign and rally support
from the media, public opinion, humanitarian groups, and civil institutions
in various country. The tools and material of activity of this network
are many. In addition to issuing statements and press releases, we
also distribute a newsletter in English. We have designed an informative
website in both Arabic and English to accommodate reporting and raising
awareness on behalf of the struggle of the working class in Iraq.
Our website serves as a forum to contact activists from this network
and as a guide for anyone who wants to contribute to our class struggle
in Iraq. In short, our means of operation include forming a network
of reporters, holding press conferences and regular meetings and widening
the Network of Representatives to involve all European countries,
Australia, and Northern America.
Q- What are the conditions of membership in this network? Can other
organizations become members?
Aso Jabbar: Simply put, any person who supports the announced
objectives and who is already working towards them can be a member
of this network. In the same light, any political party, labor or
civil organization that supports our announced objectives can become
a member of the Network of Representatives of the Union of Unemployed
in Iraq, become a representative of this network, and take responsibility
for its objectives.
Address: UUI, Post Box 325,
CH-3000 Bern 11,
Tel :0041 78 882 55 89
Email:asojabbar@yahoo.com