Introduction

  The Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) -- of which the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq (UUI) is an affiliate -- has been fighting unceasingly to be granted legal recognition ever since it was founded at a national conference held on December 8, 2003 in Baghdad with worker delegates representing workplaces from across Iraq.

The Union of the Unemployed in Iraq was formed in May 2003, when they elected an Executive Council that elected their General Secretary. It has now formed local branches in 7 provinces grouping 150,000 affiliated workers from around the country.

The Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq and the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq attended an ILO and ICFTU seminar in Amman, Jordan, in December 2003 with the participation of other Arab trade unions of the region.

In February 2004, in Baghdad, they had a meeting with an international delegation of labour unions headed by the ICFTU.

On March 15, 2004 the Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq and the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq were received by representatives of the ILO Workers Group at the ILO in Geneva. The purpose of the delegation was to inform the ILO Workers Group of the situation of the labour movement in Iraq and more specifically to inform the ILO that the dispositions of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 are not enforced in Iraq.

This delegation to the ILO Workers Group also included representatives from US Labor Against the War (USLAW), the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU), and the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC). These organisations are participating in the International Campaign Against the Occupation and for Labour Rights in Iraq.

To the question: "What could be done to prevent that Iraq -- today -- perpetuates the system of official selection and recognition of trade unions that excludes the right to organise in the union of one's own choosing," the answer from the representatives of the ILO Workers Group referred to the ILO's mechanisms providing for the possibility for any Iraqi union which considered that ILO Conventions are being violated to lodge a complaint to the ILO Trade Union Freedom Committee.

Further to the advice given by the representatives of the ILO Workers Group, the Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq and the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq have decided to lodge a complaint to the ILO Trade Union Freedom Committee.

The Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq and the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq will meet the ILO Workers Group again on June 11, 2004.

The Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq and the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq call upon labour organisations the world over, and particularly on all the Workers Group delegates at the next ILO yearly assembly, to support their complaint to the ILO Trade Union Freedom Committee.

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Dear Sirs and Madams

We, the undersigned duly elected representatives acting on behalf of the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq (UUI) and of the Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI), wish hereby to lodge a complaint to the International Labour Organisation's Trade Union Freedom Committee

  - Whereas, several trade union organisations were set up by the Iraqi workers themselves after the fall of the previous regime, including the Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq (of which the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq is an affiliate);

  - Whereas, the Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq was set up at its founding national conference held December 8, 2003 in Baghdad with worker delegates representing workplaces from across Iraq;

  - Whereas, the Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq is now grouping 300,000 Iraqi workers;

  - Whereas, the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq was formed in May 2003, when they elected an Executive Council that elected their General Secretary;

  - Whereas, the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq now has formed local branches in 7 provinces recording so far 150,000 affiliated workers from around the country;

  - Whereas, on January 28, 2004 Decree No 16 issued by Interim Governing Council President Adnan Pachachi granted recognition to one of the existing trade union federations in Iraq, the IFTU, by stating that the IFTU and its President, Mr Rasem Hussein Abdullah, are "the legitimate and legal representatives of the labour movement in Iraq"; and

  - Whereas, at various workplaces such as the Baghdad railway station or Basra Refinery, after the adoption of Decree No 16 of January 28, 2004 Iraqi workers were told by the management that they should join the legalised union, thus implying that the other unions would be illegal.

  - We therefore consider that the current situation created by the introduction of Decree No 16 is not consistent with ILO standards and more specifically violates dispositions of ILO Conventions 87 and 98.

Regarding ILO Convention 87

- In its Articles 1 & 2, ILO Convention 87 stipulates that, "Workers and employees without any distinction have the right, without prior authorisation, to set up organisations of their own choosing as well as the right to join these organisations" (Article1), and "Workers and employees' organisations have a right to elaborate their rule book and to elect freely their representatives" (Article 2).

Is there not a contradiction between the fact that the public authorities decided that a trade union was the "legitimate and legal representative of the labour movement in Iraq" and the fact that "workers and employees without any distinction have the right without prior authorisation to set up organisations of their own choosing as well as the right to join these organisations" ?

Is it not a violation of Article 1 of ILO Convention 87 when workplace managements instruct the workers on which trade union they should affiliate?

  - Article 3 of ILO Convention 87, stipulates that, "Public authorities must abstain from any interference, any act restricting those rights or at preventing the legal exercise of these rights."

  Is there not a violation of Article 3 of ILO Convention 87 when the public authorities decree which is the representave union?

  We say that by passing Decree No 16 on January 28, 2004, which selects the union to be granted recognition, the public authorities took the right to decide which organisation should be recognised and thus barred the way to the freedom to affiliate to the union of own's own choosing.

  It is a clear public interference in violation of ILO Convention 87. It perpetuates the previous system of official selection and recognition of trade unions, excluding the right to organise in the union of one's own choosing.

  Regarding ILO Convention 98

- Article 1 of ILO Convention 98, stipulates that, "The organisations of workers and employees must be adequately protected against any mutual interference when for instance company managers threaten to dismiss workers for joining unions which are considered illegal."

  Subsequent to the fact that the shameful law passed by Saddam Hussein in 1987 banning the right to strike in all public enterprises has not been repealed, Iraqi trade unionists have been threatened by company managers and attacked by the occupying forces for striking.

  Iraqi workers are now being told by management and the authorities that by not affiliating to the only recognised union they are acting illegally. They can be arrested and sent to jail simply for exercising the right to organise in the union of their own choosing, a right which is enshrined in ILO Conventions.

 These threats expressed in violation of the dispositions of ILO Convention 98 are made possible because ILO Convention 87 providing for the right to organise in the union of one's own choosing is not enforced.

  - ILO Convention 98 provides for the right to bargain collectively.

 It is a violation of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 when, by means of Decree No 16 of January 28, 2004 the authorities take the right to decide which organisations should be recognised and in so doing select which union should be granted the universally recognised right to negotiate.

  Iraqi workers, with their duly elected representatives, should be allowed to formulate their demands towards the elaboration of a labour law, which can only be written in Iraq by the Iraqi workers themselves.

  Hundreds of thousands of workers in Iraq are currently unemployed (70% of the workforce according to recent survey), and there is widespread fear that their economic well-being has been taken out of their control and in fact depends on the occupying forces. In the current situation, Iraqi workers fear that the decisions made by the occupying forces, particularly in the economic field with privatisation, would continue the plundering of the Iraqi resources by the multinational corporations. It is the people of Iraq themselves who must be in charge of drafting their own Constitution and their own laws, including their own labour law and the dispositions providing for the right to unemployment benefits and full trade union rights provided for by ILO Conventions and more specifically Conventions 87 and 98.

  - Whereas, we consider that there can't be democracy in Iraq if the people of Iraq cannot decide themselves the disposition of their resources, their fate and their future -- and establish their own control over their own economy; if the Iraqi workers are not free to set up the organisations of their own choosing.

  - Whereas, we share the views expressed by the ILO's Workers Group that,

  "The rehabilitation exercise and support must be provided for all the people of Iraq, especially the poor, the disabled, and vulnerable groups. The Group calls for the immediate resumption of work for all Iraqi workers, with due protection for their wages. It also demands that the oil resources of Iraq be used solely by the people of Iraq and exclusively for their benefit.

  "In the new Iraq, there must be, consistent with ILO standards, full freedom of association, guaranteeing the Iraqi workers the right to organise and to bargain collectively; there must be democracy with full civil liberties, permitting trade unions to choose their own leadership independently and without interference; there must be the right to self-determination by the Iraqi people."

  We, the undersigned duly elected representatives acting on behalf of the Unemployed in Iraq (UUI) and of the Federation of Workers Councils and Trade Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) affiliating 300 000 Iraqi workers, hereby lodge a complaint to the International Labour Organisation's Trade Union Freedom Committee requesting that the ILO use all its authority and its prerogatives so as to ensure that ILO Convention 87 and Convention 98 are fully enforced in Iraq and subsequently that full recognition be granted to the trade union organisations that were set up by the Iraqi workers themselves.

  Thank you very much for your understanding

 Baghdad - May 15, 2004

 Signed/

 Aso Jabbar ,

Representative of the UUI and FWCUI abroad 

and in charge of ;

  Address of UUI in Baghdad: Bab Al-Sharki, Al Rasheed St, Old Labor Union Bldg. Baghdad, Iraq

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Complaint to the ILO

Trade Union Freedom Committee

Tel: 004122 799 6111, Fax: 004122 798 86 85,

E-mail: ilo@ilo.org

International Labour Office
4, route des Morillons,

CH-1211 Geneva 22,

Switzerland

 

Aso Jabbar,

Union of Unemployed in Iraq -UUI

Representative abroad

 cp 325,

CH-3000 Berne 11,

Switzerland