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News :: Civil & Human Rights : Government Secrecy : International Relations : Iraq : Labor : Media |
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Reporters Ignore Fight of Iraqi Workers Against Anti-Union Government Policies |
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by Harry Kelber
(No verified email address) |
23 Aug 2004
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Press coverage of Iraq has been devoted almost exclusively to reports of battles between American troops and insurgents or the activities of the interim government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. But very little has been written about Iraqi workers fighting against sweatshop wages and a denial of basic worker rights by the American occupation authority and the "sovereign" interim government.
From the moment the American-controlled Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) took power in Baghdad sixteen months ago, it began enforcing a 1987 Saddam Hussein law banning unions in public enterprises, where most Iraqis worked.
One of the first acts of Paul Bremer, CPA's chief, was to issue Public Order #1, banning statements and actions that "incite civil disorder, rioting or damage to property," a law that could be used to block union rallies and strikes.
Despite threats of repression, labor activists have been organizing unions not only in Baghdad, but in the oil and electrical enterprises around Basra and the southern port of Um Qasr.
Low wages and heavy unemployment are two major issues that account for the upsurge in labor activity, including three strikes in Basra alone, according to David Bacon, one of the few reporter-photographers covering the Iraqi labor scene.
After U.S. troops arrived in Baghdad, workers were given "emergency" salaries of $60 to $120 a month. Then several months later, Bremer issued CPA's Order 30 that lowered the base pay to $40 and eliminated housing and food subsidies.
Bacon says that longshoremen at the port of Um Qasr were stopped from voting in the election for the officers of their new union, and three workers were fired for trying to organize other workers. They struck briefly because of the low-wage rates, blocking people from entering the main gate. They also staged a job action when managers decided to pay them in old bank notes, worth only 75% of the new ones.
"Iraqi and their unions charge that the U.S. is keeping wages low to attract foreign investors, as Washington plans the privatization of Iraq's economy," Bacon says. "The Bush administration sees Iraq as a free-market beachhead into the Middle East and South Asia."
Last September, the CPA published Order 39, permitting 100% foreign ownership of business, except for the oil industry, and allowing repatriation of profits. State enterprises listed to be sold off included cement and fertilizer plants, phosphate and sulfur mines, pharmaceutical factories and the country's airline.
The threat of privatization and the influx of U.S. contractors have stirred more labor unrest. Workers fear that new corporate owners will cut costs by laying off workers.
A recent study by the economic faculty of Baghdad University shows that unemployment has reached approximately 70% since the occupation began. Relatively few Iraqis have been hired by companies doing reconstruction work, and when they do get hired, they have to pay a fee often equal to a month's wages.
The Iraqi government doesn't provide unemployment benefits, nor does it have a welfare system, so the loss of a steady job at a state enterprise condemns a family to hunger and misery.
The new unions in the oil and electrical industries have conducted several strikes for increases in pay rates and have actually won them.
Samir Hanoon, vice to president of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions in Basra has warned that if the ban on unions isn't lifted, "we will take other actions — protests, demonstrations and total shutdowns."
The installation of the interim administration of Prime Minister Allawi on June 28 has not improved either salaries or respect for labor rights. Hanoon's warning seems as unheeded by Baghdad's new authorities, as it was by the CPA.
Our weekly "LaborTalk" and "Labor and the War" columns can be viewed at our Web site www.laboreducator.org. Union members who wish information about the AFL-CIO rank-and-file reform movement should visit www.rankandfileaflcio.org. |
See also:
http://www.laboreducator.org/
http://www.laboreducator.org/notewar.htm
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