Ben Lando of United Press International and Iraq Oil Report has written this report on the upcoming international labour conference called by Iraqi trade unionists and to be held in Erbil, Iraq, on 13-14 March.
"In mid-March, a historic meeting of Iraqi workers is scheduled in Erbil, Iraq. Banned by Saddam Hussein, trade unions representing workers in the oil, electricity, construction, port and teaching trades have organized to demand back and increased pay, fight privatization and foreign workers, and defend other workers’ rights.
The most vocal and organized of the newly formed unions are the oil workers, who have kept foreign firms from operating refineries and threatened to stop production if international oil companies are given too great an access to oil and gas reserves — a thorn in the sides of both Shahristani and Iraqi Kurds.
Attendees of the International Labor Conference in Iraq will include members of U.S. Labor Against the War, a coalition of American unions, and Iraq Veterans Against the War, a growing group of American military members turned war opponents and the only non-union representation. This meeting will likely rejuvenate the unions of Iraq".
