Van de Arbeid van de V.S. tegen de Oorlog | Wij hebben net een dringend bericht van Hassan Juma een' Awad, Voorzitter van de Federatie van Irak van de Unie van de Olie ontvangen. Een vertaling volgt hieronder. De actie die hij vertegenwoordigt een gevaarlijke escalatie van de vijandigheid van de Minister van de Olie aan IFOU en zijn leiding heeft gemeld. De Minister Hussein al-Shahirstani van de olie is de zelfde Maliki overheidsambtenaar die sommige maanden geleden aan het beheer van de oliemaatschappijen opdracht gaf om geen transacties met de unie te hebben.

USLAW nodigt al zijn filialen, leden en verdedigers uit om een brief van protest naar de Iraakse Ambassade in Washington, gelijkstroom onmiddellijk te verzenden. Één of andere voorgestelde tekst en adres worden hieronder verstrekt.

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Hier is de vertaling:

De Iraakse Minister van de Olie, Hussein al-Shahirstani, heeft tot de overdracht van acht activisten van de Unie van de Olie opdracht gegeven. Zij gebruikten om bij de olieraffinaderijen in het zuiden te werken. Deze handeling wijst op het de anti-uniebeleid van de minister, en gebrek aan eerbied voor vakbonden en unieactivisten in de oliesector. Die activisten, door hun hard werk, zijn goed - gekend voor het bestrijden van corruptie en corrupt-ministerietroepen in de oliesector.

Zij zijn overgebracht naar de buurt van Bagdad al-Dorah (die voor het verergeren van veiligheidssituatie, en hoog niveau van sectarische moord wordt gekend). In de context van Iraakse veiligheidssituatie, wordt zulk een overdracht met recht beschouwd als rechten van de mensmisdaad.

Wij verzoeken alle mensen van goodwill in de wereld om een tribune te nemen om deze verachtelijke en misdadige handelingen door het Iraakse Ministerie van de Olie tegen vakbonden en hun activisten aan de kaak te stellen. De vakbonden zijn opnieuw gevestigd en nieuwe kracht gegeven door het harde werk van vakbond activisten zonder enige bescherming tegen de staat, die houdt opscheppend over democratie. [De overheid Maliki die, zijn lood van de V.S. neemt. Occupation Authority, continues to enforce the 1987 Saddam Hussein labor code that prohibits unions and bargaining for workers in the oil sector and all other public enterprises, which constitute 80% of all Iraqi jobs.]

This act is a clear evidence that the Iraqi state seeks to liquidate trade unions in this important Iraqi economic sector, oil. It is important to note that the south is the main source of oil in Iraq. The oil sector there employs more than 39,000 workers. The Iraqi state has no intention of allowing an Oil Trade Union in that sector because it represents a threat to its authority.

We call upon you from all parts of the world to stand with us, for the sake of labor and workers interests.

Respectfully,

Hassan Juma’a Awad, President
Iraq Federation of Oil Unions

To assure that your message is received, please send it to both fax numbers and in or attached to an email message.
Please send a copy to USLAW, 1718 M Street NW, #153, Washington, DC 20036 // info@uslaboragainstwar.org.

Samir Sumaida’ie, Ambassador
Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
1801 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Phone: 202-483-7500
Fax: 202-462-8813 // 202-462-5066

Email: wasemb@iraqmofa.net
URL: http://www.iraqiembassy.us

Mr. Ambassador:

We have been informed that Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahirstani has ordered the transfer of eight leaders and activists of the Iraq Federation of Oil Unions from their long-standing assignments at the South Oil Company in Basra to work in the Al-Dorah neighborhood of Baghdad, known for its worsening security situation and high level of sectarian killings. In doing so, the Minister knowingly exposes these trade unionists to a heightened risk of injury or even death. As such, this decision constitutes a grave violation of these workers’ human rights, as well as an assault on their labor rights and the rights of all those workers who they represent in their capacity as IFOU leaders.

This action escalates the Iraqi government’s continuing, repeated and blatant violations of internationally recognized labor rights as enshrined in the Conventions of the International Labour Organization of the United Nations, including those to which Iraq is a signatory. Iraq continues to enforce the dictatorship era labor codes that ban unions and collective bargaining for public sector and public enterprise employees in clear violation of ILO conventions. Iraq has failed to adopt a basic labor law (as called for by its own Constitution) to protect the rights of all workers to free association, to form unions of their own choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of their labor, and to strike when necessary in defense of their interests.

We soundly and most strongly condemn these gross violations of labor and human rights. No democracy can ever be established in Iraq unless and until its workers enjoy the full range of core labor rights recognized by the ILO. No democracy can ever be sustained in Iraq without its workers and their unions being free of government intervention in their internal affairs.

Iraq must completely erase all vestiges of its authoritarian and repressive past if it is to earn the respect of the world community. We demand that your government immediately rescind the transfer order for these workers, cease harassing unions and union activists, and that it recognize and respect the rights of all Iraqi workers to form unions of their own choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment, and to act collectively in defense of their own interests.

We intend to monitor this situation closely to learn what actions you have taken to remedy these gross violations of labor and human rights.

Yours truly,
Learn more about the Iraqi labor movement and labor rights in Iraq.
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