[Marxism] the nature of the Iraqi "trade unionists" USLAW is touring in May

["ameritech acoount" <stansmith44@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

       USLAW, this May,  is sponsoring a tour of Iraqi trade unionists of the 
IFTU (see below). 

      The statement below, "The Stop the War Coalition and the IFTU," issued by 
that British anti-war coalition in October 2004, takes up the issue of the 
IFTU. The international rep of IFTU, Abdullah Muhsin, who is part of the 
present USLAW tour, had called on British trade unions not to pressure the 
British government to withdraw its troops from Iraq. That is, the IFTU 
international rep called for the continuation of the US-UK occupation of Iraq.

        Muhsin's exact statement is also printed below. It concludes:
   "the multinational force is there to help our democracy."
   "the unilateral withdrawal of troops which would be bad for my country, bad 
for the emerging progressive forces, a terrible blow for free trade unionism, 
and would play into the hands of extremists and terrorists."

      This is in fact an endorsement of the US occupation of Iraq at least 
until the armed resistance to it is crushed. That is also George Bush's 
position.



       The Stop the War Coalition and the IFTU
        On 11 October the Stop the War Coalition published a statement 
condemning the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions. The statement accused the IFTU 
representative in Britain, Abdullah Muhsin, of helping persuade trade unions at 
the Labour Party conference in September to vote down a motion calling on Blair 
to set an early date for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq. It further 
accused the IFTU of collaborating with the occupation of Iraq and supporting 
the Allawi government. 

        STOP THE WAR COALITION AND THE IFTU 

        Since the bloody and illegal invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq 
by US and British armies, the Stop the War Coalition (StWC) has consistently 
called for the withdrawal of foreign troops and the ending of the occupation. 
This position commands the support of the great majority of the British people, 
and was recently reaffirmed as the unanimous position of the TUC. It also 
commands the support of the majority of the Iraqi people, as evidenced by 
opinion polling carried out by the occupation forces themselves. 

        At the same time StWC has always refrained from taking any position on 
the internal development of Iraq, since this is solely the preserve of the 
Iraqi people themselves. Affiliates of the Coalition have, of course, developed 
their own links with Iraqi organisations, according to their particular 
policies or spheres of interest. 

        However, the recent activity of the representative of the Iraqi 
Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) in Britain compels the StWC to make its 
position clear. In recent weeks the IFTU representative has: 

          a.. Urged that the Labour Party conference welcome the puppet Iraqi 
premier Allawi, at a time when the entire anti-war movement was demanding that 
the invitation be withdrawn, which it subsequently was. 
          b.. Shared a platform with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and the UK 
government's "human rights envoy" to Iraq Ann Clwyd, respectively a leading 
architect of and an indefatigable apologist for the war and the occupation. 
          c.. Most shamefully of all, energetically lobbied the trade union 
affiliates of the Labour Party to oppose a motion, reflecting the union's own 
agreed policies, calling on Blair to set an early date for the withdrawal of 
British troops from Iraq. 
        In this last undertaking the IFTU representative worked as the direct 
instrument of the government and the Labour Party apparatus, which prepared and 
distributed his statements to delegates and ensured him access to union 
delegations. Indeed, the statement by the IFTU representative issued by the 
Party was not merely supportive of the continued military occupation of his 
country, but could also be read as supportive of the original invasion of Iraq. 

        There is little doubt that this intervention played a significant part 
in persuading some major trade unions (and perhaps constituency delegates too) 
to abandon their agreed policy on the occupation (affirmed at the TUC just two 
weeks earlier). 

        It is understandable that British trade unions should wish to express 
their support to the working class of Iraq in its extremely difficult 
struggles, and the StWC has always encouraged such support insofar as it falls 
within our political remit. The IFTU is one of a number of trade union and 
workers' organisations in Iraq, distinguished from others by its support for 
the Allawi government and, it is now apparent, for the foreign occupation on 
which that government depends for its existence. 

        The IFTU has, however, attempted to divide the anti-war movement from 
the trade unions by taking advantage of the goodwill towards it shown by a 
number of unions for honourable reasons of solidarity, the lack of 
understanding of the actual nature of different organisations in Iraq, and the 
climate of pre-election pressure from the government on trade union 
delegations. 

        As a result, several affiliated trade unions at the Labour Party 
conference voted for a policy of effectively open-ended license for the 
occupation and against the early withdrawal of British troops. 

        The StWC hopes that the leading unions will restate their previous 
policy of an end to the occupation. The coming weeks and months are likely to 
see still bloodier battles within Iraq, with a growing number of deaths both of 
Iraqis and of British and US soldiers. It remains most likely that the war and 
the occupation will remain the dominant political issues in the months leading 
up to the next British general election. The trade union movement must find a 
voice on these developments and cannot remain within the confines of the 
statement agreed at the Labour Party conference. 

        With regard to the IFTU, the StWC condemns its political collaboration 
with the British government, exemplified at the Labour Party conference and its 
view that genuinely independent trade unionism in Iraq can develop under a 
regime of military occupation (including the daily bombardment of major Iraqi 
cities) by the USA and Britain. 

        The StWC reaffirms its call for an end to the occupation, the return of 
all British troops in Iraq to this country and recognises once more the 
legitimacy of the struggle of Iraqis to secure such ends. 

        Stop the War Coalition October 2004 


        [







        Towards a Progressive, Free Iraq
        Abdullah Muhsin

        This piece by the foreign representative of the Iraqi Federation of 
Trade Union was circulated as an open letter to trade union delegates at the 
2004 Labour Party conference and was also published in the 28 September issue 
of the official daily briefing for delegates. 

        I AM delighted to be here at Labour Party conference and glad that the 
conference is going to debate Iraq later this week. 

        The IFTU is a free trade union movement very different from the state 
controlled "yellow unions" established by Saddam Hussein. 

        We are immensely grateful for the solidarity and support we have been 
given by British trade unions. This solidarity is essential for our trade union 
movement to grow and thrive. 

        All my life I have fought for political and social freedom in Iraq, and 
for the first time, we have a chance to achieve it. I know some of you were 
against the war in Iraq but be in no doubt - the fall of Saddam has given my 
country a chance of freedom and progress. 

        There are grave security problems in Iraq, but those causing them are 
not, as some have wrongly said, "the Iraqi resistance". They are nothing like 
the French maquis who bravely resisted the Nazis during the second world war. 
Instead they are a mixture of those who had a stake in the oppressive Baathist 
regime and foreign fighters who have, for the first time in Iraq's history, 
imported the terrible weapon of the suicide bomb. 

        Most of those being killed are ordinary Iraqis, going about their daily 
lives. Many of them are our members. For example, on 26th July, 5 women 
cleaners in Basra were murdered at a bus stop on their way to work. The people 
who did this are the so-called "Resistance". 

        Today, Iraq is a battleground. Those in Britain who love human rights 
and freedoms have two options. Either they can add petrol to the flames and 
fuel the violence which will almost certainly lead to the end of Iraq's 
territorial integrity. Alternatively, British progressives can offer solidarity 
and support to Iraqi democrats, socialists and trade unionists and isolate the 
forces of reaction and violence. 

        You have two options before you this week. 

        One would give hope to all those in Iraq who want to see free trade 
unions and political organisation grow and thrive. In line with UN Security 
Council resolution 1546 it says that the multinational force is there to help 
our democracy. 

        The alternative asks for an early date for the unilateral withdrawal of 
troops which would be bad for my country, bad for the emerging progressive 
forces, a terrible blow for free trade unionism, and would play into the hands 
of extremists and terrorists. var sc_project=407936; var sc_partition=2; var 
sc_invisible=1; 








        USLAW Iraqi Labor Tour 2005 
        May 6-22 

        US Labor Against the War is sponsoring a national US tour by lraqi 
labor leaders from three of the most important labor organizations in Iraq. 
This tour will provide the first opportunity for the labor movement, working 
people, the general public and the media in the US to hear directly from 
courageous Iraqi trade unionists who struggled for years under Hussein's 
repression and now have stepped forward to organize workers under the difficult 
circumstances of violence and occupation. 

        The six-member delegation coming to the US will include Abdullah 
Muhsin, International Representative of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions; 
Falah Alwan, President, Federation of Workers' Council and Unions in Iraq and 
Hassan Juma'a Awad President of the Southern Oil Company Union in Basra. 

        The purpose of the tour is both to educate US trade unionists about the 
conditions faced by Iraqi workers and their struggles, and to build direct 
worker-to-worker, union-to-union solidarity and support for Iraqi trade 
unionists in their effort to build a progressive secular Iraq. 

        For more information call Thomas C. Bacon at 512-350-5571 or email 
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
       
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