[Marxism] Iraqi Union Tour Stirs Controversy

[Carl Webb <carlwebb@xxxxxxxxx>]

Iraqi Union Tour Stirs Controversy
by Bennett Baumer

Representatives from three Iraqi labor groups conducted a U.S. tour in
June discussing the occupation, insurgency and the state of workers'
rights and organizing in Iraq. Sponsored by U.S. Labor Against the
War, the tour has sparked debate throughout the left internationally
on how to resist occupation. The three Iraqi unions agree on ending
the American lead military occupation but differ on how to end it.

When U.S. forces invaded Iraq, bringing down Saddam Hussein's
government, Iraqi unionists devised a plan to fan out throughout the
country and organize workers. The Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions
(IFTU) formed out of these initial efforts. The Trade Union Federation
is the largest of its kind and represents workers in sectors including
construction, oil, longshore, transportation and mechanics. In
December 2003, U.S. troops raided the IFTU's offices and arrested
eight union leaders, eventually releasing them without charge.

"We [IFTU] consider the U.S. and British troops occupiers," said Adnan
Al Saffar, Executive Officer of Union of Mechanics, Printing and Metal
Workers at a talk at Cornell University on June 17. "Our demands are
the withdrawal of foreign forces in Iraq."

During the early days of the occupation, American officials swept away
many Hussein-era laws barring privatization and preventing the flight
of capital, but they kept in place labor codes that outlawed strikes
and independent organizing.

However, many leftists are critical of the Trade Union Federation. It
is closely aligned with the Iraqi Communist Party, which served as
part of the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council, its successor, the
interim regime of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, as well as the current
government. Allawi in particular drew the enmity of many Iraqis
because he endorsed devastating U.S. attacks on Fallujah, Najaf and
Baghdad. As a result, many international leftists and Iraqis see IFTU
as collaborators. This accusation was probably a factor in the Jan. 4
assassination of the federation leader Hadi Saleh, which the union
blames on the insurgency.

Little is known about the insurgency but it is believed to include
members of the former ruling Baathist party. Upon coming to power in
the 1960s, the Baathists assassinated many communists based on
information supplied by the CIA. Another trade union leader, Ali
Hassan Abd of the General Union of Oil and Gas Workers (GUOW), was
assassinated on Feb. 18. The Oil and Gas Workers also say insurgents
were behind the killing.

The Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI), aligned
with the Workers Communist Party of Iraq, doesn't hesitate in labeling
its unionist rivals as collaborators. "Today the ICP and the IFTU
again are acting as tools to subject the interests of the working
class to the interests of the USA, the puppet government, political
Islam, ultra nationalists and employers," wrote Aso Jabar,
international officer of the FWCUI. Jabar's union also opposes the
insurgency.

The Federation of Workers Councils came from organizing unemployed
Iraqis. In militant protest, they pressured the U.S. occupation
authority and successive Iraqi governments for benefits. There is also
tension between the two federations as to who will inherit the
resources, such as office space and computers, of the former official
Baathist union.

"I think the workers councils are worried [old resources] will all be
given to the IFTU," said David Bacon, a labor journalist who visited
Iraq in May. However, Bacon added "without any question" the IFTU is a
much larger union.

The third union on the tour is the Oil and Gas Workers, which
represent workers in southern Iraq. Oil workers threatened to strike
in January 2004 and won wage increases. They have also closed a
refinery operated by Halliburton because the company was importing
lower-paid foreign workers. All three labor unions oppose the
privatization of Iraq's oil sector and economy. Al Saffar said Iraqi
unions would draw a "red line in front of privatization and we will
prevent this from happening no matter what sacrifices we take."

The Oil and Gas Workers call for a withdrawal of American troops and
for U.N. peacekeepers to secure the country, a scenario few consider
possible. While each union backs the right to resist, none back the
armed resistance, which they term reactionary.

"The workers should fight for both ending the occupation and curbing
the influence of the local reactionary groups including those within
the Iraqi armed resistance," said Jalal Mohamad of the Federation of
Workers Councils. "If this force is the armed resistance without
progressive forces, the future will be bleak and gloomy. Iraq will end
in civil war and in the hands of various reactionary militias. This
fact is denied by the Western left."

For more on the debate on Iraq, occupation and resistance, go to
http://nyc.indymedia.org

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