Iraq news: Transfer of IFOU activists reversed
30 July 2008
War on Want is supporting the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) in Basra, and its efforts to protect trade union rights and oppose the privatisation of Iraq’s natural resources.
The IFOU operates in an extremely difficult environment, where trade unions are still not recognised by law and freedom of association and expression continues to be curtailed. IFOU activists have frequently been harassed or threatened by the Iraqi Government for speaking up on workers’ rights and trying to protect the country’s most valuable resource – oil – from being sold off to multinational corporations such as Shell and BP. Since the IFOU was established in 2003, the union’s bank account has been frozen, some of its leaders have been issued with arrest warrants and others have been forced to relocate.
Only recently, eight prominent IFOU activists were accused by the Iraqi Oil Minister of illegal activities and told that they would have to relocate from their workplaces in Basra to Baghdad and Nassiriyah, areas deemed very dangerous and insecure. The IFOU and human rights activists in the UK issued statements protesting the move, calling it a flagrant attempt to silence the trade unions and their efforts to have a say in the future of Iraq’s oil wealth.
War on Want, in solidarity with our partner, also disputed a claim made by the British Foreign Minister Kim Howells MP that the trade unions were being punished for illegal trade union activities. In a letter to the Foreign Minister we urged the UK Government to work with the Iraqi Government for the safety of the trade union activists and ensure that the decision to transfer them was reversed as soon as possible.
We are pleased and relieved to hear the recent news that this decision has indeed been reversed. It was announced at the end of July that the eight trade union activists would remain in Basra. This is a victory for trade unions and War on Want's efforts, and for the rights of Iraq workers throughout the country. However, the challenge remains to reverse the outdated anti-union legislation passed during Saddam Hussein’s regime which would mark a real step to achieving the equal rights that Iraqis deserve.
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