Labor Groups Aim to Build Unions in Iraq (first universial med is ok for

[Florida_Geek]

Iraq now


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Labor-Iraq.html


Labor Groups Aim to Build Unions in Iraq
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: March 11, 2004


Filed at 7:02 p.m. ET

BAL HARBOUR, Fla. (AP) -- Organized labor, with support from the Bush administration, is trying to build more unions in Iraq and help those already there to function free of government and employer control.

The U.S. government, through the National Endowment for Democracy, has allocated about $15 million to form employer groups and unions in Iraq. International labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO, are using some of those grant funds to help Iraqi workers and leaders create a labor code and organize.

``We had an interest in seeing what we could do both in the reconstruction as well as the ... healing process that had to go on,'' said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

..end of cut..

[ithacan]

1. US unions are the last ones that should be doing this!

they are so coopted by the system.

They need REAL unions in Iraq, like the ones in Europe.

Think about this: The National Endowment for Democracy is funding this...

[madrchsod]

2. what??

i didn`t know that they could actually pile shit that high and except people not to see it.

[dax]

3. They have to make sure the Communists are shut out...

All this talk about how multiple parties and groups are represented in Iraq, noone ever mentions that the oldest and largest party (without Saddam's Ba'athists) is the COmmunist Party but I guess they won't get a say in anything-can't have that. NED sets up shop unions-not real unions and the AFL-CIO has been very backward on these things-those of us in the AFL-CIO don't agree with alot of what the umbrella does but running for union office is just as hard as public office these days-in my union, you need a quarter million just to do a mail-out! Only the handpicked favorite sons of the slate ever win with a few token woman or two- (they try to get a black woman so they can get two tokens in one!)

[Ruby Romaine]

4. Yoohoo! Hellooo! Hey ! Can we get some here in the USA?

Unions & Universal coverage

Please come organize my workplace!

[MrPrax]

5. In foreign policies...

The AFL-CIA is lockstep with US foreign policies...they helped the fight the cold war by creating a lot of 'phoney' gov't unions in Latin America to siphon off support for legitimate efforts (essentially 'rat unions')...

As anti-communist and as patriotic as anyone...