Members of Congress Call for Workers’ Basic Rights in Iraq

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/04/14/members-of-congress-call-for-workers-basic-rights-in-iraq/

by James Parks, Apr 14, 2008

Workers in Iraq face the dual dangers of lack of basic security and lack of workers’ basic rights. Last week, 37 members of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, urging him “to take the necessary steps to promote worker rights, which we believe are necessary for a well-functioning democracy.”

We believe that the promotion of fundamental worker rights is essential to ensuring that the exercise of human rights becomes a reality for the people of Iraq.

The lawmakers told al-Maliki they were particularly concerned that a ban on independent trade unions instituted in 1987 by former President Saddam Hussein remains in force, making it officially illegal to bargain collectively or strike. Under this law, public employees are not allowed to join a union, and organizing in the private sector is severely restricted.

Although public and private sector workers alike have been establishing trade unions across the country in defiance of these regulations, they technically have no legal standing and remain vulnerable to repression by the government and employers. In 2005, the Iraqi government also froze the bank accounts of all unions. The government also has used military force to break up workers’ protests in the oil fields.

FULL story at link.