Congress 2005 debate on Iraq Resolution

Iraq

Doug Nicholls (The Community and Youth Workers' Union) moved Motion 77.

He said: Our message in this motion is mainly for our government, but now that George Bush has finally taken full responsibility for the disastrous response to the hurricane in his country let us say to him that it is time to take your 150,000 troops back from Iraq and send them to the Mississippi and Louisiana to save lives and rebuild the homes of our brothers and sisters there.

As a national union, with our headquarters in Birmingham, we say to our own government that if you did not believe in state intervention to save Rover and the mining industry then you cannot afford one more penny than the £5 billion you have already spent on state intervention to devastate Iraq. Bring our 9,000 troops back and invest here.

There are 27 million people in Iraq. Thirty-nine per cent of them are under the age of fifteen, and half the population are under 18. No surprise then that since the invasion two years ago at the very least 3,500 of the official 25,000 killed have been innocent kids. A quarter of the children in Iraq suffer from chronic malnutrition. Diarrhoea killed two out of ten children before the war; now it is four out of ten. US and British troops have systematically targeted water purification and sewage works; the infrastructure is in tatters. Most houses do not have safe water, infant mortality is rising, and half the houses are damaged. Whole cities like Fallujah -- as big as Coventry where I am from -- have been cleared and blitzed. Electricity supply is universally unreliable. Ninety-six per cent of families are on food rations.

War brings the poverty which we seek to make history. The average Iraqi household income in the year before the war was $255. This year it is half that. In 1990 Iraq was ranked fiftieth out of 130 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index, which measures national achievement in health, education and GDP. Now it is right down to 127th on the list, and this represents the most dramatic decline in human welfare in recent history anywhere.

The Medical Journal, the Lancet estimates that in reality 100,000 civilians have been killed by the war in its first eighteen months. Most, of course, were women and children. All hospitals and schools need rehabilitation. The poverty of mass illiteracy has returned. Gordon said yesterday that poor people in poor countries should not be left defenceless against high oil prices. Well, Gordon, oil prices have doubled since the war, as they always do at times of instability in the Middle East, and we are killing people and making them poorer in a brutal, barbaric and illegal war. It is a war led by the US so that it can build permanent bases on a place it does not see as a nation but as an oil field.

The US and British Governments are past masters at occupation. Their tactics are simple: they fan the flames of sectarian hatred and seek to introduce a Constitution to divide the country into competing regions. It is they who fan the flames of terrorism. To the terrorists who killed British workers and Iraqi workers, including all those mentioned by our President just now, we say 'By killing the innocent you support those you most condemn and like them you have nothing but murder in your hearts. If you do not believe you can create paradise on earth and have to kill workers to get there, leave those of us who believe we can build a better world alone.'

Gordon also reminded us yesterday how easy it is to be unambitious and not to aim high, but we must aim high on this one. Our Movement is the highest custodian of the highest aspiration, that is for world peace. We agree with Gordon, we have the power to shape history with a close relationship with this government and more power than we think.

We believe that in passing this motion we should expect Brendan and the General Council to use all of their formidable powers of negotiation, campaigning and influence and recognise that of all the mandates we have given them this week this the most crucial. How can we really hold our heads high in the struggles we have for manufacturing, public services, education, health and social justice at home, while British troops are destroying these things in Iraq?

The UN mandate, which the British Government claim legitimises their position, is up for renewal in December. Let us make sure it is not renewed. We want the TUC and its affiliates proudly marching against the war on September 24, but above all it is not the special relationship with Bush that interests us but our special relationship with our government. We believe this will be seriously jeopardised if they continue to ignore the TUC's united policy on early withdrawal.

We do not want to have to put this motion again next year, and the extent to which we are successful in pursuing this policy will be a measure of our success on all the other issues we have debated. We are truly not free in Britain as workers while weapons of mass destruction rain down on Iraq. I move.

Mary Davis (NATFHE) seconded Motion 88. She said: This time last year in this very hall we passed a resolution calling for solidarity with Iraqi trades unions who had just begun a legal existence after years of repression under the Bathist dictatorship. We knew how important solidarity was. The motion was practical. Actually, the TUC has to be congratulated because it did exactly what the motion asked: we set up the TUC Solidarity Committee; we have arranged bilateral visits and things have gone ahead. In fact, there is a very good publication that tells trades unions practically what they can do to help.

I do not think, though, that when we passed that motion any of us realised just how vital that solidarity was going to have to be. I do not think any of us realised just then how it was that trades unionists now have become within that year the target of the most violent abuse from people who call themselves -- I do not know, they might call themselves resistance but they seem to target trades unions. We have had a succession of murders of leading trades unionists in Iraq and, as you have just heard, there has been the brutal and appalling suicide bombing today of workers simply waiting to work.

That is not the only time that has happened. But there is a new situation, which is as worrying and as daunting. The new Constitution in Iraq, the long awaited Constitution, has now decreed -- Decree 875 -- that the state has to take control of all moneys belonging to the trades unions and they should be prevented from dispensing any such moneys. That means trades unions cannot function. That means that decree No. 3, which at last allowed trades, unions and the IFTU in particular, to flourish and grow, is aimed at them. The TUC, Brendan Barber, has written to the Iraqi Ambassador expressing grave concern about this, saying it is a prima facia breach of the ILO core Convention on freedom of association and a deeply worrying attack on human rights in Iraq. You cannot take control of unions' finances and still pretend unions can function because they cannot. We know that because our government tried to do it. This makes the work of Solidarity more and more vital.

Passing this motion is not just a few words; passing this motion today, and particularly the NATFHE amendment, really must mean that the Solidarity action that we have begun must be re-doubled because without trades unions civil society cannot flourish. Governments make war; trades unionists make peace.

Dave Green (Fire Brigades Union) said: We are pleased that our amendment has been accepted as it does enhance and support the aims and sentiments so well articulated by the CYWU and NATFHE.

It is vitally important that the message that goes out from Congress today is clear, concise and sets out a way forward. This Government - our Labour Government - are implicated and remain implicated in an illegal war and now an illegal occupation. That, I believe, we can never forgive or forget. However, we also need to look constructively forward with a sense of purpose to the future. How do we all help to re-build Iraq? Of course, this process can only begin with a speedy withdrawal, but it can also be progressed by insisting that resources are immediately made available at least to begin to right the wrongs in this disgraceful episode in our history.

The FBU has, in its own small way, attempted to carry on the ethos of us being part of a 'can do' service. Along with our good comrades from the IFTU, we have identified ways to assist, practically, our fellow workers in Iraq. Myself and fellow Executive Council member, Brian Joyce, visited Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, Brian visiting on four separate occasions. This enabled us to gain first hand experience of the incredible needs and difficulties faced every day by trade unionists and ordinary workers. Our grateful thanks are, once again, extended to Abdullah Muhsin and it is great to see him here today, along with Rasem Alawady, the President of the IFTU. This experience allowed us to identify areas where immediate support was required. I have to say the result was astounding.

FBU regions from across the UK have collected and sent to Iraq fire kit, equipment and money to help the workers.

Fire fighters in Basra, Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan no longer fight fires in T-shirts and trainers but in fire tunics from Bristol, Newcastle and Lincoln and, by Christ, they need it, don't they? We have offered support in as many areas as we can, but what we have done is, truly, a drop in the ocean. By seeing first hand their problems you begin to realise how much is needed and how much remains to be done.

So what can we do? It is incumbent on all governments and institutions to act immediately and together in cancelling all debts incurred by Saddam Hussein in his crazy pursuance of power and war. These are not debts incurred by the Iraqi people. How can we even claim to want to help them when this money is clawed back? That is another hypocrisy of this sordid chapter in world history. It is essential that the new Iraq, and I call it that in a wholly positive way, has laws and practices which embody the ILO core conventions and that Iraqi trade unions are fully involved in that process. Crucially, we must, they must, reject privatisation of essential public services and vital resources, oil being the most striking example.

Comrades, it is a tall order but we all have to act. Our Labour Government must act. Support the motion.

Sally Hunt (General Council): The General Council wants to give an explanation to this motion. It is broadly in line with Congress policy but a lot of work has been done, as has been talked about this afternoon, and we wanted to reiterate our support for that and for the work that needs to go on in the future.

Firstly, under the auspices of the TUC/Iraq Solidarity Committee, which is reported in the General Council Report - I am sure you have read it on page 92 - considerable work is already underway to promote solidarity and provide practical support for the Iraqi trade union movement. This has included a whole range of activities, namely, exchange visits, trade union education and other material support - practical help for our brothers and sisters which, we hope, will help them to build a free society.

We have with us on the platform, as has been said, Rasem Alawady, the President of the IFTU and we are very pleased to have you with us. We rely on them to provide us with the information and advice on Iraq. It was their contact which broke the news to the trade union world about Decree 875, which has already been mentioned. As a result of that, we have alerted the ILO and they are taking action as we speak to pressurise the Iraqi Government into abandoning this move, which I think we have to say is an absolute disgrace.

Secondly, the motion reconfirms to use the existing policy to seek early withdrawal of British troops. UN authority for the presence of these troops expires at the end of this year, and at that point the Iraqi Government are due to indicate their preferences regarding the continuation of that presence and when the British Government could, themselves, set their own unilateral date for an early departure. But whatever the outcome of the current discussions on the constitution, the General Council will continue to support the development of free and independent trade unions in Iraq, recognising, as we all do, that trade unionism is a key pillar for any genuine, free and democratic society and this, in turn, can only be secured through the cessation of violence from whatever quarter and through the development, we hope, of lasting peace. Thank you.

Keith Sonnett (UNISON) speaking in support of the Motion and amendments.

He said: Congress, the situation in Iraq is tragic with the continuing spiral of violence that will not end until the occupation ends. So, as the motion states, we have to continue our campaign to ensure the withdrawal of British and American troops. I hope that all unions will support the Stop the War Coalition's demonstration on 24^th September. It is important that we get as many members attending as possible.

Also, as the motion states, we must condemn the deliberate targeting by assassination and bombing of trade unionists of innocent men, women and children. Those who do that do not want to liberate the Iraqis. Instead, they seek to enslave them under a new dictatorship of one fundamentalist religious or political faction or another. We can only admire the brave people in Iraq who are struggling to rebuild their shattered economy and society. I am pleased that Rasem Alawady, the President of the IFTU, is here today. Next week, on 19^th September, Mr. Alawady will be signing a joint declaration between the IFTU, the GFITU and the GFTU about the creation of a single trade union federation. So the trade unions in Iraq are getting their act together and making progress, but it is clear, as other speakers have said, that Iraqi and Kurdish trade unions need our solidarity but they also need our practical assistance. They face problems which are only too familiar to us in Britain and particularly the privatisation of their assets and their economy. It is disgraceful that the American administration force through orders to ensure that American corporations could buy up whole swathes of the economy. It is equally disgraceful that much of Britain's aid is provided on the same basis.

However, we must congratulate the Iraqi trade unionists, such as those in the oil industry, who are opposing privatisation. The Iraqi trade unions want a new constitution that enshrines an independent, secular and democratic Iraq, a constitution that recognises trade unions, endorses ILO Conventions and standards and provide equal rights for men and women. The draft constitution is very worrying in those respects. Order 875 recently issued, as Mary Davis said, freezes the funds and assets of the trade unions and puts them under the control of Government ministers. The Government of Iraq is also setting up a committee and preparing papers on the structure and organisation of trade unions in complete contradiction to ILO conventions. We must support the Iraqi trade unions in ensuring their independence from the State. I very much welcome the action the TUC has already taken on the constitution and particularly on Order 875.

Congress, Motion 77 and its amendments give us a clear policy and commitment to work with the Iraqi and Kurdish trade unions. Please support.

The President: I think we will now move to the vote on Motion 77. I am conscious of these other motions that people want to get to. I know you are keen to come in, Tony, but could you keep your contribution brief.

Tony Woodley (Transport and General Workers' Union) in speaking in support of the motion, said: President, I am grateful for the consideration which you have given me, bearing in mind the strong feelings of my Union, and personally, on this issue. I am most grateful.

Colleagues, the illegal invasion of Iraq has been an absolute disaster and our troops should now be pulled out, and I do mean 'now'. A year on we see a hundred thousand civilians dead, degrading scenes of torture at Camp Bread Basket, terrorism which was never existed before and the senseless on-going deaths of British soldiers. We have seen the total destruction of large cities, gas shortages and, unbelievably, little petrol in a country sitting on oil. Thereagain, you cannot steal £1.8 billion worth of oil and supply it.

We see the political process in turmoil and the country in chaos, where the Government lacks legitimacy because they depend on foreign military. There is no doubt that any sane person can see that the occupation is now the biggest problem, not the solution, to the Iraqis' needs. Any sane person knows that the war is helping to make our own country even more or a target to the evil of terrorism, but that is not a reason to pull out. Indeed, that would be appeasement.

We say we should pull out because it is the right thing for the Iraqis. In their eyes, we are not liberators but occupying forces.

President and comrades, I support the amendment and motion. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak.

The President: The General Council supports Motion 77.

* Motion 77 was CARRIED.