UK presses Iraq on labour rights abuses

UK presses Iraq on labour rights abuses

The UK has called on the Iraqi government to respect the right of all workers to form and join trade unions, in response to the recent ban on trade unions in the country's electricity sector.

Foreign Secretary William Hague in a letter to TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber on 19 August 2010, states that: 'The right to form and join trade unions in Iraq is embodied in Article 22 of the Iraqi constitution. This is a principle to which HMG attaches great importance to and takes very seriously.'

The UK invention comes after the newly appointed Minister for Electricity, Al Shahristani, issued an order on 20 July 2010, which 'prohibits all trade union activities at the Ministry and its departments and sites'. It orders the police, 'to close all trade union offices and bases and to take control of the union's assets, properties and documents, furniture and computers'. Finally, it instructs the Ministry to take legal action against trade union officials under the Terrorism Act (2005). Union offices remain closed despite protests across the country.

In response, the British Ambassador to Iraq, John Jenkins met with Al Shahristani to press the concerns of the UK government. Embassy officials also continue to work to resolve the deadlock between the Ministry and trade unions.

Add your voice to the global protests against the banning of the unions by signing and circulating this urgent LabourStart appeal.

Encouragingly Hague's letter concludes, 'The UK will continue to encourage the Government of Iraq to ensure a just, fair and ILO-compliant union law'. It is the absence of this law which has allowed the Ministry to continue using old and repressive Saddam-era decree from 1987 which bans unions in the public sector. A recent letter from the Embassy of Iraq in Switzerland to ICEM, the Global Union Federation covering the sector, also cites the Saddam-era law, despite the new Iraqi constitution granting all workers the right to form and join trade unions.

Harassment of trade unions has intensified during the continuing political uncertainty following the national elections of 7 March 2010. The political vacuum has allowed a minority from the ranks of acting Prime Minister Al Maliki's State of Law coalition and the Sadrist movement to act with impunity against unions.

This includes rigging trade union elections, resulting in a damaging split in the Iraqi Teachers' Union; relocating union representatives in the oil, transport and ports sectors - a common union busting tactic in Iraq; and requiring all trade unionists travelling abroad to secure the priori permission from a government committee - a discriminatory act being challenged by Iraqi workers at the ILO.

In response to such repression, the Iraqi trade union movement has been campaigning for the government to enact a fair and just labour law. The campaign has met with some success, with a draft law now ready for parliament. The new law, if implemented, would allow public sector workers the right to join unions, and allow union registration to ensure their independence and integrity. The law will also drive improvements in areas such as health and safety, retraining for redundant or unemployed workers, and equal rights for migrant workers.

International pressure is now urgently needed to get this law on the top of the legislative agenda

: sign the international call for a fair and just Iraqi labour law