Request for solidarity messages

Request for solidarity messages

Iraqi oil workers' dispute

7 June 2007

The Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) struck on Monday and Tuesday, after weeks of negotiations, as part of a dispute with the employers in the southern oilfields over a range of issues, notably bonus payments, temporary work, health and safety and the future of the Iraqi oil industry.

Negotiations are now underway again, but the Iraqi army is present in the area and earlier this week surrounded the strikers and tried to arrest one of the leaders (they backed off when it became clear the rest of the workers would not let this happen).

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the relevant global union federation ICEM and the TUC are calling for messages of support for the IFOU to be sent to solidaritywithIFOU@gmail.com, which has been set up especially by the ITUC so that the union's own email account is not swamped.

Messages will be forwarded to the IFOU regularly over the next few days - and while person messages of support are welcome, formal messages of solidarity would be preferred.

For more information on the background to the dispute see http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-13358-f0.cfm and http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-13364-f0.cfm