Iraq bans unions in the electricity
sector
At midday on 21 July 2010 police officers stormed the offices of
the electricity workers' unions across Iraq carrying out an order
from the Ministry of Electricity to shut them down.
The Ministerial order, issued on 20 July 2010, '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 taking legal action against trade union officials under
the 2005 Terrorism Act.
The order is in clear violation of
international core labour standards. It is also a violation of the
Iraqi constitution, and one of the most draconian acts by the Iraqi
Government since the fall of Saddam. It comes from Hussain
al-Shahristani, the Minister for Oil, who has recently taken over
the electricity portfolio and has a worrying track record of using
Saddam-era labour laws against trade unions.
The TUC has called upon the Iraqi government
"to withdraw the order, and allow unions to operate freely,
underpinned by a fair, just and ILO-compliant labour law."
This is one of worst acts of union repression since the fall of
Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi trade union movement is calling on trade
union members everywhere to raise their voices in protest. You can
help by signing and distributing this urgent Labour Start appeal:
http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=740
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