|
John
Iraqi workers at the Maysan (Missan) Oil Company * organized a demonstration to demand their rights and to protest management corruption and abuse.** The workers had received permission to conduct the demonstration which was militant but entirely peaceful and then were punished for doing so.
The Oil Ministry responded with warnings, reprimands, demotions, and reductions in compensation affecting 26 workers and 3 union officers, including Hassan Juma'a Awad, President of the Iraq Federation of Oil Unions, who was demoted, put on probation for three years and suffered a $700/month cut in compensation. Hassan Juma'a was not even present at the protest, but was held responsible for "inciting" the workers. All were informed that further actions would lead to even more severe penalties.
The workers had a right to collectively act according to ILO conventions to which Iraq is a signatory. But threats, harassment, discrimination, forced transfers and other rataliatory punishment have been the order of the day since the U.S. invaded more than 9 years ago.
The U.S.-run "Occupation Authority" and Iraqi government have continued to enforce a repressive 1987 law instituted by Saddam Hussein which banned unions and collective bargaining in the public sector and public enterprises, including the entire oil industry (80-90% of the Iraqi economy). [The "democracy" promised to Iraqis by the Bush administration apparently did not include labor rights or workers.]
Leading up to and since the end of the U.S. military occupation, the al Maliki regime has escalated the level of repression against workers seeking to exercise rights promised by the new Iraqi constitution and international law. A new draft labor law submitted to the parliament perpetuates the disenfranchisement of public workers and, like Saddam Hussein's law, will serve as an instrument to control and discipline rather than liberate workers.
* Weatherford, an American Company was awarded a contract in 2009 by Maysan Oil Company to drill 20 oil wells in Iraq. [source]
** Not long after the demonstration for which these workers were disciplined, the Oil Ministry fired the Director General of Maysan Oil Co. for the very causes that the workers had charged, among other reasons. [source]
Learn more about the Iraqi labor movement and labor law HERE and HERE.
|
