SOC Workers Win Their Fight for Higher Wages! Bremer's Orders Defied!

Ewa Jasiewicz, Occupation Watch, Occupied Basra 29/01/04

Southern Oil Company workers won their three month struggle, underpinnedby the threat of an armed strike, for higher and fairer wages thismonth.All oil sector workers in Iraq will now be receiving the SOC'snegotiatedwagetable. The unity, solidarity and support of oil sector workers inthecentral and northern fields in Kirkuk, Baaji and Baghdad's Daurra waskeyin achieving this victory. Plus the fact that the CPA/GC is heavilydependent on oil production and export from SOC, Iraq's biggest and mostlucrative oil company, following the inoperability of Iraq's northernfields due to continuous attacks on pipelines and stations. The onlyOilCompanies exporting crude oil from Iraq right now are SOC and Basra OilCompany.

In December, union representatives told Occupation Watch that they hadbeen telling workers since last month to save some of their wages in theevent of strike action. When SOC workers saw that their wages were beingdecreed by the Occupation Administration (OA) as signed by Paul BremerIII in Order 30 on Employment Conditions of State Employees and that thewages were lower than the emergency payments the OA had been paying postregime fall, they decided to form their own wage scale based on marketprices - including the price of fuel, gas, rent and foodstuffs, worklocation, and level of risk. The OA's wage table slashed all family,riskand location payments workers survived on under the regime. In everyworkplace OW visited, workers were frustrated with their low, late andfluctuating wages, as well as the axing of all their 'survival' paymentsand subsidies which sustained workers and their families.
The SOC union's wagetable demanded the minimum wage for an Iraqi oilworker be set at 155,000 ID ($100) per month - more than doubling theOccupation set 69,000 (currently worth $50-55) and a rise of 84,000 ID.SOC's table also cut out two whole levels and 20 positions of the CPA's130 position, 13 level wagetable. The Union persuaded their managementand General Director to support their demands for the homemade scalefollowing two days of meetings last month. The union reinforced theirdemands by declaring that workers would join the armed resistance iftheir demands were not met. This prompted the minister of oil to travelto Basra himself and begin negotiations with union reps immediately. The result was that the lowest minimum wage for the generators of Iraq'swealth, the heart pumping its' economic lifeblood, is now 102,000 ID permonth - a rise of 33,000 ID. The whole wagetable now starts at levelnine and all those meant to receive level nine wages will now be movedupto level eight, which starts at 120,000 ID ($85) and ends at 155,000 ID($110). The maximum level an unskilled worker can earn is 328,000 ID($250) per month - the end of level five. Five upwards deals withtechnicians and workers with diplomas. Level four refers to workers withover 30 years of experience and upwards is reserved for seniortechnicians and engineers and management.
But why the concession for the lowest paid? Why not push for the 155,000minimum? 102,000 is barely a life supporting wage. The lowest rent inBasra is 25,000 per month (most peoples is 50,000), that leaves justunder 20,000 per week (approx 3000 ID per day) to spend on food, schoolbooks, gas, fuel, car maintenance, clean water, cigarettes and any otherunexpected necessities. A full UN plastic 4-5 litre carrier of drinkingwater costs 250 ID. A small chicken costs 3,500 ID, 1 kg of apples ororanges (6) is 750, potatoes (6) is 500, a bag of bread (5 pieces) is250, tomatoes (6) is 500 (in Baghdad due to transportation costs up fromthe more fertile if DU radiated south, a kg is 2000 ID); a canister ofgas is approx 2000 ID. A pair of adult leather shoes is 20,000 ID, apairof socks 500 ID, cheapest family shampoo 750 ID. A family can just aboutsurvive eating basic simple, rations bulked food, but it is nearlyimpossible to save or find the money for a gift or journey or new itemofclothing. Life is hand to mouth for the vast majority of Iraqi peopleandthat's just for those lucky enough to have work - the estimated 70% or10million unemployed have even more of a struggle on their hands.
According to the occupation wagescale over a third (35%) of the Iraqipublic sector workforce is on 69,000 to 155,000. 10% - managerial andadministration levels receive 574,000 to 920,000. So why the compromise? Infact its not. Risk and location payments havealso been taken into account and a further 18-30% payment is included ontop of the tabled figures. This means that all the wages detailed on thetable are potentially 30% higher according to a worker's location, i.edessert, remote area, dangerous position. Whether North Rumeilla,contaminated by Depleted Uranium during both Gulf Wars is included as arisky location is yet to be seen but the danger presented to workersbreathing in the tons of radioactive nuclear waste used by invadingUS/UKtroops is immediate, severe and life-threatening.
Of the victory, Hassan Jum'a, Head of SOC Union said: 'This is somethingwe were sure of. Our sector is the most organized in Iraq and we wereelected by the workers themselves'. On the effect of the victory on the swelling struggle in the Electricitysector, Jum'a said, 'It's the oil section first, then the other sectorswill follow, soon, soon, it will change, the influence will be felt'.Samir Hanoon, Vice President of the Federation of Iraqi Trade Unionssaidhe was thrilled by the result and that it was 'all good' and was alreadyhaving a positive impact on the electricity unions' negotiations forhigher wages. 'Soon we'll be next. Our negotiations have been helped bythis and they are going well' he told OW. The rise for Iraqi workersmeans a cutback for the exploitative ambitions of the OccupationAdministration and a blow to the logic and regularly heard corporateboast of Iraq now possessing some of the cheapest labour in the middleeast. The regional Occupaiton Administration, CPA South, claimed ignorance ofthe wagetable, confusing SOC workers' new wagetable with the SeptemberCPA Ordered one now printed up in December into colour booklets forworkers to read and understand why its natural for them to be paid slavewages.
All in all, the courage of Iraqi oil workers in recognizing andaffirmingtheir power as the sector capable of commanding GC ministers to attendtotheir demands and breaking the perceived 'last word' authority of theOccupation Administration, shows that social resistance to theoccupationand its dictates is alive and on fire and ready to strike for justice inIraq. Noone is taking this as a final result, but as a first win in ajourney of many, making up for the decades of silencing, violence andmurder by the Baath dictatorship. And it's also the first move in asocial battle waged more than anything to raise the consciousness andconfidence of workers, so broken by the Baath, to realize that theythemselves are a weapon against the injustices and exploitation of theOccupation.
http://www.cpa-iraq.org/regulations/20030909_CPAORD30.pdf - OA Order 30on Reform of Salary and Employment Conditions of State Employees. The OAwage table is at the very end