Iraqi Unions Oppose Privatisation and Economic Occupation: Joint Statement

January 16th 2006

Iraqi Trade Union Statement on IFI Policies

After a two-day seminar in Amman on International Financial Institution policies in Iraq which ended today,representatives of five Iraqi trade union federations adopted a jointstatement at the conclusion of the seminar. The five federations are from all regions of Iraq.

A Joint Statement Issued by the Iraqi Trade Unions Concerning the Programsof the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in IraqThe Iraqi economy has been severely affected by decades of sanctions, warsand occupation. The Iraqi trade unions and federations believe in thecapacity of the country with all its oil and mineral resources to provide adecent living standard for Iraqis.

The federations and unions consider that the wars and occupation have causeda dramatic decrease in the living and social standards of Iraqis andespecially of workers.The federations and unions stress the importance of complete sovereignty forIraq over its petroleum and natural resources so as to develop them in a waythat assures a complete reconstruction of the country. We wish to stress thefollowing points in regard to the policies of the IMF and World Bank inIraq:

1) Increasing transparency and additional representation for Iraq in the decision-making structures of the IFIs.

2) To stop imposing structural adjustment conditions for loans.

3) Agreeing to provide funding for public services and state-ownedenterprises without demanding their privatization.

4) Canceling debts owed by Iraq that have resulted from the policies of theformer regime.

5) Rejecting the reduction of spending on social services especially theelimination of government support for the food distribution system or thereduction of the number of items covered.

6) Strongly rejecting the privatization of publicly owned entities andespecially of the oil, education, health, electricity, transportation andconstruction sectors.

7) Rejecting the increase in the price of petroleum products, consideringthe negative impact of the increase on the living standards of Iraqis.

8) Adopting a new labor law and a pension and social security law thatassure workers' rights and are in conformity with international laborstandards and human rights conventions. The World Bank and the IMF must alsorespect these standards .

The unions and federations that have signed this statement announce theformation of a permanent coordinating committee that will make its positionsknown to the Iraqi Government and to the IFIs.

They also demand that theIFIs engage in dialogue, discussion and negotiations with the trade unionfederations regarding their policies in Iraq.

Finally, they request the assistance of international trade unionorganizations to provide all possible support to the above-mentioneddemands.

(Signed)
General Federation of Iraqi Workers
Oil Unions Federation in Iraq
BasraFederation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq
Kurdistan General Workers Syndicate Union
Erbil Iraqi Kurdistan Workers Syndicate Union

Amman
16 January 2006