MODEL TRADE UNION RESOLUTION ON IRAQI OIL UNIONS

Calling on all trade union activists world-wide, please try to get your local branches and ideally unions as a whole to adopt this model resolution and get involved in supporting the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions. Just cut and paste the document below into a word file:

Fighting Privatisation of Iraq’s Oil

This branch/conference notes that:

Oil revenues constitute the major part of the Iraqi economy and that Iraq has the world’s third largest oil reserves. As such, control of the Iraqi economy will be in the hands of whoever controls oil production.

Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) are being promoted within Iraq by the US government and by multi-national oil companies. PSAs last from around 25-40 years and effectively deliver to multi-nationals the benefits of privatisation without the political difficulties. The details of such agreements are usually kept secret and would prevent any future Iraqi government re-negotiating the terms of an agreement during the lifetime of the PSA.

According to the Platform report Crude Designs: The Rip-Off of Iraq's Oil Wealth published Autumn 2005, development of at least 64% of Iraq's oil reserves will be immutably allocated to foreign oil companies. The report also estimated that the cost to Iraq of the new oil contracts will be $74 to $194 billion more than leaving oil development in public hands, based on a conservative estimate of oil at $40 a barrel (at the end of 2005 the price of oil was $60 a barrel). These sums represent between two and seven times the 2005/2006 Iraqi state budget. PSA agreements over Iraqi oil would guarantee profits to foreign companies of 42% to 162% rate of return.

This branch/conference further notes that:

The Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), previously known as the General Union of Oil Employees, and the Southern Oil Company Union have played a significant role in hindering the plans of the multi-national oil companies in Iraq. The IFOU has no legal recognition from its government, taking its legitimacy from the rank and file and not from any government. The Iraqi Government has kept the Saddam era anti-union laws that only recognise one trade union federation. The Union is also completely independent – it is not linked to any political party or trade union federation in Iraq. So far it has succeeded in raising the wages of oil workers, kicked out Halliburton subsidiary KBR and shut down exports in strikes over pay and conditions.

This branch/conference believes that:

The oil workers' federation organises and mobilises workers, not just to secure their rights and win better terms and conditions, but also to fight the corporate seizure of Iraq’s oil. The struggles of the Iraqi oil workers unions against privatisation and foreign take-over of the industry are one of the most significant parts of the struggle to defend Iraq’s ability to control its own economy and therefore to determine its own future.

This branch/conference resolves to:

To invite a delegation from the IFOU to Britain with a view to identifying ways in which the union can most effectively support the development and strengthening of the union and its struggles against privatisation of Iraq’s oil. In particular we should aim to find ways of supporting the IFOU with:

IT and communications equipment
Anti-Privatisation conferences, mass meetings and seminars
Travel and trips throughout Iraq to carry on organising and consolidation of union networks
Publications and publicity
Translation costs for articles, documents and liaising with international trade unions, civil society and social movement contacts and allies
International visits

Speech by Hassan Jumaa at UK Stop The War Coalition International Peace Conference

Here is the transpcript of GUOE President Hassan Jumaa Awad al Assadi's speech at the UK Stop the War Coalition's international peace conference held in London, December 2005. Translation is by Lebanese Academic and Writer Gilbert Achcar:

Speech delivered at the International Peace Conference

organized in London by the Stop the War Coalition on Saturday, December 10, 2005.

by Hassan Jumaa Awad


[Hassan Jumaa Awad is the President of the General Union of Oil Employees in Basra]

In the name of God, The Merciful, The Compassionate,

Dear friends, antiwar activists, and peace lovers,

Allow me to thank you very much for your invitation to join this conference which opposes war and advocates peace. As you know, the occupation of Iraq is one of the most important issues on the current international scene. I believe that conferences of this kind are important and very useful for informing world public opinion about the latest developments in the military actions of the occupation forces. As you also know, we live in a world in which evil forces pursue domination and the usurpation of rights and property. In order for peace to reign over the entire world, we have to stand steadfast against those evil forces, unify our protest and practice solidarity, for it is the unity of peoples that intimidates the forces of evil. To this end, I convey to you the greetings of Iraq's workers, and in particular the oil workers who, by their struggle, have tormented the forces of evil represented by America and its allies. They have stood against occupation forces and confronted them, preventing them from getting to the oil installations, and have stood likewise against foreign companies. Oil workers were the first to stand against these companies by holding out against the monopolist firms that were brought in by America two months after the beginning of the occupation. These firms came under the protection of American tanks; however, our Union's first action was to expel KBR [Halliburton] from our oil sites, thus marking the victory of Iraqi workers against the forces of evil.

Dear friends,

Our Union was reconstituted eleven days after the arrival of occupation forces in Baghdad. That was on April 20, 2003: a number of activists faced up to this task, rendered exceptionally difficult by the state of chaos and security instability prevailing in the country. The main goals of the reconstitution of the Union were well-known: the first was to secure Union members' claims while Iraqi state administration fell under American control; the second goal was to safeguard the oil sector's production mechanism, knowing full well that America's goal is to control Iraq's oil. It is for these reasons that the Union was reconstituted in the oil sector -- because we were aware of American intentions, as oil was one of the main reasons for launching the war on Iraq.

As you know, brothers and sisters, Iraqi oil reserves are considered the world's second largest and that is why the war was launched against the land of the two rivers. Allow me to say a few words about the vicious onslaught that America and its allies launched against our beloved Iraq. The reasons for war that were presented to the world were, first, that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction -- Bush, the criminal, purposely ignoring that [UN] inspection commissions had been roving Iraq north to south since 1991 in search of these weapons and did not find any. The second alleged reason was the war against terrorism, whereas Bush and the U.S. administration knew quite well where terrorism was truly based. We say therefore that these were not the main reasons for launching the war on Iraq, but the reasons were those that I mentioned, to which should be added that one of the main reasons was also that Iraq constituted the major threat to the security of Israel. We know, and everyone here knows, real American intentions. America is fully prepared to annihilate the entire world for its interests, and its interests lie in exerting control over Iraqi oil and putting this wealth at its disposal.

We know, brothers and sisters, how clear are the goals of this war, military occupation being but the first step to be followed by economic occupation. America has destroyed the infrastructure of Iraq -- it destroyed the schools, the universities, the hospitals, the factories, the plants and it has violated human rights. Among these violations stands the fact that the Transitional Administrative Law [TAL, promulgated by U.S. proconsul Paul Bremer] did not allow the formation of unions and other organizations. American and British politicians are claiming that they are establishing democracy in Iraq, since there was no democracy in our country because it lived under a dictatorial regime. But very regrettably, their so-called democracy consists in the [Iraqi] citizens having to stop whenever an American or British military column passes by, for fear of being killed, as everyone knows: this is their so-called democracy. The [Transitional] Administrative Law considers demonstrations a crime punishable by law.

In our experience America has not been honest in any way. Every now and then they declare that the security responsibility has been handed over to the Iraqis, but then we see the occupation forces roaming everywhere. We believe that America deliberately creates crises every now and then in the areas that are somewhat stable and secure, the reason obvious to all being that crises justify extending the presence of the occupation forces. If stability and security prevailed, these forces would have to leave. However, America does not want to withdraw at this time, because it did not complete its operation; it has not yet accomplished the second phase of the occupation, the economic occupation of Iraq. That is why the U.S. administration is currently putting forward its economic plans which include privatization of the oil and manufacturing sectors, and the production sharing agreement [PSA] project.

From this platform, I would like to make clear to all the positions of our Union, which are known to the Iraqi people:

1. Occupation forces must leave the country immediately and unconditionally.

2. We will stand firmly and resolutely against all those who want to tamper with the security and power of the Iraqi people.

3. We condemn terrorist attacks against our people and stress the importance of respecting human rights.

4. We support the honorable resistance that targets and strikes at foreign military forces and seeks to drive the occupiers out.

5. We will not allow the intrusion of foreign companies [in the oil sector] and production sharing agreements, and we will stand with all our force against monopoly firms such as Halliburton, KBR, Shell, and others.

6. We ask the patriotic forces, the antiwar movement and peace-lovers to support our Union in its campaign against privatization and PSAs.

7. We demand the unconditional cancellation of Iraq's [foreign] debts, as these debts never benefited the Iraqi people but served the buried regime.

In conclusion, I wish you good luck and success, and I look forward to meeting you in a free, democratic, and united Iraq that would be a workshop for all free citizens of the world. I offer again my thanks and appreciation to the organizers of this conference.

May peace and God's mercy, and blessings be upon you.


(Translated from the Arabic. Original version posted on the website of the General Union of Oil Employees in Basra.)