Iraqi Labor Leaders Denounce U.S. Occupation & Iraq's Anti-Labor Laws

by via Democracy Now

Mon, Sep 21, 2009 7:37AM

Monday, September 21, 2009 :A group of Iraqi labor leaders are here in the United States trying to bring international attention to the lack of a basic labor law in Iraq guaranteeing the right to unionize without repression. Although the United States has scrapped several Saddam Hussein-era laws since the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq, a 1987 law banning unions in all public sector workplaces remains in place. Last week the AFL-CIO adopted a resolution defending Iraqi labor rights. We speak to Iraqi labor leaders Rasim Awadi and Falah Alwan.

Rasim Awadi, President of General Federation of Iraqi Workers, which was formed by the merger of three federations created by Iraqi workers following the 2003 invasion. In the 1970s he served as Vice President for the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions in Cairo.

Falah Alwan, President of Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq. he was an underground labor activist throughout the 1990s, working in textile and factories and retail stores until the invasion in 2003.

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For more information: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/21/iraq...

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