IRAQI TRADE UNIONS

Early day motion 1689, tabled 27 February 2006 by David Anderson (Labour). Signed by 74 members.

That this House supports the independent and democratic Iraqi trade union movement, mainly centred around the newly merged Iraqi Workers' Federation (IWF) and the Kurdish trade unions, which play an important role in the re-building of Iraq's devastated national economy and consolidating the current political process in order to create a democratic, united and federal state after years of repression and hardship at the hands of the deposed dictatorship of Saddam Hussein; is, therefore, deeply disturbed that on 8th August 2005 the Iraqi Council of Ministers issued decree 8750 which declared that union finances would be taken over by the government and that a new law on trade unionism would be developed by the government, without mentioning freedom of association, which is a basic human right and one of the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), or the involvement of the Iraqi trade union movement; is further disturbed at recent reports that the Iraqi government has replaced the leadership of the independent engineers' union with its own appointeees in a prima facie breach of freedom of association; welcomes the decision of Iraqi professional organisations to create jointly with the IWF an umbrella organisation to oppose decree 8750; congratulates the TUC for initiating global protests against decree 8750 and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions for supporting the IWF's complaint formally requesting that the ILO intervene directly with the Iraqi government; and supports the IWF and others in all available democratic means to stop this undemocratic practice against Iraqi workers.

Signatures by party: Labour 66, Conservative 2, Liberal Democrat 2, Scottish National Party 2, Plaid Cymru 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.