From the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq:

Almost seven years have passed since the fall of the former regime, yet many of its laws and decisions continue to apply, denying workers the most basic of freedoms. Workers in the public sector are denied the right to organise and join trade unions and collective bargaining is almost impossible. Without laws guaranteeing freedom of association, various state ministries are threatening to seize union assets and ban their activities.

These laws are undermining the immense contribution democratic and independent trade unions can make to Iraq’s fledgling democracy.

We support the Iraqi Labour Campaign and its call on the Iraqi Government and the Parliament to put in place a fair and just law labour law which would:

• Enable workers to make workplaces safer, prevent discrimination and harassment, ensure equality of opportunity, improve skills and education, increase workplace productivity and morale, collectively bargain for fairer wages, protect the most vulnerable workers and be part of a mature system of industrial relations.
• Allow trade unions to be supported by their members, accountable to their members according to internal rules and free from outside political interference.
• Finally give workers their fundamental rights as provided for in the Iraqi constitution and the core conventions of the International Labour Organisation.
• Help build a free, fair and prosperous federal Iraq for everyone.

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