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Iraqi trade union target of US
occupation forces

Gay rights group calls for
boycott of popular retail chain

Blast injures 23 as Argentines protest

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Iraqi trade union target of US occupation forces

By Julie Flint

London, England, Dec. 20— An international trade union delegation called on Friday for support for Iraq’s nascent trade union movement once a target of the deposed Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein; now, apparently, a target of the US occupation forces.

At the end of a two-day meeting in the Jordanian capital, Amman, a spokesman for the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) acknowledged that “the ongoing violence in Iraq makes it hard for trade unions to operate effectively,” but called on the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Governing Council to give more attention to the problems facing Iraqi workers. The spokesman said the meeting discussed reconstruction efforts, the rights of Iraqi workers and the effects of the violence currently enveloping parts of Iraq.

ICFTU Secretary-General Guy Ryder urged the development of labor legislation conforming to international standards “to protect workers from exploitation and to allow for the development of legitimate trade unions and employer organizations, as well as for the reconstruction of the economy and the development of democracy in Iraq.” Ryder criticized the Bush administration’s decision to limit foreign investment in Iraq to those who supported the US-led war to remove Saddam Hussein.

“The international community needs to work together to rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure and economy and to help democracy develop,” he said.  “In the ICFTU’s view, the US decision is not in the best interests of the Iraqi people, in particular given the serious allegations now being made against one of the main US companies involved in the reconstruction.” Ryder appeared to be referring to the US giant Halliburton, Vice-President Dick Cheney’s former company, which has been accused of overcharging and other violations in an Iraq reconstruction contract. Halliburton has denied any price gouging.

The meeting in Amman on Dec. 17-18 brought Iraqi unionists, teachers’ and journalists’ representatives together with a delegation from the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions and ICFTU affiliates from Arab countries, Europe and the US. It was organized after Iraqi workers appealed for international support in the wake of two attacks against unionists and union premises in Baghdad.

On Dec. 6, according to the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), dozens of US troops in 10 armored vehicles attacked IFTU headquarters in Baghdad, temporarily housed in the premises of the General Union of Transport Workers. Without giving any reason, IFTU said, the troops smashed windows and smeared black paint over the unions’ names. They tore down union banners and posters that condemned acts of terror and removed documents including minutes of union meetings.

“They, who are supposed to oppose terrorism, tore down posters against terrorism,” said Abdullah Muhsin, the ICFTU’s London-based international representative. “Why did they have to do that? Our building was just a shell. We had absolutely nothing, not even a computer. For them to destroy it is absolutely outrageous.”  Muhsin said Iraqi workers would continue to organize after decades of oppression at the hands of Saddam Hussein.

“Democracy will not be deterred by guns,” he said.

“We do not initiate violence. But if someone tries to slap you, you stop it.” The US forces arrested eight IFTU leaders but released them, without explanation, the following day. IFTU called the arrests “an unjustified terrorizing act targeting trade union cadres and leaders … well-known for their struggle” against the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Two weeks earlier, on Nov. 23, US forces arrested two leaders of another labor group, the Union of the Unemployed.  They too were released within 24 hours.

Under Saddam Hussein, union activists were forced underground or into exile especially after a 1987 law banned unionization in the public sector and state-owned enterprises. Although hundreds of Saddam-era laws have been repealed, the Anti-Union Law is still being enforced by the CPA.  Union leaders say they believe they are being targeted because of their opposition to the Bush administration’s decision to privatize Iraqi industry with the single exception of the oil industry and to allow the immediate export of all profits. If workers have no legal union, no contracts and no right to bargain, they say, organized resistance to privatization and the huge job losses that are expected to accompany it will be that much harder.

The first list state enterprises to be sold off under CPA Order No. 39 of Sept. 19 covered many of Iraq’s most profitable sectors including cement and fertilizer plants, phosphate, and sulfur mines, pharmaceutical factories, and the national airline.

Iraqi workers have no unemployment benefits and even now face an unemployment rate estimated at up to 70 percent. Because of the high unemployment, Iraqis are forced to accept wages that are only a quarter of those paid to foreign workers. They are appalled by the prospect of privatization, which the manager of Baghdad’s Al-Dawa oil refinery, Dathar al-Kashab, has estimated will force him to fire half his work force.

“In America, when a company lays people off, there’s unemployment insurance, and they won’t die from hunger,” he told CorpWatch, a US watchdog. “If I dismiss employees now, I’m killing them and their families.”

Source: The Daily Star

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Gay rights group calls for boycott of
popular retail chain

By Beth Shapiro

New York, New York, Dec. 19— H&M stores, which aggressively markets to the gay community and is one of the gay community’s favorite shopping destinations, was criticized for its labor practices by New York states’ largest LGBT civil rights group, Empire State Pride Agenda.

In a full-page ad titled “Thinking About Shopping At H&M? Think Again!” in the New York City newspaper, Gay City News, the Pride Agenda highlighted a series of practices, both at home and abroad, that it says it wanted the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community to know about during this busy holiday shopping season. Such practices include allegations of subcontracting with sweatshops in Asia to make clothes, employee harassment stemming from unionization efforts at H&M’s New Jersey distribution center and workplace injuries at the same NJ facility.

In the ad, the Pride Agenda points out that unions have been very supportive of NYC gay families in their efforts to get the New York City Council to pass a bill requiring contractors to provide same-sex partner benefits. The civil rights organization asked gay shoppers to show the same support to “H&M employees who are engaged in their own struggle for working conditions that will provide better support for themselves and their families.”

Alan Van Capelle, Executive Director of the Pride Agenda, said: “Gay shoppers need to know about H&M’s labor practices and about those who stand with us in our fight for workplace equality. H&M aggressively markets to our community and we are among their most loyal customers. Our voices can make a difference if we let H&M know that decent working conditions, fair levels of compensation, and affordable benefits are just as important to H&M’s gay customers as they are to H&M’s employees.”

UNITE, which represents 250,000 laundry, apparel, and distribution workers in North American and is a member union of the AFL-CIO is working to unionize H&M’s workforce has been uncovering and publicizing H&M’s labor practices around the globe. Steven Weingarten, Distribution and Retail Director with UNITE welcomed the Pride Agenda’s efforts to inform the LGBT community about H&M retailers.

“H&M aggressively markets to the LGBT community, and it’s great that the LGBT community is using its consumer power to make H&M respect worker rights,” said Weingarten in response to the Pride Agenda’s education work with the LGBT community on this issue

In recent months the Pride Agenda has been forging alliances with labor, business and religious communities who have similar interests on key issues in an effort to leverage each other’s clout to achieve progress. Last month during the New York City Council’s hearing on the Equal Benefits Bill, a measure that requires NYC contractors to provide equal employment benefits to all employees, whether they be in same-sex relationships or married, the bill got a big boost when Brain McLaughlin, Chair of the 1.5 million-strong New York City Central Labor Council, threw his organization’s unqualified support behind passage. Union members also testified in support of the legislation and were a major presence at the pre-hearing rally and press conference on the steps of City Hall.

The ad on H&M’s labor practices was paid for by the “Pride in My Union” campaign of the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation and by New York Jobs with Justice.

Source: 365Gay.com

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