Iraqi unions: “We want bread, not bullets”31 October, 2019IndustriALL Global Union joins its Iraqi affiliates in condemning the violence and repression by security forces against people joining demonstrations protesting corruption and unemployment. Millions of Iraqis suffer from poverty, with widespread unemployment, particularly among young people.
Leather workers stage protests in Iraq4 September, 2013In Iraq the State Company of the Leather Industries dismissed 200 workers. In opposition the Federation of Workers Councils & Unions of Iraq (FWCUI) organized a number of protests across the country.
Iraqi union organizes Shell workers 20 April, 2017IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) has succeeded in negotiating a union to represent 6,000 workers at a new joint venture with Shell.
Support Iraqi oil workers struggling for union rights - sign up to the LabourStart campaign 16 June, 2012IndustriALL Global Union members can show solidarity with oil workers in Iraq who continue to organise for their rights despite the continuing use against them of a vicious anti-trade union law, held over from the Saddam-era.
Iraqi workers protest against the latest government interference29 June, 2012IndustriALL affiliates in Iraq were at the forefront of a major demonstration and picket on the morning of 25 June 2012 in Basra. Fresh from her election as an Executive Committee member of the new IndustriALL Global Union, Hashmeya Muhsin al-Saadawi, leader of the Electricity Utility Workers’ Union, was one of the leaders of the protest which also included the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), Federation of Workers Councils Unions of Iraq and other Basra based organizations. Protesters marched and chanted slogans denouncing the continued blatant government intervention into internal trade union affairs and the ban on trade union organization in the public sector.
Brave struggle of Iraqi energy unions inspires the movement30 October, 2014IndustriALL’s partner organization AFL-CIO Solidarity Center this month released an important report on the status of Freedom of Association in Iraq's electricity sector. The report finds that new trade unions in the electricity industry have been central to building new union structures and achieving significant gains for workers especially in the public sector.
Iraqi electricity workers fight precarious work11 April, 2018IndustriALL affiliate the General Trade Union of Electricity Sector Employees of Iraq (GTUESE) is fighting temporary work in the Iraqi electricity sector. They have staged a series of protests in front of government ministries and opened negotiations by meeting high level government officials.
Young unionists in MENA discuss impacts of Covid-1912 April, 2021On 31 March, the MENA youth network met online for the first time since November 2019. 34 young leaders from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia and Bahrain shared experiences of the impact of Covid-19 on young workers and union responses.
Iraq: protest at Basra Gas Company/Shell over non-payment of salaries20 May, 2020Workers at Basra Gas Company, a joint venture where Shell holds a major stake, launched a protest on 18 May over the company’s failure to pay salaries. Around 5,000 workers seconded from South Gas Company (SGC) to Basra Gas Company (BGC) have yet to receive their salaries.
Middle East and North Africa unions campaign for ratification of ILO C1908 January, 2021An increase in gender-based violence during the Covid-19 crisis has led unions in the region to mobilize at an unprecedented level to demand that governments ratify ILO Convention 190.
