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The attack on union rights today, US elections and Iraqi Oil..

EJ | 01.07.2008 11:08 | Globalisation | Iraq | Workers' Movements

Meeting: The attack on labour rights today: Iraqi, US and UK union solidarity
against war, occupation and enforced privatisation

US trade union activist and convener of US Labor Against War, Gene Bruskin will be speaking in London this Monday. His home is currently at risk of repossession under mafia legislation being used to try and break the United Food and Commerical Services Union which he works for - see the story here  http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/18/business/main3379852.shtml

Alongside him will be Iraqi oil expert Kamil Mahdi, who was in Basra last year for an anti-privatisation conference organised by the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions.


Gene will talk about the implications of the US elections on US unions and the ongoing war in Iraq, and about the impact of the war on the US economy. Kamil will discuss the soon to be signed oil contracts and oil law and the attacks on trade unions in Iraq. A British trade unionist will speak about privatisation of public services in the UK and international solidarity.

Its a really critical time for Iraqi trade unionists, and US trade unions too with the opportunities for gaining more political ground with the elections coming up.


The attack on labour rights today: Iraqi, US and UK union solidarity
against war, occupation and enforced privatisation

A meeting with Gene Bruskin Co-Convenor of the over 3 million strong trade union anti-war organisation US Labor Against War, Kamil Mahdi, Iraqi oil expert, economist and writer, plus a British trade unionist, TBA. Film excerpts from 'The Real Cost of Occupation' by USLAW and 'Winter Soldier' testimony from Iraq Veterans Against War will also be shown.

Monday July 7th
6.30-8.30pm, Chair: Prof Martha Mundy
Room D202 Clement House
London School of Economics
Aldwych, London WC2

Contact Sabah Jawad Naftana, UK Support Committee for the IFOU, 07985
336 886 or Martha Mundy, LSE Staff Against War, tel 020 7955 6242

All welcome

In occupied Iraq, Saddamist dictatorship law is still being used to outlaw trade unions. An Oil Law, drafted in secret and in consultation with International Oil Companies and the US and UK governments, is on the verge of being passed.


The Law will allow for the privatisation of Iraqi oil for up to 30 years and permit regions to pass their own laws and sign their own contracts with oil companies. Trade unionists and Iraqi oil experts say this risks breaking up the country and will pit regions and peoples against one another in a race to the bottom. This meeting discusses building solidarity on common ground: to defend Iraqi trade unionists from attack; and the Iraqi peoples' assets and services from privatisation; and to work for an end to occupation.

See the following for more details: www.basraoilunion.org and www.uslaboragainstwar.org







EJ
- Homepage: http://www.basraoilunion.org