IRAQ REPORT - CLASS STRUGGLE AND STRIKES AFTER SADDAM

Entire families are employed at Nahrwahn, ages 6 to 60 being represented in the workforce. 7,500 workers live on site in dire Boss rented accommodation. There are no health benefits, no holiday pay and no medical aid for injuries. Boys under 14 load up trucks with bricks, setting them in neat order. Boys aged 14-up work retrieving the bricks from the factory's 30m tall, 15m wide, 750 degree raging furnace. Those who enter the hell protect themselves with their own clothing – no fireproof suits or overalls are provided. They wear 2 sets of underwear, 2 shirts, jumpers, two sets of trousers, a shirt and a kaffia around the head, 4 or 5 pairs of socks, and gloves made from old punctured inner tyre tubes. Those emerging usually drop to the ground on normal-air impact. Hands placed in warm water are cooled cold instantly.

Black oil powers the furnace, 'the worst kind' we are told, wafting chemical dioxides throughout the factory. Respiratory illnesses are common, as are preventable accidents. One man lost seven children last year when a part of the oven collapsed on top of them. As he was from a powerful tribe, he was compensated commensurately ($900,000) by the owner. Those from weaker families are not so fortunate. A 24-year-old woman sleeping on her break during the nightshift was overcome by gas and died. The factory owner told her father – its not my problem, its yours.

There is no clean water to drink, workers drink from the river, no air conditioning (fans), no bathrooms (workers must walk out into the dessert to relieve themselves) and due to no contracts, any worker can be dismissed at any time. 'You have to see it to believe it. You can't work as a human being in such a place', told us Shahel.

On Saturday October 11th, 75% of the workforce decided enough was enough and went on strike. 300-400 workers marched to the owners office and demanded social security, retirement payment, onsite medical aid facilities, contracts and a rise in wages. The owner had no idea that a union had been formed and told them, 'Fine, strike, go, I will dismiss you, others will come to take your place'. The workers responded by going to their homes, bringing out their guns and spontaneously forming an armed picketline. Manned with machineguns and Kalashnikovs, workers guarded their factory and defended their strike from demolition by scab labour. The owner, overpowered, ended up granting the workers a rise of 500 dinars – 25c, and agreed to enter into negotiations regarding social and health benefits. The strike was regarded all round as a massive success.

The unionised workers, empowered by their victory, have ideas about improving their conditions and keeping the owners in check. 'The Union must control the fuel in the ovens. Then the factory owner will obey us', says Farhan. 'Each factory has its own share of gasoline from the government. If we co-operate with the ministry of oil and the owner breaks health and safety rules then the ministry must stop his supply of oil'. Whether the Ministry will be willing to recognize an independent and militant union such as the Nahrwahn Brick-makers and take their side when there appear to be no laws whatsoever guaranteeing the rights of safety of workers in Iraq is debatable. 'We know that we will be sacked when we return to Nahrawahn', says Farhan, 'But we are willing to risk this for the rights of the other workers'. One thing is certain though. Undercurrents of resistance, solidarity, autonomous organizing and a rejection of Occupation, ex-Baathist boss or unionist imposed authority are alive and striking in Iraq right now and they need support urgently.

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