[BRCLabor] [uslaw_contacts] U.S. Labor Against the War: NEWS

[Kkennieth Heard]

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This Email Contains Previews of:

1. Iraqi Oil Union Rejects Privatisation; Calls for Cancellation of all
Odious Foreign Debts
2. Teach-In on War Turns to Demand for Truth By David Swanson
3. Iraq's other resistance Oil workers in Basra are ready to fight 
privatisation By Greg Muttitt

Find the Entire Articles at 
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?list=type&type=3

1. Iraqi Oil Union Rejects Privatisation; Calls for Cancellation of all
Odious Foreign Debts
Iraq, May 25-26 The General Union of Oil Employees, Basra held a
historical conference on the privatisation of Iraq?s public sector.

The conference took place under the banner ?To revive the public sector
and to build an Iraq free of privatisation?.

150 trade union activists, mostly GUOE members and union council leaders
from Nassiriyah and Amara and Basra, plus Iraqi Federation of Trade
Unions reps and local party political party activists attended.
International delegates, organised by Iraq Occupation Focus, and
representing civil society organisations in the UK and USA also
participated and spent a further four days touring oil sector locations
and interviewing oil workers and trade unionists. They were:

...

David Bacon, US photojournalist, representing the million-strong
anti-war trade union organisation US Labour Against the War. Topic:
experiences and effects of privatisation in Mexico and how Mexican
workers in the electrical power and oil sector successfully prevented
the sell-off of their industries. (Complete article AT 
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=8260 )

2. Teach-In on War Turns to Demand for Truth By David Swanson
A teach-in on ending the Iraq War was held in Washington, D.C., on June 3, 
organized by Progressive Democrats of America (PDA). It followed, in part, a 
pattern established by other teach-ins, but also took an exciting new turn.

The event was familiar in that the speakers argued for the speedy withdrawal 
of U.S. troops, and most of the audience agreed, while others insisted that 
the Iraqis cannot handle their own security and are not ready to go without 
U.S. soldiers.

But this teach-in also developed a new focus, one on which there seemed to be 
unanimous agreement, namely that we need to demand the truth, that we need to 
bring to light the evidence of Bush administration lies about the reasons for 
the war. 

The connection between proving that the war was based on lies and persuading 
people to push for an end to the war is not an obvious one. There were 
people in the room, and millions of U.S. citizens outside it, who believe we 
would have been better off without the war, but believe that now we should 
continue it. 

However, it's worth noting that there were some at the teach-in who professed 
to favor the speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops, but who argued against saying 
so out-loud, on the grounds that this could offend people. It seems likely 
to me that forcing a public discussion of the lies that started the war, and 
of the resolution of inquiry into impeachment that they justify, will 
fundamentally change what counts as acceptable to say out-loud. Once the I 
word (impeachment) is commonly associated with the war, ending the war might 
just become less of a taboo. And, of course, if the President is impeached 
over the war, he or his replacement may decide they have a strong motivation 
to end the war.
...

The teach-in was moderated by Steve Cobble, a strategist for PDA and a 
co-founder of www.AfterDowningStreet.org. Panelists included Phyllis Bennis 
of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS); Reverend Lennox Yearwood, 
president and CEO of Hip Hop Caucus, and a board member of PDA; Ray McGovern, 
former CIA analyst; Cindy Sheehan of Gold Star Families for Peace, whose son 
was killed in Iraq as a U.S. soldier; John Bonifaz, a constitutional attorney 
and a co-founder of www.AfterDowningStreet.org; Acie Byrd, a veteran of the 
Vietnam War and co-chair of PDA's National Organizing Committee; Karen Dolan, 
organizer with IPS of Cities for Peace and Cities for Progress; and Gene 
Bruskin, a co-convener of U.S. Labor Against War. (Complete article AT 
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=8251)

3. Iraq's other resistance: Oil workers in Basra are ready to fight 
privatisation By Greg Muttitt
Faced with daily reports of car bombs and kidnappings, it's difficult to feel 
optimistic about Iraq. But last week in the south of the country I heard a 
very different story. A story of the movement that has formed to rebuild the 
country's economy and national pride, to create an Iraq with neither the 
tyranny of Saddam nor the pillage of military occupation. 

Last week Basra saw its first conference on the threat of privatisation, 
bringing together oil workers, academics and international civil-society 
groups. The event debated an issue about which Iraqis are passionate: the 
ownership and control of Iraq's oil reserves. 

The conference was organised by the General Union of Oil Employees (GUOE), 
which was established in June 2004 and now has 23,000 members. Focused as 
much on the broader Iraqi public interest as on members' concerns, its first 
aim was to organise workers to repair oil facilities and bring them back into 
production during the chaos of the early months of occupation. 

...

The occupation forces and their allies in the Iraqi government see things 
differently. Plans are now afoot for sweeping changes to Iraq's oil sector, 
to give western oil majors access to its reserves for the first time since 
1972. 

But they will face a challenge. While the workforce has shown itself to be 
quite capable of running the industry, it has been equally effective at 
shutting down that industry when threatened by the authorities. 

In August 2003 oil workers' unions organised a strike that stopped all 
production in southern Iraq for two days. The resulting bargaining power has 
been impressive, with the unions - which later merged to become the GUOE - 
successfully pushing for foreign workers to be replaced by Iraqis; the role 
of US companies in the reconstruction to be reduced; and wages to be raised 
to liveable levels. (complete article AT 
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=8253)
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