PEACE EVENTS.

Click here to email your MEPs.

SEND A MESSAGE DIRECT TO THE HUNGERSTRIKERS

Send a Message of Support

WRITE TO THE CZECH AMBASSADOR USING MODEL LETTER

model letter

www.nonviolence.cz

ON-LINE PETITION AGAINST THE INSTALLATION
OF A U.S. RADAR BASE IN CZECH REPUBLIC



Dear friend,
the Czech Parliament will have to take a stand soon
about the construction of a U.S. military base
and probably it will vote in favour of its installation,
even though 70% of the population opposes this plan.

Given the urgency of the situation,
we have launched an on-line petition
to exert pressure on the Parliament
and ask that the matter be resolved with a referendum.



The NMD project of the United States
– their national missile defense system -
is a very complex project which involves
the production of new weapons,
and the installation of American military bases
in different parts of the planet.
In particular, in Europe, the first step is
the installation of radar in the Czech Republic,
and a base for interceptor missiles in Poland.



This plan has divided Europe, which at the moment
is not able to give a united, coherent and nonviolent response
to the United States' aggressive policies.
The reaction of Russia and China has created a "cold war" atmosphere.
International tensions are increasing,
and the crazy arms race (both conventional
and nuclear) has restarted.
Above all, the bases are being installed
to militarize and control space.



The majority of Czechs do not want
foreign military bases on their territory.

The majority of Czechs want to decide these
problems themselves by means of a referendum:
a fundamental instrument of any democracy.



You are being asked to support our nonviolent protest!

This plan does not involve only us Czechs,
but the whole of Europe and the whole world.
Sign our on-line petition, and pass it on to your friends!

Send us your messages of support!

Help us collect a million signatures!



Jan Tamáš
Non-violent Movement against US bases in Czech Republic

Dana Feminová
Europe for Peace



www.nonviolence.cz

SIGN THE PETITION

Hands Off Iraqi Oil is a UK coalition
opposing any foreign exploitation of Iraq's oil reserves
that rips off the Iraqi people.

Members include Corporate Watch, Iraq Occupation Focus,
Jubilee Iraq, PLATFORM, Voices UK, and War on Want.
Supporters include Naftana and the Stop the War Coalition.



NO BLOOD FOR OIL, END THE OCCUPATION NOW!

For more details see: www.handsoffiraqioil.org

**************************************


TO ACCESS HANDS OFF IRAQI OIL's WEBSITE
PRESS THE LINK BELOW

HANDS OFF IRAQI OIL website

*********************************************

Dear friend,

The popular campaign led by the Iraq Federation
of Oil Unions and Iraqi oil experts has so far
been successful in stopping laws from passing for
nearly 2 years – in spite of relentless pressure
by the United States on the Iraqi authorities.

As the article by Greg Muttitt from PLATFORM below
explains, however, the oil majors now see long-
term access to Iraq's oil as nearly won.
US Vice-President Dick Cheney has been masterminding
a push to get the oil law passed before the Bush
Adminstration leaves office. The next months are crucial.

In solidarity,
Hands Off Iraqi Oil
www.handsoffiraqioil.org

*****************************************


Iraq's oil wealth on the block

The real implications of last week's Oil Ministry announcement

By Greg Muttitt, Co-Director of PLATFORM
Published on niqash.org, 9 July 2008
http://www.niqash.org/content.php?contentTypeID=171&id=2243&lang=1

Last week saw the biggest step so far towards
transferring Iraqi oil into the hands of foreign
multinational companies, sparking renewed accusations
that the US-UK war on Iraq was really motivated by an oil grab.

The Oil Ministry announced on 30 June that foreign
oil companies would be invited to bid for contracts
to develop six of Iraq's largest oilfields,
which together contain around half of the
country's known oil reserves.

Yet most commentators missed the significance of
the move – that it would give away more to
foreign companies than had been planned at any
point since the Constitution was written in 2005,
and possibly more than any major oil producer
has given since the colonial era.

The contracts were (with one exception) for the
second stage of development of the oilfields, to
come after the one or two-year no-bid contracts
that the Ministry has been privately negotiating
with Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total and
four smaller companies. The Ministry had also
intended to sign those last week, but has delayed
signing to some time this month.

To understand what's at stake, we need to take a
short diversion into some oil industry contract
terminology. Last week's announcement was of
longer-term "risk service contracts" (RSCs), a
kind of half-way house in the range of contract types.

The shorter (no-bid) contracts that would come
first are known as "technical service contracts"
(TSCs), where companies simply act as contractors
to a government client who calls the shots, for
a fixed fee – albeit with some strange features
that I described in my last article for niqash.

These are contrasted with what the companies
really want in Iraq – the dreaded "production
sharing agreements" (PSAs), which would give them
control over the fields, a large share of the oil
extracted, and the potential for huge profits.

Last week's RSCs are somewhere between TSCs and
PSAs. It's a model that has been used in Latin
America, and is very similar to the "buyback
contracts" used in Iran. The foreign company
invests the capital (like in a PSA), but rather
than getting a share of the oil, it gets a
specified rate of return on its investment (say,
15%). And after a number of years, the oilfield
reverts to national control. The government has
not released the details of the contracts; but
it appears they would be for either 7 or 9 years
(in contrast to 22 years for a PSA or 1-2 years
for a TSC).

The Oil Minister made much of the fact that he
was not offering PSAs – to reassure Iraqis that
they need not fear a great giveaway.

But that the contracts were not PSAs misses the
point. All six of the fields – Rumaila, Kirkuk,
West Qurna, Zubair, Maysan and Bai Hasan – are
already producing oil, and actually together
account for more than 90% of Iraq's current
production. As such, their investment and
technology needs are relatively minor, and could
easily be provided within the public sector, as
they have been for more than 30 years.

Ever since the Constitution was written in 2005,
Iraqi oil policy has been that fields already
producing oil would stay in Iraqi hands – and
that only for new, undeveloped fields would
development contracts be offered to foreign
companies. Even the draft Oil Law – which has
been so controversial for giving away too much –
required that fields already producing oil would
be "managed and operated" by the Iraq National Oil Company (INOC).

That policy was reversed last week – giving
the "backbone of Iraq's oil production" (in the
Minister's own words) also to foreign companies –
fields that were never going to be on offer in
any form. It remains to be seen what happens to new fields.

The positive portrayal of a negative step was
repeated when the Minister also emphasised that
companies would have to "give" at least a 25%
stake in each project to INOC. But this was never
the companies' to give – in fact, the true
implication of the announcement is that they
may take 75% away from INOC.

Even for new fields, a 25% INOC stake would have
been derisory. Libya, for instance, requires a
public stake of around 80% for new exploration
contracts (and for much smaller fields than
Iraq's). Nigeria, which is seen as one of the
OPEC members most friendly to western companies,
requires that the Nigeria National Petroleum
Company take a 55% stake in onshore projects.

It was in the 1950s, as the colonial era was
coming to a close, that a minimum of 51% became
the norm in major oil producers. Now Iraq appears
to be stepping back to the age of subjugation to
the interests of foreign powers. Hardly the
progressive move the Minister claimed.

For the most part, the international media were
willing to accept the spin about how Iraq would
get a great deal – some reports even celebrated
how the companies were charitably "helping" Iraq
rebuild its oil sector. The coverage clearly
signified how far the Iraqi oil debate has been
twisted over the last five years.

Iraqi oil policy, and mainstream discussion of
it, have rested on two assumptions: that Iraq's
oil can only be effectively developed by the
western oil majors, and that the contracts
offered have to provide for the companies' needs
(or sometimes the oil market's needs) first and
foremost. Consistently absent has been any
conception of what is in the best interests of the Iraqi people.

The big question is why the Oil Ministry would
want to bring in the multinationals for these
fields. The Ministry is not short of cash: in
fact, it has been consistently unable to spend
the funds provided to it, so is now sitting on
billions of dollars that could be invested in the
fields. And technology can easily be purchased,
whilst Iraqis maintained the management of the fields.

The true explanation seems almost too obvious for
most commentators to spot. One radio interviewer
asked me "Why shouldn't the Iraqi government
sign these contracts if it wants to? – it's not
as if someone's holding a gun to their head".

In fact, that is exactly what is being held to
Iraqis' heads. Or more precisely, over 150,000 guns.

The Iraqi government owes its very existence to
the foreign troops that remain in the country.
And with the occupiers playing a greater role
than the Iraqi electorate in whether the
government stands or falls, it is inevitable that
the government will respond more to the views of the former.

Last week, the New York Times revealed that US
advisers had helped shape the new contracts. The
State Department responded that its advice was
purely technical, and gave the example of helping
draft arbitration clauses. Those clauses, which
determine how the contracts will be adjudicated
outside the country by secretive investment courts,
would probably be seen by most Iraqis as rather
more than a technical issue. But for the USA, for
multinational companies to run the industry is
simply a natural way of doing things.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey added that
the US role is similar to that of a lawyer
helping a client draw up a will. It was an apt
analogy. The USA sees Iraq's economy as in its
dying throes, and is helping the Iraqi government
decide how much of its estate to bequeath to BP, Shell or Exxon.

But all is not yet lost for advocates of Iraqi
sovereignty over its oil. Companies are not to
bid for the contracts until next March, and
signing is not expected until summer 2009 –
giving plenty of time for the policy to change.
During this time, the political landscape will
alter significantly following the departure of
the Bush/Cheney administration.

And the so-far successful Iraqi campaign against
oil privatisation continues to make progress.
According to press reports, the Oil Minister has
finally agreed to open the technical service
contracts to parliamentary scrutiny before they
are signed. This is a welcome move, although it
needs to be extended: all Iraqis should have a
right to know what is being done to their natural resources.

For the US administration, it might seem like a
dangerously radical idea to let Iraqis decide
the future of their oil. But with Cheney and Bush
on their way out, there may even be a prospect
that the idea will take hold.

Greg Muttitt is an expert on Iraqi oil policy,
which he has been studying since the start of
the occupation in 2003. Working for the independent
British charity PLATFORM (www.carbonweb.org/iraq),
he has argued throughout that decisions about
the future of Iraq's oil should be made by the
Iraqi people, free from external pressure.


*****************************************

HANDS OFF IRAQI OIL is a UK coalition of
development, anti-war, environmental and human
rights groups opposed to the rip-off of Iraq's
oil wealth. For more information see our website at:
www.handsoffiraqioil.org.



****************************************


REPORTS FROM RECENT HANDS OFF IRAQI OIL DEMONSTRATIONS

Reports from Naomi Klein's fundraiser for Hands Off Iraqi Oil,
as well as demonstrations at the BP and Shell AGMs,
are now available on the Hands Off Iraqi Oil website:

- Naomi Klein event and Shell AGM:

http://www.handsoffiraqioil.org/2008_05_01_archive.html

- BP AGM:
http://www.handsoffiraqioil.org/2008_04_01_archive.html



Tell Iraq's Oil Minister: 'STOP ATTACKING TRADE UNIONISTS'

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al Shahristani recently
decreed that eight prominent trade union activists
from the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU),
plus four senior managers from the Southern oil Company
in Basra be transferred from their workplaces in
Basra to Baghdad and Nassiriyah.

These politically motivated transfers are the
latest attack against trade unionists and other
opponents of oil privatisation in Iraq.

The IFOU, which labelled the move 'a human rights
crime', fears the transfers might have dangerous
implications for the workers and their families,
who face being uprooted from their communities
and the prospect of moving to more violent areas
where occupation forces and US-controlled militias are active.

Thanks to the struggle of the unions and people of Basra,
and despite recent government attacks, the city has been
relatively safe for trade unionists to be active.

The IFOU is on the frontline of opposition to oil privatisation.

Sharistani has repeatedly ordered the shutdown of union offices
and facilities and de-recognition across the sector.
Arrest warrants were issued against IFOU leaders last summer
and Iraqi troops were sent into Basra's oil fields.

Other public sector unions such as the dock
workers union in Um Qasr are also under attack,
facing mass-lay-offs as part of the US and UK-
backed privatisation drive in Iraq.

Trade unions are still illegal in Iraq - Saddam
Hussein's Decree 150 of 1987 banning all unions
in the public sector has been kept on the statute
books by both occupation and Iraqi authorities
for the past five years. Despite this, Iraqi
unions have continued to organise and gained de-
facto recognition due to their industrial and social strength.

Yet the attacks on Iraqi trade unionists are
mounting - and they need our support.

Join us in echoing their demands in telling
Sharistani to stop attacking trade unionists,
recognise their demands, and stand up to the
occupation's drive to impose long-term foreign control
through the 'Oil Law' and mass privatisation.


See;-
www.naftana.org and www.basraoilunion.org
for info.



*********************************************



URGENT APPEAL FOR ACTION FROM IRAQI OIL WORKERS

Leader of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions
Hassan Jumaa Awad has sent the following message
urging action against the decision of the Iraqi
Oil Minister to transfer 8 union activists - a
move which has been defined as 'a human rights crime'.
This marks an escalation in repression against
the Union which is a potent anti-occupation and
anti-privatisation force in Iraq. This comes at
a time when serious military, economic and
political pressure is being exerted by occupying
powers for the ratification of the Oil Law.
More moves such as this can be expected and
must therefore be resisted now.

US Labor Against War have written a model letter
(see below). US and UK embassy details are below
and a press release from Naftana, the UK support
committee for the union in the UK is to follow soon.
Please forward this email and contact your union
branches and local anti-war groups to pass urgent
motions of solidarity. Copies of emails sent to
the embassy and of support for the union in the
UK should be sent to:
naftana@naftana.org

From Hassan Jumaa Awad:

The Iraqi Oil Minister, Hussein Al-Shahirstani,
has ordered the transfer of eight Oil Union activists.
They used to work at the oil refineries in the south.
This act reflects the minister's anti-union policy,
and lack of respect for unions and union activists
in the oil sector. Those activists, through their
hard work, are well known for fighting corruption
and corrupt-ministry gangs in the oil sector.

They have been transferred to Baghdad Al-Dorah
neighborhood (known for worsening security situation,
and high level of sectarian killings).
In the context of Iraqi security situation, such a
transfer is rightfully regarded as human rights crime.

We call upon all people of good will in the world
to take a stand to denounce these despicable and
criminal acts by the Iraqi Oil Ministry against
trade unions and their activists. The trade unions
have been reestablished and revitalized through
the hard work of union activists without any
protection from the state, which keeps bragging
about democracy. [The Maliki government, taking
its lead from the U.S. Occupation Authority,
continues to enforce the 1987 Saddam Hussein
labor code that prohibits unions and bargaining
for workers in the oil sector and all other
public enterprises, which constitute 80% of all Iraqi jobs.]

This act is clear evidence that the Iraqi state
seeks to liquidate trade unions in this important Iraqi economic sector, oil.
It is important to note that the south is the main
source of oil in Iraq. The oil sector there
employs more than 39,000 workers. The Iraqi state
has no intention of allowing an Oil Trade Union
in that sector because it represents a threat to its authority.

We call upon you from all parts of the world to stand with us,
for the sake of labor and workers interests.

Respectfully,

Hassan Juma Awad, President
Iraq Federation of Oil Unions



Draft letter by US Labor Against War

IRAQI EMBASSY IN THE UK:
- E-mail: lonemb@iraqmofamail.net
- Telephone: +44 207 602 8456
- Fax: +44 207 371 1652

IRAQI EMBASSY IN THE US:
- Post: Samir Sumaida'ie,
Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Iraq,
1801 P Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036
- Phone: 202-483-7500
- Fax: 202-462-8813 // 202-462-5066
- Email: wasemb@iraqmofa.net
- URL: http://www.iraqiembassy.us
- To assure that your message is received,
please send it to both fax numbers and in
or attached to an email message.
- Please send a copy to USLAW,
1718 M Street NW, #153,
Washington, DC 20036 //
info@uslaboragainstwar.org.


Mr. Ambassador:

We have been informed that Iraqi Oil Minister
Hussein Al-Shahirstani has ordered the transfer
of eight leaders and activists of the Iraq
Federation of Oil Unions from their long-standing
assignments at the South Oil Company in Basra to
work in the Al-Dorah neighborhood of Baghdad,
known for its worsening security situation and
high level of sectarian killings. In doing so,
the Minister knowingly exposes these trade
unionists to a heightened risk of injury or even
death. As such, this decision constitutes a
grave violation of these workers' human rights,
as well as an assault on their labor rights and
the rights of all those workers who they
represent in their capacity as IFOU leaders.

This action escalates the Iraqi government's
continuing, repeated and blatant violations of
internationally recognized labor rights as
enshrined in the Conventions of the International
Labour Organization of the United Nations,
including those to which Iraq is a signatory.
Iraq continues to enforce the dictatorship era
labor codes that ban unions and collective
bargaining for public sector and public enterprise
employees in clear violation of ILO conventions.
Iraq has failed to adopt a basic labor law (as
called for by its own Constitution) to protect
the rights of all workers to free association, to
form unions of their own choosing, to negotiate
the terms and conditions of their labor, and to
strike when necessary in defense of their interests.

We soundly and most strongly condemn these gross
violations of labor and human rights. No democracy
can ever be established in Iraq unless and until
its workers enjoy the full range of core labor
rights recognized by the ILO. No democracy can
ever be sustained in Iraq without its workers
and their unions being free of government
intervention in their internal affairs.

Iraq must completely erase all vestiges of its
authoritarian and repressive past if it is to
earn the respect of the world community. We
demand that your government immediately rescind
the transfer order for these workers, cease
harassing unions and union activists, and that it
recognize and respect the rights of all Iraqi
workers to form unions of their own choosing, to
negotiate the terms and conditions of their
employment, and to act collectively in defense
of their own interests.

We intend to monitor this situation closely to
learn what actions you have taken to remedy these
gross violations of labor and human rights.

Yours truly,






************************************
MAY DAY MESSAGES FROM IRAQ'S UNIONS

************************************


May Day 2008 Statement from the Iraqi Labour Movement
To the Workers and All Peace Loving People of the World

On this day of international labour solidarity
we call on our fellow trade unionists and all
those worldwide who have stood against war and
occupation to increase support for our struggle
for freedom from occupation - both the military and economic.

We call upon the governments, corporations and
institutions behind the ongoing occupation of
Iraq to respond to our demands for real democracy,
true sovereignty and self-determination
free of all foreign interference.

Five years of invasion, war and occupation have
brought nothing but death, destruction, misery
and suffering to our people. In the name of our
"liberation," the invaders have destroyed our
nation's infrastructure, bombed our neighbourhoods,
broken into our homes, traumatized our children,
assaulted and arrested many of our family members
and neighbours, permitted the looting of our
national treasures, and turned nearly twenty
percent of our people into refugees.

The invaders helped to foment and then exploit
sectarian divisions and terror attacks where
there had been none. Our union offices have
been raided. Union property has been seized and
destroyed. Our bank accounts have been frozen.
Our leaders have been beaten, arrested, abducted
and assassinated. Our rights as workers have
been routinely violated.

The Ba'athist legislation of 1987, which banned
trade unions in the public sector and public
enterprises (80% of all workers), is still in
effect, enforced by Paul Bremer's post-invasion
Occupation Authority and then by all subsequent
Iraqi administrations. This is an attack on our
rights and basic precepts of a democratic society,
and is a grim reminder of the shadow of
dictatorship still stalking our country.

Despite the horrific conditions in our country,
we continue to organise and protest against the
occupation, against workplaces abuses, and for
better treatment and safer conditions.

Despite the sectarian plots around us, we believe
in unity and solidarity and a common aim of
public service, equality, and freedom to organise
without external intrusions and coercion.

Our legitimacy comes from our members. Our
principles of organisation are based on
transparent and internationally recognised
International Labour Organisation standards.

We call upon our allies and all the world's peace-
loving peoples to help us to end the nightmare of
occupation and restore our sovereignty and
national independence so that we can chart our
own course to the future.

1) We demand an immediate withdrawal of all
foreign troops from our country, and utterly
reject the agreement being negotiated with the
USA for long-term bases and a military presence.
The continued occupation fuels the violence in
Iraq rather than alleviating it. Iraq must be
returned to full sovereignty.

2) We demand the passage of a labour law promised
by our Constitution, which adheres to ILO
principles and on which Iraqi trade unionists
have been fully consulted, to protect the rights
of workers to organize, bargain and strike,
independent of state control and interference.

3) We demand an end to meddling in our sovereign
economic affairs by the International Monetary
Fund, USA and UK. We demand withdrawal of all
economic conditionalities attached to the IMF's
agreements with Iraq, removal of US and UK
economic "advisers" from the corridors of Iraqi
government, and a recognition by those bodies
that no major economic decisions concerning our
services and resources can be made while foreign
troops occupy the country.

4) We demand that the US government and others
immediately cease lobbying for the oil law, which
would fracture the country and hand control over
our oil to multinational companies like Exxon,
BP and Shell. We demand that all oil companies
be prevented from entering into any long-term
agreement concerning oil while Iraq remains
occupied. We demand that the Iraqi government
tear up the current draft of the oil law, and
begin to develop a legitimate oil policy based on
full and genuine consultation with the Iraqi
people. Only after all occupation forces are gone
should a long term plan for the development of
our oil resources be adopted.

We seek your support and solidarity to help us
end the military and economic occupation of our
country. We ask for your solidarity for our
right to organise and strike in defence of our
interests as workers and of our public services
and resources. Our public services are the legacy
of generations before us and the inheritance of
all future generations and must not be privatised.

We thank you for standing by us. We too stand
with you in your own struggles for real democracy
which we know you also struggle for, and against
privatisation, exploitation and daily
disempowerment in your workplaces and lives.

We commend those of you who have organised strikes
and demonstrations to end the occupation in
solidarity with us and we hope these actions will continue.

We look forward to the day when we have a world
based on co-operation and solidarity. We look
forward to a world free from war, sectarianism,
competition and exploitation.

Endorsed by:

Hassan Juma'a Awad, President,
Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)
Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary,
Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU)
Falah Alwan, President, Federation of
Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI)
Subhi Albadri, President, General Federation of
Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI)
Nathim Rathi, President, Iraqi Port Workers Trade Union
Samir Almuawi, President, Engineering
Professionals Trade Union
Ghzi Mushatat, President, Mechanic and
Print Shop Trade Union
Waleed Alamiri, President, Electricity Trade Union
Ilham Talabani, President, Banking Services Trade Union
Abdullah Ubaid, President, Railway Trade Union
Ammar Ali, President, Transportation Trade Union
Abdalzahra Abdilhassan, President,
Service Employees Trade Union
Sundus Sabeeh, President,
Barber Shop Workers Trade Union
Kareem Lefta Sindan, President,
Lumber and Construction Trade Union,
General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW)
Sabah Almusawi, President, Wasit Independent Trade Union
Shakir Hameed, President, Lumber And
Construction Trade Union (GFWCUI)
Awad Ahmed, President, Teachers Federation of Salahideen
Alaa Ghazi Mushatat, President,
Agricultural And Food Substance Industries
Adnan Rathi Shakir, President, Water Resources Trade Union
Nahrawan Yas, President, Woman Affairs Bureau
Sabah Alyasiri, President (GFWCUI) Babil
Ali Tahi, President (GFWCUI) Najaf
Ali Abbas, President (GFWCUI) Basra
Muhi Abdalhussien, President (GFWCUI), Wasit
Ali Hashim Abdilhussien, President (GFWCUI) Kerbala
Ali Hussien, President (GFWCUI) Anbar
Mustafa Ameen, Arab Workers Bureau, President (GFWCUI)
Thameer Mzeail, Health Services, Union Committee
Khadija Saeed Abdullah, Teachers Federation, Member
Asmahan, Khudair, Woman Affairs, Textile Trade Unions
Adil Aljabiri, Oil Workers Trade Union Executive Bureau Member
Muhi Abdalhussien, Nadia Flaih, Service Employees Trade Unions
Rawneq Mohammed, Member, Media and Print Shop Trade Union
Abdlakareem Abdalsada, Vice President (GFWCUI)
Saeed Nima, Vice President (GFWCUI)
Sabri Abdalkareem, Member, (GFWCUI) Babil
Amjad Aljawhary, Representative of GFWCUI in North America


May Day Message
from the General Union of Dock Workers in Iraq
to the International Longshore and Warehouse
Union in the United States

Dear Brothers and Sisters of ILWU in California

The courageous decision you made to carry out a
strike on May Day to protest against the war and
occupation of Iraq advances our struggle against
occupation to bring a better future for us and
for the rest of the world as well.

We are certain that a better world will only be
created by the workers and what you are doing is
an example and proof of what we say. The labor
movement is the only element in the society that
is able to change the political equations for
the benefit of mankind. We in Iraq are looking up
to you and support you until the victory over
the US administration's barbarism is achieved.

Over the past five years the sectarian gangs who
are the product of the occupation, have been
trying to transfer their conflicts into our
ranks. Targeting workers, including their
residential and shopping areas, indiscriminately
using all sorts of explosive devices, mortar
shells, and random shooting, were part of a
bigger scheme that was aiming to tear up the
society but they miserably failed to achieve
their hellish goal. We are struggling today to
defeat both the occupation and sectarian militias' agenda.

The pro-occupation government has been attempting
to intervene into the workers affairs by imposing
a single government-certified labor union.
Furthermore it has been promoting privatization
and an oil and gas law to use the occupation
against the interests of the workers.

We the port workers view that our interests are
inseparable from the interests of workers in
Iraq and the world; therefore we are determined
to continue our struggle to improve the living
conditions of the workers and overpower all plots
of the occupation, its economic and political projects.

Let us hold hands for the victory of our struggle.

Long live the port workers in California!

Long live May Day!

Long live International solidarity!

The General Union of Port Workers in Iraq
An Affiliate Union with General Federation of
Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI)

28-4-2008


*******************************
*******************************
*******************************


! ! !


Today, thousands of people are engaged in
nonviolent civil disobedience.

http://www@5yearstoomany.org


WHAT ARE WE IN WALES DOING ?
Just one more march?
Come on Wales !
Contact each other -
there are lots of peace groups !

Non-violent protest
shows REAL EFFECTIVE COMMITTED opposition
to "our" government's disgraceful role.

An excellent contact in Cardiff -
where there was a demo
at the TOTAL Garage
in Cathedral Road,
is Adam Johannes, Cardiff STW.

You can contact him re future events at;
cardiff_troopsout@hotmail.com
07940 108 146