The issue is not whether pensions are being paid or not and it is not whether compensations are being paid or not or this qwestern slave is being elected or not but the issue is Iraq is occupied and being sold out by the western/jewish alliance. Those iraqi dogs who are addressing their personal greivances without adressing the main greive if the occupation of our country need to be shot. Rather than holding demonstrations about the salary ..etc why do not you hold arms and defeat the enemy. Victory to the resistance death to teh occupiers and their rats.

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Well, I met with some workers at Daurra as well and they came with myself and a friend, away from the refinery and the unionists there and told us, at much risk, that the elections were fixed. They said that the Union leadership had been against the three wildcat strikes that took places at the plant, which were organised outside of the Union and the Union leadership themselves said that the strikes couldnt happen again as 'they would harm the national interest'. The Director General Dithar Khashab of the refinery - called 'a fascist' by many and whose role is unclear in the massacrees of workers that took place at Daurra in 1972 (20 killed) and 1978 (18) but who was a former Baathist. He thinks 'privatisation is good becuase it keeps workers in fear. In fear of their jobs' and he wholehearedly supports the union. The union has also been recognised by the Occupation Authorities too - when no other union has been. Its not a representative union. Its essentially steered by the management of the refinery and it shouldnt be trusted as an expression of workers autonomy or struggle. Its a company union. It exisits to co-opt worker sstruggle and sedate it, neautralise it and in a critical crucial point of capital accumulation and convection like Daurra Oil Refinery - workers will be facing massive restrictions and controls, just like they did under the Baath and a fake union to give them a semblance of control or bargaining potential is a necessary mechanism of worker repression.

Khashab himeslf admitted that he wished he could have dealt with the stoppages 'peacefully' He never elaborated on how he Did deal with them.

I was taking care of a US delegation of trade unionists in Baghdad and we met many many new fake unions, all cooperating with management, 'we support our boss, he supports us, he wants to help us but he cant' was the oft heard refrain. The Gaylani Oil Transportation Company was one such place.

This is just a word of caution. Its within the intesrests of the occupiers and the bosses to have new false activity and struggle absorbant unions to contain workers' struggle, now at this volatile period more than ever. Ane especially as many baathists are still in power controling industry, especially the most critical oil industry. We need to scratch the surface and get beyond the theatrics and meet the really vulnerable autonomously organising workers out there, who wont talk infront of 'their union' or bosses or somethimes not even in their own workplace. People are still very very afraid of speaking out, especially to foreigners.

What is likely to be the US position if this strike does occour soon, will they stay in their bunker whilst Khashab wishes once more that he could solve things peacefully.

How far would the firefighters have gotten in their strike action if the army had been standing over them with guns rather than providing emergency cover?

oil is rare,i do not think thatis fare that oil and petrol prices have gone up,it is not because the pensioner's what ever it is because the goverment are greedy people. all the goverment do is put the prices up , bus fares have gone up. oil is rare but expencive THE GOVERMENT ARE NOT FARE.

from a 15 year old called lisa