The General Union of Oil Employees will hold a conference dedicated to discussing the widely-anticipated new Oil Law in cooperation with the Basra University's "Center for Arab Gulf Studies". The conference will take place at the conference hall of the Oil Education Center, Basra on Tuesday February 6th.

All relevant political parties and trade union organizations will be invited to participate in addition to NGO activists, university professors and MPs. A joint statement will be prepared during the conference and will be forwarded to the Iraqi parliament and prime-ministry.

The British and US governments, the International Monetary Fund and 9 multinational oil companies have seen the draft legislation. Iraqi civil society - including the trade union movement, despite repeated calls for involvement in the drafting process - has not been consulted at any stage of the law's evolution. The legislation is expected to favour longterm contracts known as Production Sharing Agreements which critics argue will allow for de-facto privatisation of Iraq's oil by foreign companies.

The Petroleum Law is expected to be ratified by the Iraqi Parliament by the end of March 2007.


Contacts

GUOE Hassan Jumaa Awad Al Assadi, President of the General Union of Oil Employees (Arabic Only) 00964 7801 001 196

Naftana (UK Support Group for the GUOE)
Ewa Jasiewicz 07749 421 576 freelance At mailworks.org

PLATFORM Greg Muttitt, Researcher with PLATFORM and Specialist in Iraqi Oil Policy and the UK Agenda. Author of ‘Crude Designs’ report on Production Sharing Agreements
greg At platformlondon.org 07970 589 611 www.crudedseigns.org



Notes for Journalists

The GUOE represents over 23,000 oil workers across four provinces in nine state oil and gas companies. It is independent of all trade union federations in Iraq.

Many of the Union’s activists fought against and were persecuted by, the Baath regime.

The Union has organised strikes, export interruptions and protest actions over foreign corporate interference (Kellogg Brown and Root was expelled from workplaces by union activists in 2003), unpaid wages, slashed wages, deliberate degradation of industrial assets, oil smuggling and corruption.

The union has also reconstructed war-damaged drilling rigs, refineries, port equipment and pipelines.

Naftana (Arabic: 'our oil') was set up by UK activists after contact with the GUOE. We are in regular contact with the leadership of the union.

See www.basraoilunion.org for statements from the union