February 2005

Hassan Juma’a Awad UK Visit and Trip feedback report
Ewa Jasiewicz, Iraq Occupation Focus

President of the General Union of Oil Employees in Basra, Hassan Juma'a Awad came to the UK for a two-week awareness raising visit. Iraq Occupation Focus (IOF) organised the tour, as part of its commitment to supporting grassroots movements in Iraq, and the TUC paid hotel, flight and food expenses.  

The IOF has been running a fundraising appeal for the Southern Oil Company trade Union since last October http://www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk/

Background

The General Union of Oil Employees in Basra has its roots in the Southern Oil Company Trade Union, which was established after the occupation began in April 2003.  Activists first organised secretly, uncertain as to how occupation forces would respond.  The goal of the union, as Hassan Juma'a puts it, was to ‘re-organise the relationship between workers and the company’s administration in order to fight for workers’ rights’.  Hassan himself has worked for the Southern Oil Company, a nationalised industry, for 33 years.  He lives in a small, crumbling house in the poverty-entrenched Jhoumouria district of Basra.  Father of six and a survivor of Saddam’s jails and torture chambers (he was imprisoned three times under the regime), Hassan Juma’a frequently cites the strike by oil workers in the South against the Basra Oil Company administration in the 1950s as an example of the power oil workers once had in Iraq, before the Baath regime crushed workers’ organisations.  1987 was the year independent trade unions were dissolved and all workers were transformed into 'civil servants'.  State-run trade unions were set up and acted as instruments of surveillance and repression.  Older generations may still remember the meaning of the word ‘Trade Union’ and remember organising within a genuine workers' organisation, however younger workers are still unclear as to what a trade union is capable of and what they themselves are capable of when they organise together for their own interests.  One of Hassan’s key requests when visiting the UK was for training for trade union activists, in organisational, co-ordination and network-building skills.

The General Union of Oil Employees in Basra, or the Basra Oil Union as it is also referred to, is a federation of oil unions representing 23,000 members in ten energy related trade union councils, active in the nine separate Iraqi companies which make up the oil sector in Basra, Amara and Nassiryah. 

The other companies in this sector are: the 

The position of the Basra Oil Union is that it is independent, free from any political party influence or control.  It is a union which doesn’t belong to any of the Iraqi union federations, although it enjoys relationships of co-operation and good communication at a local level with all of them – the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), The Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) and also the General Federation of Iraq Unions (Lead by Jabbar Tarish).  Hassan also made a link with Kurdish trade union representatives whilst in London.

Despite activists within the union being members of different political parties, these political and ideological differences are left outside of union-building work, which, it was decided by consensus, should always and only serve workers’ interests and not those of the government or any particular party.  The leadership of the union has been democratically elected by workers themselves.  The union’s position is that it is against privatization and against the occupation – military and economic – of Iraq.  The Union sees itself as bearing the responsibility of defending Iraq’s national wealth for the benefit of all Iraqis.  Those who work day in day out to create the wealth of Iraq are those who were killed under the regime for trying to organize against it and suffered some of the most draconian surveillance and repression as a result of their critical and vital position within the economy.  Iraqi oil workers are highly conscious of this critical position and the power they wield as a collective force. The union believes that the wealth of Iraq should be used to benefit all Iraqis – from North to South – to raise people out of poverty and to reconstruct the country both economically and socially. The union knows that the sights of the American free-market fundamentalist crusade are trained firmly on Iraq’s oil industry and have been since the 1970s.

One of the first acts of defiance against the occupation and the imposition of unlivable wages by the Bremer Administration was a three-day oil strike on August 10th 2003.  It was also important to oil workers and the union leadership to keep the knowledge of the workings of the oil industry in the hands of Iraqi workers.  From the very beginning, workers threw out the employees of US corporations Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) from their workplaces, as they knew that they had been sent by the Pentagon and were a constituent part of the Occupation.  Barring KBR from their workplaces was one way of keeping that information safe from co-optation and exploitation and workers in control of workplaces.

Oil workers won an important struggle for higher wages in January 2004 after strike action and repeated pressure on the Occupation Authorities.  Pro Consul Paul Bremer had introduced Order 30 on Salaries and Employment Conditions in September 2003; oil workers in the Iraqi South managed to get the last two levels of the 11-level wage table eliminated, making the lowest minimum wage 102,000ID (which with risk and location payments rose to 150,000ID), up from from just 69,000 ID. Order 30 was just one of 100 orders, de-facto laws which govern everything from traffic regulations to foreign investment and the status of occupation soldiers.  Legal experts consider the Orders to be illegal, as the Hague and Geneva Conventions, to which both British and US forces are signatories, prohibit occupying powers from overhauling a country’s legal system and restructuring its economy and selling of state assets and properties.  The Orders were passed under Bremer’s Civil Administration Law under the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA).  The CPA was formally disbanded in June 2004 yet the Administrative Law persists, despite mass opposition to it and a Fatwah from the Ayatollah Sistani.  Iraqis voting in this January’s elections repeatedly cite the repeal of Bremer’s laws as one of the main reasons for trying to vote in a government which can write new laws and a constitution which serves the needs of the Iraqi people.  Bremer’s law is widely regarded as an extension of US interests, and the vehicle which will usher in privatization of the Iraqi economy, ensure the impunity of foreign soldiers and mercenaries from prosecution, continue to ban trade unions and criminalize public demonstrations and free speech.

 The General Union of Oil Employees in Basra is still an ‘illegal’ union as it has not been officially recognized by the government.  ‘We take our legitimacy from the workers and not from the government’, states Hassan.

Overcoming isolation is one of the key problems facing all new Iraqi civil society organizations.  Connection to the internet and access to independent media and newspapers with uncensored news is restricted by the  government and by prohibitively expensive net cafes and scarce web connections.  On average, an hour on the internet costs 2000 Iraqi Dinar (about $1.50).  This is a day's wages for some workers and in real terms can buy 40 ‘samoun’ pieces of bread – enough to feed the children of a family of five for a whole week.

The General Union of Oil Employees in Basra needs massive support. The struggle of Iraqi oil workers against the privatization of their industry and national resources is a struggle which serves all those fighting to end the war and ongoing occupation of Iraq, all those locked in struggle against corporate giants, occupying armies, neo-colonial regimes and governments and capitalism itself, the driving system behind this war which, if we can stand in solidarity with Iraqi oil workers, could be starved of the refueling it is depending on in Iraq.

Hassan’s Tour

After an initial welcome dinner on Edgware Road and then a Sunday spent at the British Museum (looking at Mesopotamian artifacts), work began in earnest with making links with British civil society organizations.

Trade Union links

Unison
Firstly Hassan had a successful lunchtime meeting with Geoff Martin, Battersea and Wandsworth TUC.  Jon Rogers, United Left Candidate, UNISON, and Chris Baugh, Deputy General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union.  Hassan appealed for trade union training more than any financial support, citing the damage done to Iraqi working class capacity to organize as a result of the former regime.  All responded with interest and good will and pledged to stay in touch and work together to support Hassan’s union.

The UNT (National Workers Union – Venezuela) 
Hassan also met with Ricardo Galindez, a rep from the UNT Bolivarian oil workers union in Venezuela.  Ricardo, like Hassan, is no stranger to repression having himself been beaten and also shot in the chest in attacks thought to be the work of ‘boss thugs’ in the state of Lara.  Both Hassan and Ricardo had common ground and committed themselves to each writing an open letter of solidarity and recognition and resistance to the neo-liberal agenda, union to union.

Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU)
On Wednesday February 9th Hassan had a very fruitful meeting with Jim Mowatt, Chief Negotiator for TGWU affiliated oil workers.  The TGWU represents oil workers at all levels of the industry working for the following companies: Shell, BP, TotalFinaElf, and Exxon Mobil.  The TGWU has established solidarity links with oil workers in trade unions in the US which Jim described as ‘militant and very anti-Bush and anti-BP’.  The TGWU has also built a global network for oil workers working for Exxon.  Mowatt offered support and training for oil sector trade unionists in Basra and also floated the idea of solidarity action by workers in the British oil sector with Iraqi oil workers in event of strikes in Basra.

 Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT)
 Hassan met with RMT General Secretary Bob Crow on Friday February 11th and spoke about the situation his union was facing and also the dire conditions facing railway workers in the South which the Basra Oil union has good contact with.

US Labor Against the War (USLAW)
This trade union, task force and labour rights group network involving over three million workers in the US has long been a supporter of the Southern Oil Company Union.  Labour journalist David Bacon, who was part of a USLAW delegation to Baghdad in October 2003, interviewed Hassan in London and also gave him a letter of solidarity from the Paper, Allied-Chemical and Energy Workers International Union.

 International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM)
Hassan met with Jim Catterson, Director of Organisation, Materials Industry Sector Officer of ICEM,which represents 20 million energy industry workers in 399 unions in 108 countries.  Hassan invited Jim to come to Basra and see for himself the strength of the Basra oil union and meet with activists and officials and see the operations of the Union on a day to day basis as well as stay in worker activists’ homes.  Security could be provided by the union for a delegation of two to five, from the border of Kuwait to Basra and back.  Jim said he would look in to it and accepted the invitation in principle, pending on security issues being cleared.  Training was also discussed, with possible sessions to be held in Jordan and the training of trainers as a concept was explored.

Hadi Salih Memorial Evening
Hassan attended the memorial evening for Hadi Salih, the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions' international secretary, which was held at the TUC’s Headquarters in London.  Hassan had met Hadi three times in the course of his work; the Southern Oil Company union had also hung a traditional mourning banner outside their office, in his honour and in condemnation of his brutal murder.

Iraq Trade Union Solidarity Conference

 National Union of Journalists (NUJ)
Here we met with General Secretary Jeremy Dear.  Hassan spoke of the need for a General Union of Oil Employees' newsletter in order to spread news unavailable in the mainstream about privatisation, Structural Adjustment Programmes and Iraq’s debt.  Equipment identified to achieve the production of such a newsletter was: a computer, scanner, digital camera, and printer.  Media training was discussed and deemed necessary.  Jeremy Dear said he would get in touch with contacts within the Arab Federation of Journalists who might be able to help with media training.  He also pledged to send an appeal to all NUJ branches to try and raise money for the Union to establish the newsletter. If published, it would regularly be sent back to the UK too and if possible translated so that all supporters of the Basra oil union would have an insight into workers’ local concerns, struggles, gains and losses.

 Scottish Trade Unions Congress (STUC)
Hassan met with Bill Speirs, General Secretary of the STUC, and spoke about his union’s achievements and re-iterated the importance of trade unionist training.  Bill was very receptive and gave Hassan a gift of STUC CD complications, print-out photos of an STUC delegation to Palestine and a bag of Taybeh Palestinian beers.  Hassan also spoke to trade union representatives at the regular 12-15 participant strong Economy and Employment Committee meeting.

The Offshore International Liaison Committee
Hassan met with the leadership of this non-TUC independent oil workers committee based in Aberdeen.  The OILC was founded by a group of rank and file workers after the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988.  Workers organised sit-in protests and wildcat strikes between 1988-1991over health and safety conditions with the aim of causing as much disruption as possible until their demands were met.  Oil giant Shell had to go to court to stop them from organising.  The OILC is strongly opposed to signing partnership agreements with employers and has remained independent of such agreements which it sees as undermining workers’ rights.  Ronnie McDonald, past-General Secretary, OILC said, ‘We see no future in partnerships of convenience because they always depend on one side surrendering power’. Despite the fact that most of Iraq’s oil industry is on-shore, Hassan was impressed and felt an affinity with the militancy and sacrifices of the OILC. The OILC activists were very keen to get involved with training Basra oil union cadres and also said they would publicise their struggles through their website.

TGWU and Amicus – Aberdeen Oil sector representatives
John Taylor, Regional Industrial Organiser, TGWU and Graham Tran, Regional Officer, Amicus, gave Hassan a warm welcome and presentation about their work in the Inter-Union Offshore Committee which represents six trade unions working for oil sector workers’ interests.  The majority of the union members work in the drilling and contracting sector.  Wages are markedly high in the UK oil industry, with a control room operator earning £55k a year -- this is over ten times higher than the average wage of an Iraqi control room operator.  Both John and Graham pledged to keep in contact with Hassan, advised him to form links with the International Transport Worker Federation and ICEM.  They also said they would send information about UK oil worker wages.

UK Civil Society Organisations

Jubilee Iraq

Hassan met with Justin Alexander, a founder and key activist with Jubilee Iraq,  the organisation working for the abolition of Iraq’s £120bn debt.   Justin has been researching how Iraq’s debt is being used to crowbar open Iraq’s economy to free trade and the free market by imposing IMF-style Structural Adjustment Programmes demanding the privatization of public services and utilities and the cancellation of Iraq’s food ration and petrol subsidies.  Hassan was deeply impressed by this research and said that the information he was hearing was unavailable in Iraq and that ordinary Iraqis had no idea that their economy was being restructured.  He asked for more information and to be kept alerted to any new development.  He also stated he’d be passing on all information to workers in his union and to friends and allies in other civil society organizations in Iraq.

Platform

Platform is an organisation which has been researching the effects, structures and agenda of oil companies with a view to eventually eliminating global dependence on a carbon fuel economy.  Social and environmental justice are the goals of the 22-year-old organisation.  Platform works with trade unionists, oil refugees and has consulted and co-operated with community groups and workers opposed to oil expansion and exploitation in Russia, Turkey, Nigeria, the UK North Sea and Chechnya.  Platform researchers read the oil industry press and attend corporate conferences in an effort to understand the culture and operations of the oil industry and those who inhabit and perpetuate it and could have the means to change it.

Hassan was briefed on the three stages of privatization planned for Iraq’s oil industry and the meaning of the controversial production-sharing agreements and the contracts which had already been awarded to Shell, UKOIL and BP.  Platform and Hassan pledged to stay in touch and share information on privatization plans which would be distributed amongst workers through a regular union newsletter. 

War on Want
An organization over half a century old, with its roots in the British trade union movement, and one of four organizations which organized the Naomi Klein event at Friends’ House in November (the others were Iraq Occupation Focus, Voices in the Wilderness and Jubilee Iraq).  This event had raised approx. $2500 for the Southern Oil Company Union and the same amount for The Study Center of Human Rights & Democracy in Fallujah.  War on Want specialises in encouraging and supporting grassroots movements and civil society organisations in their struggles for democracy and against privatisation.  WAW pledged to help Hassan and his union in finding the contacts and content for a conference the union is planning to have in Basra on the issue of privatisation. 

Media

Hassan was interviewed by: 
Middle East Panorama on Resonance FM
Red Pepper Magazine
The Morning Star
Informal interview with Johnathan Steele at the Guardian
The Socialist Party’s paper
Yvonne Ridley on her current affairs and politics show on The Islam Channel
The Big Issue Scotland
He was also featured in a Guardian article by Simon Jeffrey andhad his own article in the Guardian comment page.

Public Meetings

Hassan’s hosting group, Iraq Occupation Focus, held a public meeting Tuesday February 8th at The University of London Student Union.  Transcript can be read here http://www.labournet.net/world/0502/iraqtu1.html

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php4?article_id=5874

Hassan also spoke at the STWC’s March 19th demo-building rally at Friends’ Meeting House on Monday 14th February.  Alongside him on the platform were Tony Benn, John Rees, and George Galloway.  Hassan again received a standing ovation for his speech, which underlined the need for immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.  He thanked the UK anti-war movement for standing by the Iraqi people and said he hoped to see everybody in Basra one day.  He also spoke against ‘the criminal’ Saddam Hussein and emphasized the suffering Iraqi people had to endure under the tyranny of the Ba’ath.  He also re-iterated his union’s pledge to defend Iraq’s oil wealth from privatization and vowed to resist the ensuing economic occupation of Iraq.

Up in Glasgow, Hassan was warmly received at a meeting organized by the Scottish Socialist Party at Partick Borough Halls, Partick, on Wednesday February 16th.  He spoke alongside Rose Gentle, mother of Scottish soldier Gordon Gentle, killed in Basra last year, and Frances Curran MSP.  Frances Curran pledged to continue to support the Basra Oil union and to make solidarity with the union a central feature of the SSP’s anti-war campaigning.  She also said she would raise Hassan’s visit in Parliament and express there the welcome and thanks the SSP gave to Hassan when he came to Scotland. 

Politicians/MPs

Hassan spoke to a packed House of Commons meeting of the Labour party Socialist Campaign Group.  MPs Jeremy Corbyn, John Macdonnell, Alan Simpson, and Harry Barnes were among the attendees.  When asked about about whether civil war would ensue if troops left Iraq, Hassan replied that this was an Iraqi issue and Iraqi people would sort out their own problems.  He said that even if there was civil war for twenty years after the troop withdrawal, the troops still had to leave immediately.  Asked whether the situation was better now in Iraq compared to how it was before, Hassan said that in terms of people being able to speak it was easier and there were more freedoms in this area.  He said he would never have been allowed out of the country to come to the UK under the regime.  However, he said that in terms of economic conditions, poverty and public services such as health, water, electricity and fuel provision, the situation was terrible and as bad as it was before the invasion.

The Socialist Campaign Group invited Hassan back to the UK for their summer meeting and pledged to work in solidarity with the Basra oil union and raise relevant issues concerning Iraqi workers rights in Parliament.

The Department for International Development
Owen Tudor, Head of TUC European Union and International Relations Department arranged for Hassan to visit the Iraq National Program in the Middle East and North Africa department at DFID. Hassan was asked by an economist working for DFID what his views were on DFID’s Iraq Interim Country Assistance Plan, which is based on IMF Economic Structural Adjustment austerity measures such as the elimination of the food ration system and its replacement with a cash subsidy and also the removal of petrol subsidies.  Hassan’s opinion on this plan was that it would be a ‘disaster’ for Iraqi people, and would increase poverty and suffering in the country.  He also said it represented a form of neo-colonialism.  The economist we spoke to insisted that after ’35 years of chronic under-investment’, Iraq needed a structural adjustment program, especially due to the debt Iraq’s government possessed.  

Despite Hassan stressing that this debt did not belong to the Iraqi people but to the regime of Saddam Hussein and had not been used to serve Iraqi society but had been used on military adventurism, the economist we spoke to continued to stress that Iraq had to open up its borders to free trade and the free market which would bring new skills to Iraqi workers too.

There was no reconciliation of the two positions.  One coming from a man half Hassan’s age in a department that had first supported Saddam’s fascist regime, then the genocidal sanctions, an illegal war and now a brutal occupation – and the other from a working class Iraqi from Basra and head of a union which is in control of the resource this war and occupation are based on.

Conclusion

All in all, Hassan had a very successful trip and has succeeded in raising the profile of the General Union of Oil Employees in Basra and its achievements.