Iraq Oil Workers on Strike

[Purveyor]

By QAIS AL-BASHIR Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Hundreds of oil company employees went on strike Tuesday for higher pay, officials said.

The job action cut supplies to power stations and factories as Iraq faces its worst fuel shortage since Saddam Hussein's 2003 ouster.

About 350 workers from the Iraqi Pipes and Lines Company in the southern city of Basra and another 200 in Nasiriyah, about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, walked off the job Tuesday morning, according to the head of the workers' union.

The workers want higher salaries, paid holidays and a share of the profits. Monthly salaries at the company currently range from $130 to $280.

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4133591.html

[Kagemusha]

1. I somehow doubt this'll end well.

Something tells me they're not very union friendly over there.

[TomInTib]

5. Now there's your nutshell summarization..

They will go Pullman on this one.

[PointAndLaugh]

2. How long until US authorities replace the "Iraq Oil Workers"

with cheap labor from Philippines and/or India?

I give it three days, at most.

[BootinUp]

3. freedom can be messy.

thats what I heard.

[VegasWolf]

4. Well, Cheney will be screaming at the monkey now. nt

[Monkeyman]

6. Yep his retirement pay will be cut

[katinmn]

7. Solidarity! These are brave people. More:

This has been planned for some time.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_kathlyn__060717_labor_and_peace_acti.htm
The Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC) is mobilizing workers in Iraq to strike. The Oil Workers Union -- by far the country's largest and most influential --has voted to strike and numerous other unions and womens' and human rights organizations have agreed to support the strike. Talk of the strike has gained the attention of Prime Minister Noori Almaliki who has asked to meet with union leaders. With widespread international support the workers' demands for basic humanitarian needs and a democratic sovereign nation can be achieved.

The IFC has become known as "the last hope" to bring about unity among the Iraqi people and an end to the violence. One of its slogans is "No Sunnis, No Shiites, Ours is Human Unity." It is the only grassroots group working to create a unified, democratic, secular and progressive Iraq.

In preparation for the strike, those who support an end to the U.S. occupation can learn about the Iraq Freedom Congress by visiting www.ifcongress.com. The web site lists founding documents, news from Iraq, and a newsletter that explains more about the IFC, its activities and growing ties to American and other countries' peace, labor and justice groups.

Six senior Iraqi labor leaders, all members of IFC, met with hundreds of Americans in June 2005 during the Iraq-U.S. Labor Solidarity Tour of 25 U.S. cities, sponsored by US Labor Against the War. A documentary of the tour produced by the Center for Study of Working Class Life at Stony Brook University in New York is available at www.meetingfacetoface.org. US Labor Against the War and its 110 member unions took a much-needed leadership role in bringing Iraqis and Americans together to discuss in public forums, free of corporate media whitewash, the true story of the risks and hardships Iraqis face ever day in their turbulent country.