independent unions and declared all workers civil servants. There was nothing between 1978 and 2003.
On April 20 2003, when the occupying forces were at the gates of Basra, activists came together to reform the union. There were two basic reasons for this: to maintain and advance the rights of workers, to reclaim rights lost under the Baath regime. The second reason was to protect the wealth of the country, the oil, both from looters and from the occupiers.
When the British forces entered Basra they protected the oil installation, while the entire infrastructure of the city was burned or destroyed by looters.
On August 15 2003, the first union committee was elected freely and democratically, the first chance workers had had to do this. Soon other unions were formed in Rumella, Mejnoon and elsewhere.
Other committees were created in other oil companies in the south. There are now committees in the three main provinces of Amara, Nasiriyah and Basra.
When these committees were established, we organised a conference, and an executive bureau was elected. Q: What would you say are the main difficulties facing workers building trade unions in Irag today.
A: Initially the main difficulty was that the coalition authority argued that the 1978 law still stood, and that that law had to be rescinded before unions could be built.
Also because there were no trade unions for a long period, we need not only a new generation of activists, but new cadres.
Q: What US and UK companies operate in the oil sector in Basra?
A: When the occupying forces entered Basra and established relative stability, Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), which is part of Halliburton (Dick Cheney's company came in and started operating in the oil fields under the pretext of rebuilding some pumping stations.
They outsourced some work to a Kuwaiti and an Indian company, but it was clear that their aim was to dominate and control the oil sector.
The union tried to hinder their work. We think that the US strategy of military occupation will be followed by economic occupation.
The interim government of Ayad Allawi is making proposals for the privatisation of the oil sector, backed by the US.
We reached an agreement that KBR could supply the materials for rebuilding, but that it must be Iraqis who install it.
In the end though, KBR withdrew because they weren't happy with the arrangement and it wasn't sufficiently profitable for them. Q: What kind of difference do you think the recent election results will make to Iraq?
A: I am neither for nor When the British forces entered Basra they protected the oil installation, while the entire infrastructure of the city was burned. against the elections.
The provisional government of Iyad Allawi cannot take the kind of decisions needed by society at large. This government has been operating with the laws that were brought in by the Baath regime.
So even though some parties did not participate in the elections, even though the new government is not fully legitimate, hopefully it will take us from one condition to another.
It won't have a magic wand to stop the violence but it can take firm decisions against the occupiers.
It may then be able to win the confidence of the people which will be a great leap forward. If it doesn't happen it will make things in Iraq very can meet the challenges of the next stage. Most of the new generation do not have any experience of organising. Once the old men leave, the ground will be empty. L am very hopeful of what we can organise with the trade unions in Britain.
Obviously the situation in Iraq is not stable yet, but I still think it is possible to organise education in trade union work with the help of international trade unionists. Practically, I hope that the trade unions here can put in place a timetable to do this. Q: You stopped oil production during the siege of Najaf last August didn't you?
A: It happened because of solidarity with the people of Najaf, and it will happen again if those kinds of violations on the part of the occupying forces take place again. Q: What's the best thing that the Southern Oil Company Union has achieved since its refoundaton?
There have been many achievements. The main one is the review of the wage table which was imposed by Bremer.
The minimum wage was $35 per month (96 Iraqi dinars). We negotiated with the Coalition Provisional Authority, especially the ministry of finance, in order to eliminate the lowest levels in the wage table.
Now the starting wage is 150 Iraqi dinars. Experienced workers get more of course. This was a real concrete achievement. But it was only a 3 day strike starting on August 10 2003 which actually forced them to meet our demands.
We have also negotiated a situation where we are consulted before laws that relate to employment are passed. Thanks to Fames O'Nions from Red Pepper for the use of this interview; material from the London public meeting has also been included.