Oil Employees (GUE) hosted a historic conference in Basra in southern Iraq against the privatisation of Iraq's oil resources. Invited foreign guests were present as well as Iraqi trade unionists and academics.
Solidarity greetings were received from numerous workers' organisations including the National Workers' Union (UNT) of Venezuela.
In London on 21 June 50 people attended an Iraq Occupation Focus public meeting to hear reportbacks from the British delegation to the conference, which comprised Ewa Jaslewicz from 10F and academics Martha Mundy and Greg Muttitt. Martha pointed out that London was about to host three different meetings of the oil sector to discuss the corporate carve-up of iraq see report on Corporate Pirates protest).
Greg pointed out that the US firms and their Iraqi allies had been concerned that the January 2005 elections would stymie their privatisation plans, but they need not have worried. Those in key posts in the new government are very sympathetic to privatisation, including the Oil Minister, and of course well-known crook and US State Department lackey Ahmed Chalabi, now Deputy Prime Minister.
Ewa Jaslewicz stressed however that there was big opposition to privatisation in Irag. The GUOE, based in Basra and other cities, opposes both the economic and military occupations. It organises 23,000 workers, that is more than half of the oil workers in the south of Iraq.
Moreover, all workers in the southern oil sector participate in strikes called by the GUOE.
Oll workers of course have a huge relative weight in the Iragi trade union movement and this has only increased because of the massive unemployment in other sectors caused by the occupation.
Oil workers may only represent 1 per cent of the workforce, but they ear 60 per cent of waged income nationally
The next six to tweive months will be crucial in building solidarity with the GUE's fight against privatisation. For more information on what your union, anti-war group or Respect branch can do to help, see www.iragoccupationtocus.org.uk