July 31, 2007
VIA FAX

Honorable Carl Levin, Chairman
Honorable Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman
Honorable John McCain, Ranking Member
Honorable Michael B. Enzi, Ranking Member
Committee on Armed Services Comm. on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Honorable Joe Biden, Jr., Chairman
Honorable Daniel K. Inouye, Chairman
Honorable Richard Lugar, Ranking Member
Honorable Ted Stevens, Ranking Member
Committee on Foreign Relations Senate Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate Subcommittee on Defense
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Honorable Patrick J. Leahy, Chairman
Honorable Judd Gregg, Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations,
and Related Programs
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senators:

I am writing to alert you to two important issues connected with the ongoing occupation and war in Iraq. Though not widely discussed in the U.S., these issues are central to the challenges faced by the Iraqi people. They concern the viability of the Iraqi labor movement and the fate of Iraq’s oil.

One of the few benign effects of deposing Saddam Hussein has been the emergence, despite opposition from both the U.S. authority and many parts of the Iraqi government, of a vibrant and growing labor movement. This is crucially important, because to all appearances the labor movement is one of the few organizations structured on a secular basis, has genuine popular support, and has membership across the growing ethnic and sectarian divisions. This suggests that the labor movement in Iraq is one of the few organizations capable of playing a significant role in lessening and hopefully ending the sectarian strife plaguing their country. We strongly believe the views of this labor movement should be heard much more clearly in Washington than they have been to date.

Enclosed, you will find two articles by free-lance journalist David Bacon, describing recent labor issues in Iraq, as well as an interview he conducted with the heads of the electrical workers union and the oil workers union.

A number of issues need to be emphasized. First, these leaders believe strongly that sectarian strife will ease, and that unions will be able to act with substantially more freedom when the U.S. military presence has ended.

Second, the unions believe equally strongly that Iraq’s oil is a national resource that should not be privatized, and specifically that oil privatization should not be used as any kind of “benchmark” of the Iraqi government’s success or failure. They state, and we agree, that the oil privatization law now under consideration by Iraq’s government is designed to benefit the multinational oil companies; not the Iraqi people.

Additionally, we believe several policies imposed by the U.S. occupation administration under its former head Paul Bremer and by subsequent Iraqi governments should be rescinded. These include the continuation in force of a Saddam Hussein-era law banning collective bargaining in Iraq’s public sector, an onerously low general wage schedule, and the complete sequestration of union funds by the government.

Therefore we ask that you do all you can to oppose the privatization of Iraq’s oil resources, correct the inequities present in Iraqi labor policy, and continue to support an end to the U.S. military presence in Iraq

Thank you very much for your consideration of these vitally important matters.

Sincerely,

Leo W. Gerard
International President
LWG/ctl
cc: House and Senate Leadership
USW International Executive Board