Iraq Workers Offer First-Hand Report On Struggles

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

“Workers and unions face huge challenges in Iraq,” Nabeel Mulhim - Foreign Affairs Officer for the Kurdish General Workers Syndicates in Iraq (KGWSI) – told a packed Westminster Presbyterian Church hall at last night’s panel discussion in Southwest DC. “It is very dangerous trying to organize as we enjoy no protections from our lawmakers,” he added. Mulhim joined five other panelists to speak about the struggles that workers currently face in Iraq, and how those struggles are similar to many workers in the United States. After the DC Labor Chorus welcomed the Iraqi union leaders to Washington, the Iraqi panelists answered many questions about the situation of working families in Iraq. “Iraqi workers are increasingly living in poverty and major public services are diminishing,” said Rasim Al-Awady, President General Federation of Iraqi Workers. “ Public services like electricity and running water are practically non-existent in most parts of Iraq. There is much political oppression of the working class, but we are standing united in all that we are being subjected to,” he added. “There is very low morale across the country. Working families are struggling and are systematically denied access to a good education, decent health care and good jobs because of corruption and government maladministration.  Life is difficult and even harder to improve for many working people.”  The event was sponsored by DC Labor for Peace and Justice (DC LPJ) - a local affiliate of US Labor Against War – and the Solidarity Center, AFL-CIO. – report/photo by Adam Wright; photo: Sardar Mohammed (2nd from left), Rasim Al-Awady (2nd from right), Falah Alwa (right)