On January 27, the US puppet Iraqi Governing Council has appointed or rather hand picked a union, the Iraqi Federation of Trade Union (IFTU) as the "legitimate representative" of Iraqi workers.  IFTU is associated with the Iraqi Communist Party whose leader was chosen by the occupation authority to serve on the the Iraqi Governing council with the primary function to justify the bloody occupation of Iraq.

The Federation of  Workers' Council and Unions in Iraq has issued a statement condemning this decision. Please read the statement bellow:

*************************************

Statement of the Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq on the Governing Council's Resolution that Appoints Representatives for the Iraqi Workers

On January 27, 2004, the Governing Council passed its resolution number 3, which appoints an organization as the official representative of the Iraqi workers inside the country and internationally. This organization consists of the representatives of the parties grouped in the Governing Council.

The Resolution 3 is a continuation of the Baathist tradition which appointed trade unions through orders and from above.  This resolution contradicts all international conventions, resolutions, and agreements which stress that establishing trade unions and labour organizations is the affair of workers themselves and that workers should elect their representatives freely from among their ranks.

We, in the FWCUI, believe that the Governing Council has no right to pass any resolution preventing workers from electing their representatives. Therefore, we totally reject this resolution and regard it as an attempt to enforce the practices of the ousted Baath regime which denied workers any control over their own affairs and erected bureaucratic and repressive bodies which had nothing to do with the interests of workers.  The resolution number 3 is a part of the attempts by the state apparatus to control workers despite all rhetoric about freedom.

The Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq calls for a general conference, which embraces all labour activists in Iraq. The FWCUI also calls on the international labour organizations to attend this conference.

Genuine and influential labour organizations, which represent workers, can only be established when workers themselves freely elect their own representatives.

Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq
February 19, 2004