<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Sarah Lazare</b> <br>Date: Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 7:56 AM<br>Subject: 12 years after US invasion of Iraq, one way to show solidarity<br><br><div dir="ltr">Dear Friends and Family:<br><div><br>On the 12th anniversary of the U.S.
invasion of Iraq, I am asking you to help me raise solidarity funds for
Iraqi workers organizing for self-determination and dignity in their
communities.<br><div><br>I committed to raising $1,500 for the
Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq--to directly support
public-enterprise employees fighting back against wage theft, austerity,
lay-offs, and the erosion of their
rights. <br><br>A week in, we're almost halfway to this goal. Can you
help me raise the rest today? You can donate online by clicking my Indiegogo
campaign <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/federation-of-workers-councils-and-unions-in-iraq/x/3395003" target="_blank">here</a>. Every bit counts, and whether or not you're able to give, it would be great if you could help spread the word.<br><br><b>THE ASK:</b><br><br>I
was asked to by the Federation to reach out to my network for support
underwriting a portion of the costs of a conference, held in Baghdad the
weekend of March seventh. This gathering brought together workers from
across the country whose livelihoods and rights are under attack so that
they could develop their strategy and determine next steps.<span></span><span></span> To read about the outcome of the conference, click <a href="http://uslaboragainstwar.org/Article/36830/iraqi-workers-in-self-financed-enterprises-meet-to-plot-strategy" target="_blank">here</a>.<br><br>The
funds I raise will be used to pay for transportation, housing, and food
for workers attending the conference, and to help underwrite organizing
activities that follow (Iraqi unions are unable to collect dues because
the Saddam-era law still enforced by the Iraqi government does not
allow public and state enterprise employees to organize unions).<br><br><b>THE URGENCY:</b><br><br>Right now, public-enterprise workers in Iraq are under attack.<br><br>The
Iraqi government is seeking to further privatize and slash the public
sector by taking aim at state-owned companies that fall under the
jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and have a status called
“self-financed,” meaning they are supposed to operate without government
support.<br><br>Strangled by a dozen years of U.S.-led war and
occupation, a divisive sectarian government, and now the related crisis
of ISIS, many of these “self-financed” companies have simply stopped
paying their workers and slashed jobs in the textile, leather, food
production, petrochemical, electrical and other industries. The state,
instead of pooling public resources to support the tens of thousands of
workers who are impacted, is using this crisis as a pretext for further
privatization.<br><br>The consequences include job-loss, wage theft, and an erosion of workplace rights with nation-wide implications.<br><br>The
gutting of Iraq’s public sector is not taking place in a vacuum. Since
the 2003 invasion, the U.S. government, along with the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund, has pressed for rapid privatization,
down-sizing of the public sector and austerity. Furthermore, the
U.S.-backed Iraqi government continues to embrace anti-worker labor
policies carried over from the regime of Saddam Hussein. The austerity
imposed on Iraq is part of a global—and devastating—trend, from Greece
to Egypt to the United States.<br><br><b>THE ORGANIZING:</b><br><br>Workers and unemployed people are fighting back.<br><br>Building
on years of organizing, the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions
in Iraq is mobilizing resistance to escalating attacks on the public
sector. “We are in daily confrontations with the government, holding
demonstrations, sit-ins, seminars, and agitating other sectors to take
part,” Falah Alwan, president of the Federation, told me over email.<br><br>The most recent convergence in Baghdad followed two previous conferences in Kut and Babil.<br><br>The
Federation—which strongly opposes U.S. occupation and military
intervention—has repeatedly shown solidarity across national bounds.
>From the <a href="http://www.iraqicivilsociety.org/archives/2887" target="_blank">People’s Hearing</a> on the legacy of the U.S. occupation of Iraq to a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MaineWorkers/posts/915216095173606" target="_blank">statement of solidarity</a>
with the Southern Maine Workers’ Center, the Federation has organized
alongside international workers, anti-militarist organizers, veterans,
and Diaspora communities displaced by militarism. Even while they are
involved in their own struggle for their rights and survival, the
Federation's electricity sector workers recently sent a <a href="http://uslaboragainstwar.org/Article/36754/iraqi-workers-send-solidarity-greeting-to-striking-us-refinery-workers" target="_blank">message of support</a> to the striking U.S. refinery workers.<br><br>They understand the power of international solidarity. This is a chance for us to show we do too.<br><br><b>MY ROLE:</b><br><br>I’m
raising this money as an individual. I am connected with U.S.-based
anti-war and anti-militarist movements, as a member of the
Civilian-Soldier Alliance, ally to Iraq Veterans Against the War, and
member of War Times/Tiempos de Guerras. I’ve also been developing a
relationship with the Federation in my capacity as a journalist. But in
this campaign, I’m not claiming to represent any of these groups or
capacities. This appeal is also supported by U.S. Labor Against the War,
which has made its own contribution to underwrite the expenses of this
struggle.</div></div></div>
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