Two leaders of Iraq´s labor movement, Hashmeya Huhsin Hussein, president of the Electric Utility Workers Union, and Falah Abood Umara, general secretary of the Federation of Oil Unions, are touring a dozen U.S. cities this month, from June 4 to June 29. They will address members of Congress, union members, and the general public about the impact of the U.S. occupation on the Iraqi labor movement and the lives of working people. They will also talk about why Iraqi unions oppose the proposed oil law being pushed by the Bush administration that would give control of 2/3 of Iraq´s oil reserves to foreign oil companies.
The tour is co-sponsored by U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW), United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC).
Peter Knowlton, UE Northeast Region president and UE´s representative on the board of USLAW, strongly urged UE members to support the tour. "This is a unique opportunity to hear how the war and occupation are affecting working people in Iraq, and to get a union perspective on what this war is really all about. It´s really important for us to stand in solidarity with union people in Iraq, who are bravely struggling for a united, democratic, non-sectarian Iraq, and against Bush´s effort to hand Iraq´s oil reserves over to his friends in the oil companies."
ABOUT THE VISITORS
Hashmeya Huhsin Hussein is the first woman to head a national union in Iraq. She became active in her union while working for the electric company in Basra. She and her seven-year-old son have received death threats because of her activism.
Faleh Abood Umara was an oil worker for 28 years and a founding member of the oil workers union. He spent time in jail under Saddam Hussein for his union activity, and under the occupation, his union has conducted strikes against outsourcing and schemes to privatize Iraq´s oil.
HERE ARE THE DATES when the Iraqi union leaders will appear in cities near UE locals:
Boston
June 14
6:00 p.m., UMass Boston, Wheatley Student Lounge, 4th floor
East Hartford, CT
June 16
12:00 noon, IAM Hall, 357 Main St.
New York City
June 18
6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Public event at Transit Workers Union Local 100, 250-252 West 64th Street between West End Avenue & Amsterdam, Manhattan.
Philadelphia
June 19
5:30 p.m. Reception and Public Forum, Friends Center, 1501 Cherry St.
Milwaukee
June 21
7:00 p.m. Public event: Voices of Iraqi Workers. Milwaukee County Labor Council, 633 S. Hawley Road
Chicago
June 21-23
United for Peace & Justice Assembly
Washington, DC
June 26
7:00 p.m. Westminster Presbyterian Church public event, 400 Eye St., SW-Waterfront Metro on the Green Line.
Atlanta, GA
June 27-28
U.S. Social Forum
Find up-to-date details about the tour and events at the USLAW website, www.uslaboragainstwar.org