...Words for Mass Dissemination--the most powerful weapon in their fight against kidnapping, murder, suppression, and the US occupation of Iraq.
And media are starting to take notice!
Monday morning, June 13, Amy Goodman of Pacifica Radio's "Democracy Now" will interview two of six Iraqi trade unionists currently touring the US as part of an outreach and solidarity effort organized by US Labor Against the War (USLAW), a broad coalition of American labor unions opposed to the war against and occupation of Iraq.
Hassan Juma'a Awad, President, and Felih Abood Umara, General Secretary, of the General Union of Oil Employees of Iraq (GUOE) will discuss the horrific conditions Iraqi workers have endured since the US invasion and occupation of their country. Also on the show will be labor journalist David Bacon, just returned from Basra, with his photodocumentary on Iraqi oil workers and their union.
More...)
Democracy Now is broadcast on community radio, cable access television, and via satellite on Free Speech TV (currently on the Dish Network); consult local listings for times. Audio, video and a transcript of the interview will be available at show's
website.
Yesterday, the San Francisco Chronicle published Bacon's photos and story, Iraqi unions claim their voice. The photos appear in the print edition, but not online. USLAW has both the story and the photos in a pdf file on their website.
Bacon's trip is also the subject of a June 9 story by UPI, Iraqi labor leaders fight for rights, posted, in of all places, the Washington Times online.
Other recent stories:
* Iraqi Trade Unionists to Tour the US, PoliticalAffairs.net, June 12
* Iraq's other resistance: Oil workers in Basra are ready to fight privatisation, ZNet, June 11
The press will have ample opportunity to meet with Iraqi trade unionists right in the belly of the beast. USLAW has scheduled a press briefing at Washington, DC's National Press Club for Tuesday, June 14, 9 to 11 a.m. For details and updates about this and other meetings the Iraqis will be attending, check USLAW's calendar of events. Most are open to the public.
The Iraqis' two-week, twenty-city tour will give Americans the opportunity to "meet and talk with representatives of Iraq's labor movement who are fighting for a progressive, secular and democratic future," USLAW says.
"Fighting" is the operative word here. Even with Saddam Hussein behind bars and almost all of his regime's repressive laws eliminated, Iraqi unions are still under siege--from a military/industrial occupation that wants to suppress them for advocating worker rights and a lethal insurgency that wants to kill them for advocating democracy.
For more info about the tour, Iraqi workers, the challenges they face, and what you can do to see that the media pay attention to this extremely important and time-critical story, go to the previous diary (it made the recommended list yesterday).
Please read/recommend/follow through. Americans have written and spoken billions of words about Iraq. It's time Americans let the Iraqis speak for themselves. Thank you, One & All.
An Injury to One Is an Injury to All