Judge orders South Oil Company to return to court on June 17th with written evidence of harm caused to SOC or the economy by oil workers stopping work to demand respect for their rights.[DETAILS]
Tell Iraq: Drop the charges against oil union leader, respect worker rights!
URGENT ACTION REQUEST
In response to strikes in the oil sector, the Iraq government filed a criminal complaint against Federation of Oil Unions President Hassan Juma'a Awad, and has taken disciplinary actions against many others. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and stiff fines. Stand with Iraqi workers against a corrupt authoritarian government and greedy multinational oil companies. Demand the charges be dropped, repression of unions and labor activists cease, and that internationally recognized labor rights be respected, including the right to organize, bargain and strike in the union of choice without government interference.
Iraqi Oil Ministry Brings Criminal Charges Against Oil Union Leaders Following Strikes
URGENT ACTION REQUEST
Hassan Juma'a, President of the Federation of Oil Unions in Iraq, has been criminally charged by the Ministry of Oil for allegedly organizing strikes that have been taking place with increasingly regularity as workers in the oil sector seek to protect their rights and interests. If convicted, he could face stiff fines and up to five years imprisonment. His next court hearing is April 7th.
USLAW, working in collaboration with the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center and the Iraq Civil Society Solidarity Initiative in Europe, has drafted a letter to Iraq Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki demanding that charges and disciplinary actions be dropped against Brother Hassan and all other workers who have been disciplined for exercising their internationally recognized right to organize, bargain and act collectively to defend their interests.
THIS MATTER IS URGENT!
Unions and other organizations are urged to sign onto this letter.
Your IMMEDIATE ATTENTION andPROMPT ACTION is requested.
Ten years of war, ten years of struggle: A USLAW statement and appeal on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and founding of USLAW
TEN YEARS of war, protest and struggle
Today, March 19th, 2013,
marks ten years since the U.S. illegally attacked, invaded and occupied
Iraq - a nation that had not attacked us or posed any threat to our
security.
It
has also been ten years since the world rose up to proclaim its
opposition to a threatened war in Iraq, as tens of millions of people
poured into the streets of dozens of cities across the globe in what was the largest political demonstration in recorded history.
Bush
and his co-conspirators did not heed the will of the people because
they were listening to other voices - of oil and other corporate
executives, generals, arms manufacturers, their lobbyists, and their
wealthy patrons, political cronies and privileged friends.
Greed, hubris, arrogance and empire spoke louder than millions of people in the streets.
Last Letter to George Bush and Dick Cheney from a Dying Veteran
You
may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war
crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of
thousands of young Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole.
Incarcerated and on trial for his
life for unmasking war crimes while those who committed the
crimes live in luxury, enjoying the privileges of their class and
wealth.
"....(T)he only thing the progressive caucus and Mr. Ryan share is audacity. And it’s refreshing to see someone break with the usual Washington notion that political “courage” means proposing that we hurt the poor while sparing the rich...." [Paul Krugman]
"The Pentagon sent a US veteran of the "dirty wars" in Central America to
oversee sectarian police commando units in Iraq that set up secret detention and
torture centres to get information from insurgents. These units conducted some
of the worst acts of torture during the US occupation and accelerated the
country's descent into full-scale civil war."*
We're starting to figure
out why the government pursued Bradley Manning so aggressively. Now, thanks to
an investigation by the Guardian and BBC Arabic shows, we know our direct
connection to Iraqi Torture centers and death squads. What atrocities happened,
and how many innocents are dead? Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
Taxpayers
in the top 1 percent of America’s top 1 percent all grabbed at least $7.97
million in 2011 income. In a nation of over 158 million households, analyst
David Cay Johnston points
out, these 15,837 uber-rich households took in 39 cents out of every $1 in
increased income Americans collected over the two years after 2009.
Catastrophic Pentagon cuts? Not really!
February 15, 2003 - A global day of protest remembered
Tens of millions worldwide took to the streets seeking to prevent the illegal invasion of Iraq - the largest demonstration in human history!
This is the trailer for the anti-war protest which took place globally on the 15th February 2003. Filmmaker Amir Amirani wants to document this truly incredible event but needs your donation to make it happen?
Were you there? Do you want to be involved and make a difference? The film is not yet fully funded! Back the film: Donate now via JustGiving athttp://www.justgiving.com/We-Are-Many
The U.S. Military: Afflicted by General Excess and Excess Generals
"....America’s military is astonishingly top heavy, with 945 generals and admirals on active duty as of March 2012. That’s one flag-rank officer for every 1,500 officers and enlisted personnel. With one general for every 1,000 airmen, the Air Force isthe worst offender, but the Navy and Army aren’t far behind. For example, the Army has 10 active-duty divisions -- and 109 major generals to command them.
Between September 2001 and April 2011, the military actually added another 93 generals and admirals to its ranks (including 37 of the three- or four-star variety). The glut extends to the ranks of full colonel (or, in the Navy, captain). The Air Force has roughly 100 active-duty combat wings -- and 3,712 colonels to command them. The Navy has 285 ships -- and 3,335 captains to command them. Indeed, today’s Navy has nearly as many admirals (245 as of March 2012) as ships...." Read the full exposé
USLAW Delegation In Basra, Iraq October 20-22, 2012 (Video)
The people of Iraq are facing many of the same issues we face in the United States - privatization, attacks on workers and their unions, environmental degradation, the oppression of women. But there are many threads of social activism in Iraq with which we in the United States can establish links of solidarity. To learn more about environmental and women's issues raised at the conference and discussed in the report-back, visit Nature Iraq at <http://www.natureiraq.org/site/en/> and the Al-Amal Familiy Support Center at http://www.iraqi-alamal.org/english/index.htm.
Use this link to access the video for download or sharing. Also available is Meeting Face to Face: The Iraq-U.S. Labor Solidarity Tour, a video that documented the 2005 visit to the United States of six Iraqi labor leaders, many of whom were also at the Basra conference, and other videos you may find interesting.
It's never too late to support labor's antiwar voice!
USLAW is grateful . . .
...for the support it receives from its affiliates, members and individual supporters. If you meant to make a contribution last year but never got around to it, this is a great time tomake a donation.
We are asking you to invest to enable the voice of labor's antiwar movement to continue - building the Jobs-Not-Wars Campaign, the New Priorities Network, solidarity with Iraqi unions, participation in United for Peace & Justice and working in coalition with Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Progressive Democrats of America, American Friends Service Committee, Peace-Action and so many other antiwar and social justice organizations.
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Hassan Juma'a, President of the Federation of Oil Unions in Iraq, has been criminally charged by the Ministry of Oil for allegedly organizing strikes that have been taking place with increasingly regularity as workers in the oil sector seek to protect their rights and interests. If convicted, he could face stiff fines and up to five years imprisonment. His next court hearing is April 7th.
