Founder of Iraq Oil Workers Union Rejects U.S.-Backed Oil Law as "Robbery"

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Posted: 7/10/07 at 2:13pm

In Iraq, opposition is growing among some Sunni, Shia and Kurdish factions to a controversial oil law backed by Washington. Draft legislation on the distribution of oil wealth in Iraq was approved by the Iraqi cabinet on Tuesday and could go to parliament for review as early as next week.


Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called the bill "the "most important law in Iraq," and U.S. lawmakers have demanded Iraq advance the measure before Congress approves additional war funding. But critics say the law would leave Iraq's oil open to foreign takeover. A parliamentary boycott by Sunni and Shia factions is expected to slow the bill's passage.

In addition, six Nobel Peace Prize Laureates have released a statement in opposition to the legislation. The laureates include Betty Williams, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Rigoberta Menchu, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi and Wangari Maathai. The statement read, in part, "The Iraq Oil Law could benefit foreign oil companies at the expense of the Iraqi people, deny the Iraqi people economic security, create greater instability, and move the country further away from peace."

Last month, the Iraqi oil workers union went on a strike to protest the law. Two leading union members recently traveled to the United States to meet with members of Congress and attend last week's U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta.

Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein is the president of the Electrical Utility Workers Union, she is the first woman to head a national union in Iraq. Faleh Abood Umara is the general secretary of the Federation of Oil Unions and a founding member of the oil workers union in Iraq. In 1998, he was detained by the Saddam Hussein regime for his activities on behalf of his coworkers. They recently joined us in our firehouse studio. I began by asking Faleh Abood Umara to describe the current situation for oil workers in Iraq and why he is protesting the proposed oil law.


Faleh Abood Umara, general secretary of the Federation of Oil Unions.
Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, president of the Electrical Utility Workers Union in Iraq.

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