Industrial Workers of the World

Hashmeya is the first woman to rise democratically from the ranks to represent a national Iraqi labor union, she emphasizes that she is not alone - that there are many dedicated and committed union women in the forefront of the Iraqi labor movement.

Ten days ago, two top leaders of Iraq's labor movement, Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein , President of the Electrical Utility Workers Union, General Federation of Iraqi Workers (EUWU-GFIW))and Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary of the Federation of Oil Unions (FOU) spoke throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as part of an Iraqi labor tour of the US. They spoke urgently of Iraqi labor's unified demand for the end of the brutal US occupation and sought for the support of US labor in rejecting the imposition of the Oil Law which the US is using to force the surrender of Iraqi oil resources to foreign corporations as the price of their withdrawal.

On May 17 2007 a group of Starbucks baristas in Chicago marched into their store today and served a declaration of union membership on their store manager. On the same day working people in countries around the globe demonstrated in solidarity with Starbucks coffee farmers and café workers.

"As members of the Industrial Workers of the World, we won't allow Starbucks to play dice with the amount of work hours we get each week," said Liz Clarkson, an IWW barista at the Chicago store. "Taking this action for secure work hours and a livable wage on the third anniversary of the SWU's founding makes it all the sweeter."

(Text of brochure distributed at recent anti-war protests in Madison, WI by the Madison General Membership Branch (GMB) of the Industrial Workers of the World)

Bosses wage war to make money and workers are the ones who die in the process.

This fact should be obvious to most people. Yet many workers – along with their supposed unions – end up stoking the engines of an infernal war machine.

While many may secretly question the sanity of a capitalist system that sacrifices them and their children as cannon fodder on the altar of corporate profit, few are willing to challenge the power system behind such relentless warmongering.

The union is condemning the attacks as unprovoked. It is calling on the occupation forces to issue a written apology, to return all the seized property, and to pay compensation for damages caused.

They are asking unions around the world to send messages of protest. Available from: http://www.labourstart.org/iraqraid

Resolution to support Vietnamese trade unionist and farm workers

Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 10:10:38

In the last month Vietnamese authorities have tried to clamp down on independent trade unions in Vietnam. Pham Dang Lou, Tan Bin, Said Gon, Tran Quoc Hien of the United Workers and Farmers Association have all been arrested and detained. Many other farm workers have been arrested and detained for trying to form independent unions outside of the control of the government. The newly formed Vietnamese Independent union has also been targeted by the authorities. There have also been land seizures by local corrupt officials.