Iraqi Leaders Tour Of The United States: Media Advisory

[Itsthetruth]

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact: Andy Griggs 310-704-3217
[e-mail]

Iraqi union leaders visit LA with eyewitness accounts of occupation hardships


Unemployment has spiked to 70 percent in some parts of Iraq since the U.S. invasion. Wages have fallen, the cost of living has skyrocketed, public services have not been restored, and unions aren’t allowed in most workplaces. Two Iraqi union leaders will share the impact of the occupation on ordinary people’s lives in several Los Angeles appearances June 16-18, including a forum at LA Valley College at 1 PM Thursday, June 16, a labor forum at the UCLA Labor Center at 3 PM on Saturday, June 18; and culminating in a community public forum that same evening at 7 PM at Patriotic Hall in downtown Los Angeles. The local visit is being coordinated by LA – US Labor Against the War and United for Peace and Justice – SoCal.

Hassan Juma’a Awad al Asade and Faleh Abbood Umara of the General Union of Oil Employees (GUOE) will visit Los Angeles as part of a tour organized by U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW). Six Iraqi union leaders, representing three of Iraq’s major post-Saddam labor federations, will visit 25 U.S. cities from June 10 - 25, starting in Washington, DC with meetings with members of Congress and leaders of the AFL-CIO. It is the first labor delegation to visit the U.S. since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

In 1987, Hussein dissolved trade unions and all workers were declared to be 'civil servants'. State-run trade unions were set up and acted as instruments of surveillance and repression. Iraqi workers continue to labor under the terms of orders issued by Paul Bremer, head of the Occupation Authority, and passed as the Civil Administration Law by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The Occupation Authority has continued to enforce Hussein’s 1987 decree. Although the CPA was formally disbanded in June 2004, the Administrative Law persists, despite mass opposition to it.

The GUOE has its roots in the Southern Oil Company Trade Union, which was established after the occupation began in April 2003. Activists first organized secretly, uncertain as to how occupation forces would respond. The goal of the union, as its President Hassan Juma'a puts it, is to “reorganize the relationship between workers and the company’s administration in order to fight for workers’ rights.” However, it is still an ‘illegal’ union as it has not been officially recognized by the government.

For more information about the tour, visit www.uslaboragainstwar.org. Los Angeles event information can be found at www.coalitionforworldpeace.org.

U.S. Labor against the War (USLAW) is a national coalition of 112 labor organizations representing more than four million union members.

PMB 153, 1718 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036

[Itsthetruth]

1. Tour Event Schedule And Local Contact Information

Washington, DC: Plymouth Church Reception and Presentation featuring Iraqi Labor Leaders
Sunday, June 12th 2005 2:30PM
Open to public

Washington, DC: Dinner with Iraqi Trade Union Leaders
Monday, June 13th 2005 5:00PM - 7:00PM
Donations $25/ticket ahead of time or at the door

Washington, DC: Iraqi Unionists Speak Out: Resistance Under Occupation
Tuesday, June 14th 2005 7:00PM-9:00PM
Open to public

Washington, DC: Press Briefing
Tuesday, June 14th 2005 9:00AM-11:00AM
Open to press

Baltimore, Maryland: Iraqi Labor Leaders Public Forum
Wednesday, June 15th 2005 6:30PM
Open to public

Washington, DC: Iraqi Trade Unionist speak at AFL-CIO
Wednesday, June 15th 2005 5:30PM-8:00PM
Open, but limited space

Los Angeles, California: LA Valley College Forum featuring Iraqi oil union leaders
Thursday, June 16th 2005 1:00PM
Open to public

St. Paul, Minnesota: Democracy @ Work in Iraq and the US?
Thursday, June 16th 2005 7:00PM
Open to public

Piscataway, New Jersey: Rutgers Public event featuring Iraqi Labor Leaders
Thursday, June 16th 2005 12:00PM - 2:00PM
Open to public

New York City, New York: Cornell University Labor Breakfast Forum featuring Iraqi labor leaders
Friday, June 17th 2005 8:30AM-10:30AM
RSVP required, $15/person

Chicago, Illinois: Iraqi Trade Unionists Speak
Friday, June 17th 2005 6:00PM
Open to public

New York, New York: Iraqi Labor Leaders Public Event
Friday, June 17th 2005 5:30PM-8:00PM
Open to public

New Orleans, Louisiana: SOULstice Experience
Saturday, June 18th 2005 10:00 AM
Antiwar marches and festival (rally)

Los Angeles, California: Labor Forum featuring Iraqi oil union leaders: "The Iraqi Struggle for Labor Rights and Against Privatization
Saturday, June 18th 2005 3:00PM
Open to public

Los Angeles, California: Community Forum featuring Iraqi oil leaders "The Iraqi Struggle for Labor Rights and Against Privatization"
Saturday, June 18th 2005 7 PM
Open to public

Berkeley, California: Public Forum with Iraqi Oil Union Leaders
Sunday, June 19th 2005 6:45-9 PM
$5.00 or more requested but no one turned away for lack of funds.


Detroit, Michigan: The New Iraqi Labor Movement and the Right to Organize
Sunday, June 19th 2005 5:30PM
Open to public

San Jose, California: Iraqi Unions are Organizing, Despite all!
Sunday, June 19th 2005 1:30PM - 3:30PM
$5 admission, but no one turned away.

Madison, Wisconsin: Iraqi Labor Leaders Public Forum
Monday, June 20th 2005 12:00PM - 1:00 PM
Open to public

Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Iraqi Labor Leaders Public Event
Monday, June 20th 2005 7:00PM
Open to public

Lynn, Massachusetts: Public meeting featuring Iraqi Labor Leaders
Monday, June 20th 2005 5:00PM
Open to public

Martinez, California: Iraqi Labor Tour: Contra Costa County Event
Tuesday, June 21st 2005 6:00PM
Open to public

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The US and Iraq: Jobs or Occupations?
Tuesday, June 21st 2005 7:00PM
Open to the public.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Labor Luncheon featuring Iraqi Labor Leaders
Tuesday, June 21st 2005 12:00PM
Open to labor, RSVP required

Roxbury, Massachusetts: Public meeting featuring Iraqi Labor Leaders
Tuesday, June 21st 2005 6:00PM
Open to public

Boston, Massachusetts: UMass Lunch and Discussion featuring Iraqi Labor Leaders
Tuesday, June 21st 2005 12:00PM
Contact for details

Hartford, Connecticut: Iraqi Workers and the War
Wednesday, June 22nd 2005 6:00PM
Open to public

Cheektowaga, New York: "Labor and the War" forum featuring Iraqi Trade Union Leaders
Wednesday, June 22nd 2005 6:00PM - 9:00PM
Open to public

Seattle, Washington: Discussion with Iraqi Labor Leaders: "The Fight Against Pritivatization and Worker Protections"
Thursday, June 23rd 2005 7:00PM

Seattle, Washington: Press Conference
Thursday, June 23rd 2005 11:00AM
Open to public

Cleveland, Ohio: COMMUNITY FORUM ON IRAQ
Friday, June 24th 2005 7:30PM
Open to public, $5 suggested donation, but no one turned away

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Iraq Labor Tour City and Region Schedule with Local Contact Information

Washington DC: Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions of Iraq (FWCUI), and the General Union of Oil Employees (GUOE)


June 10-15
Contact: Denice Lombard
[e-mail]


East coast: IFTU


June 15: Baltimore
Contact: Fred Mason
[e-mail]


June 16-17: New York City
Contact: Bill Henning
[e-mail]


June 18-19: Vermont
Contact: Dawn Stanger
[e-mail]


June 20-21: Boston
Contact: Russ Davis
[e-mail]


June 22: Hartford
Contact: Steve Thornton
[e-mail]


June 23: Stony Brook, NY
Contact: Michael Zweig
[e-mail]


June 24: Philadelphia
Contact: John Braxton
[e-mail]


Midwest: FWCUI
June 16: Minnesota
Contact: Tara Widner

[e-mail]


June 17-18: Chicago
Contact: Thomas Bacon
[e-mail]


June 18-19: Atlanta
Contact: Ajamu Dillahunt
[e-mail]


June 19: Detroit
Contact: Mike Parker
[e-mail]


June 20: Madison and Milwaukee
Contact: Carol Weidel and Sue Ruggles
[e-mail]
[e-mail]


June 21: Pittsburgh
Contact: John Lacny
[e-mail]


June 22-23: Buffalo
Contact: Tom Johnson
[e-mail]


June 24: Cleveland
Contact: Gabe Kramer
[e-mail]


West Coast: GUOE


June 16-18: Los Angeles
Contact: Andy Griggs
[e-mail]


June 16 and June 19-21: SF Bay Area
Contact: Michael Eisenscher
[e-mail]


June 22: Portland
Contact: Bob Marshall
[e-mail]


June 23: Seattle
Contact: Kathy Lipscomb
[e-mail]


June 24: Philadelphia
Contact: John Braxton
[e-mail]