Friday, July 20, 2007
Oil Ministry raises oil workers salaries
Oil
(Voices of Iraq) - The Iraqi oil ministry decided to raise the salaries of all workers in Iraqi oil companies in an effort to improve their standards of living, a ministerial statement read on Thursday. "Daily wages of skilled workers will increase from 5,800 Iraqi dinars (4.6 U.S. dollars) to 10,000 dinars (8 U.S. dollars), while wages of semi-skilled workers will rise from 4,650 dinars ($3.7) to 7,500 dinars ($6).
Unskilled workers' daily wages will also rise from 3,500 Iraqi dinars ($2.8) to 6,000 dinars ($4.8) and an overtime rate of 1,000 dinars/hour ($0.8) will be paid to all workers," according to the statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The step was taken to boost productivity and improve the lives of workers, the statement added.
Unskilled workers' daily wages will also rise from 3,500 Iraqi dinars ($2.8) to 6,000 dinars ($4.8) and an overtime rate of 1,000 dinars/hour ($0.8) will be paid to all workers," according to the statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The step was taken to boost productivity and improve the lives of workers, the statement added.
Labels: Ministry of Oil, oil workers, salaries
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Iraqi military surrounds Iraq Pipelines Union on strike in Basra
Oil
(UPI) - On the third day of an oil strike in southern Iraq, the Iraqi military has surrounded oil workers and the prime minister has issued arrest warrants for the union leaders, sparking an outcry from supporters and international unions. "This will not stop us because we are defending people's rights," said Hassan Jumaa Awad, president of IFOU. As of Wednesday morning, when United Press International spoke to Awad via mobile phone in Basra at the site of one of the strikes, no arrests had been made, "but regardless, the arrest warrant is still active." He said the "Iraqi Security Forces," who were present at the strike scenes, told him of the warrants and said they would be making any arrests.
The arrest warrant accuses the union leaders of "sabotaging the economy," according a statement from British-based organization Naftana, and said Maliki warned his "iron fist" would be used against those who stopped the flow of oil. IFOU called a strike early last month but put it on hold twice after overtures from the government. Awad said that at a May 16 meeting, Maliki agreed to set up a committee to address the unions' demands.
The demands include union entry to negotiations over the oil law they fear will allow foreign oil companies too much access to Iraq's oil, as well as a variety of improved working conditions. "Apparently they promise but they never do anything," Awad said, confirming reports the Iraqi Oil Ministry would send a delegation to Basra.
"One person from the Ministry of Oil accompanied by an Iraqi military figure came to negotiate the demands. Instead it was all about threats. It was all about trying to shut us up, to marginalize our actions," Awad said. "The actions we are taking now are continuing with the strike until our demands are taken in concentration."
The strike by the Iraq Pipelines Union in Basra started Monday, instigated by a decision by the Iraq Pipelines Company to stop regular bonuses to workers. It is part of a larger picture, however, of 17 different demands laid out -- beginning last month -- to the Iraq Oil Ministry and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki by the Iraq Federation of Oil Unions.
Since the strike began, two small pipelines delivering oil products to Baghdad and other cities have been closed, as has a larger pipeline that sends gas and oil to major cities, including Baghdad, and utilities. The strike started with domestic pipelines transporting oil and oil products, but Iraq's top oil unionist says it will soon encapsulate the 1.6 million barrels per day of oil Iraq sends to the global market.
Basra, home to much of Iraq's 115 billion barrels of oil -- the third-largest reserves in the world -- is also Iraq's main port. Awad said the unions will continue to restrict all oil exports, which bring in 93 percent of Iraq's federal budget funds. Such a move, combined with the choking off of much-needed supplies of transportation, cooking and heating fuels, is what the unions hopes to use as leverage against Maliki.
Awad said "the atmosphere here is full of tension," and added that he wants to pressure the government to agree to their demands, not topple an already-weak Maliki government. "At the end we are hoping that the situation will not go that way," Awad said.
Manfred Warda, general secretary of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, Wednesday sent a letter to Maliki condemning his tactics in addressing the strike. The Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation and London-based Trades Union Congress have also condemned the military action and arrest warrants. A top official with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine & General Workers' Union said his contacts say the strike had been toned down while negotiations were underway, but has not ended.
Kamil Mahdi, an Iraqi economist on Middle East affairs at the University of Exeter, said Maliki's swing from agreement with the unions to a military presence and warrants is "very surprising," and arresting the leaders won't quell the workers' demands. "It may be the opposite. These are people who are highly respected in the community," he said. If the strike isn't stopped soon, "the effect on the global oil market will certainly be felt."
The arrest warrant accuses the union leaders of "sabotaging the economy," according a statement from British-based organization Naftana, and said Maliki warned his "iron fist" would be used against those who stopped the flow of oil. IFOU called a strike early last month but put it on hold twice after overtures from the government. Awad said that at a May 16 meeting, Maliki agreed to set up a committee to address the unions' demands.
The demands include union entry to negotiations over the oil law they fear will allow foreign oil companies too much access to Iraq's oil, as well as a variety of improved working conditions. "Apparently they promise but they never do anything," Awad said, confirming reports the Iraqi Oil Ministry would send a delegation to Basra.
"One person from the Ministry of Oil accompanied by an Iraqi military figure came to negotiate the demands. Instead it was all about threats. It was all about trying to shut us up, to marginalize our actions," Awad said. "The actions we are taking now are continuing with the strike until our demands are taken in concentration."
The strike by the Iraq Pipelines Union in Basra started Monday, instigated by a decision by the Iraq Pipelines Company to stop regular bonuses to workers. It is part of a larger picture, however, of 17 different demands laid out -- beginning last month -- to the Iraq Oil Ministry and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki by the Iraq Federation of Oil Unions.
Since the strike began, two small pipelines delivering oil products to Baghdad and other cities have been closed, as has a larger pipeline that sends gas and oil to major cities, including Baghdad, and utilities. The strike started with domestic pipelines transporting oil and oil products, but Iraq's top oil unionist says it will soon encapsulate the 1.6 million barrels per day of oil Iraq sends to the global market.
Basra, home to much of Iraq's 115 billion barrels of oil -- the third-largest reserves in the world -- is also Iraq's main port. Awad said the unions will continue to restrict all oil exports, which bring in 93 percent of Iraq's federal budget funds. Such a move, combined with the choking off of much-needed supplies of transportation, cooking and heating fuels, is what the unions hopes to use as leverage against Maliki.
Awad said "the atmosphere here is full of tension," and added that he wants to pressure the government to agree to their demands, not topple an already-weak Maliki government. "At the end we are hoping that the situation will not go that way," Awad said.
Manfred Warda, general secretary of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, Wednesday sent a letter to Maliki condemning his tactics in addressing the strike. The Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation and London-based Trades Union Congress have also condemned the military action and arrest warrants. A top official with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine & General Workers' Union said his contacts say the strike had been toned down while negotiations were underway, but has not ended.
Kamil Mahdi, an Iraqi economist on Middle East affairs at the University of Exeter, said Maliki's swing from agreement with the unions to a military presence and warrants is "very surprising," and arresting the leaders won't quell the workers' demands. "It may be the opposite. These are people who are highly respected in the community," he said. If the strike isn't stopped soon, "the effect on the global oil market will certainly be felt."
Labels: Basra, Hassan Jumaa Awad, IFOU, Iraq Pipelines Union, Iraqi military, Oil Ministry, oil workers, strikes
Friday, May 11, 2007
Iraq's oil workers threaten to strike on Monday
Oil
(UPI) - Iraq's government will respond to oil workers who have delayed a strike that could take 1.6 million barrels per day from the market. In a news release Tuesday, the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions said it would stop work Thursday in opposition of the proposed hydrocarbons law, as well as other worker conditions.
Michael Eisenscher, national coordinator of U.S. Labor Against the War, said the workers postponed the strike until Monday "because they had a conversation with somebody at the Oil Ministry who said they wanted to respond to workers demands and needed time to prepare a response." USLAW is a coalition of labor unions in regular communication with Iraqi workers, including organizing a tour of the United States for Iraqi labor leaders in June.
The IFOU boasts more than 26,000 members, mostly in the southern region where most of Iraq's 2 million bpd are produced and all of the 1.6 million bpd are exported. The vast majority of that goes through the port of Basra. "If the port were to close down, that's one way of bottling it up," Eisenscher said, as well as utilizing "critical workers in the pipeline area or refineries."
The unions have struck before, successfully fighting wage decreases and privatization. "It's an issue of such import to them that I can't imagine they wouldn't have tremendous support for workers," Eisenscher said. The unions oppose language that they deem offers too much of Iraq's 115 billion barrels of proven reserves to foreign companies.
"Since we are working to make progress in production, we need a real participation in all the laws that are related to the oil policy," IFOU President Hassan Jumaa Awad told United Press International in March. "We are the sons of this sector, and we have the management and technical capability and we have the knowledge on all the oil fields."
Michael Eisenscher, national coordinator of U.S. Labor Against the War, said the workers postponed the strike until Monday "because they had a conversation with somebody at the Oil Ministry who said they wanted to respond to workers demands and needed time to prepare a response." USLAW is a coalition of labor unions in regular communication with Iraqi workers, including organizing a tour of the United States for Iraqi labor leaders in June.
The IFOU boasts more than 26,000 members, mostly in the southern region where most of Iraq's 2 million bpd are produced and all of the 1.6 million bpd are exported. The vast majority of that goes through the port of Basra. "If the port were to close down, that's one way of bottling it up," Eisenscher said, as well as utilizing "critical workers in the pipeline area or refineries."
The unions have struck before, successfully fighting wage decreases and privatization. "It's an issue of such import to them that I can't imagine they wouldn't have tremendous support for workers," Eisenscher said. The unions oppose language that they deem offers too much of Iraq's 115 billion barrels of proven reserves to foreign companies.
"Since we are working to make progress in production, we need a real participation in all the laws that are related to the oil policy," IFOU President Hassan Jumaa Awad told United Press International in March. "We are the sons of this sector, and we have the management and technical capability and we have the knowledge on all the oil fields."
Labels: Hassan Jumaa Awad, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, oil workers, strikes
