DC: Voices of Iraqi Workers Solidarity Tour

DC

Washington

Where: Busboys & Poets, 2021 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009

Map to Event

Join the DC Labor Chorus at Busboys & Poets Restaurant to welcome and celebrate with Iraqi oil workers union leadership.

A rare opportunity for people in the US to dialogue directly with Iraqi workers and labor leaders about current attempts to control Iraq’s oil, women's issues under the occupation, and the role of unions in creating a non-sectarian, progressive Iraq.

These courageous leaders struggled for years against Saddam Hussein’s repression. Now they have stepped forward to organize workers seeking to improve conditions at their workplaces and in their lives under the difficult conditions of occupation, sectarian division, and violence. They are fighting not only for basic labor rights for all workers but also for women’s equality and against privatization of their national resources.

Featuring:

Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, President
Electrical Utility Workers Union,
General Federation of Iraqi Workers

Sister Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein is the first woman to head a national union in Iraq. Following high school, she went to work at the Southern Company for Electricity, where she became active in the labor movement. She rose to leadership of the Electricity Workers Union in Basra and recently was elected its national president. She serves on the executive committee of the Basra Work Unions Coalition. She is head of the Women Workers’ Bureau and is a leader in the Iraqi Women’s Association. She and her 7-year old son have received death threats as a result of her activism.

Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary
Southern Oil Company Union,
Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions

Brother Faleh Abood Umara is a founding member of the oil workers union and worked for the Southern Oil Company in Basra for 28 years. In 1998, he was detained by the Hussein regime for his activities on behalf of his coworkers. He has served on the union’s negotiating team with both the Oil Ministry and British occupation authorities to defend the rights and interests of oil industry workers in the post-Saddam era. The Southern Oil Workers Union has conducted strikes against outsourcing to foreign workers and schemes to privatize the oil sector.

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