Shafaq News- Babil

Labor unions and federations from 14 Iraqi provinces called for consistent enforcement of existing legislation and greater coordination within the country’s trade union movement during a meeting in Babil on Monday.

Shifaa Al-Hadidi, head of the Nineveh Workers’ Unions, told Shafaq News that discussions focused on the legal standing of labor federations and the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry’s oversight of union activity. He cited elections for the General Federation of Iraqi Trade Unions, conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Judicial Council and more than 100 judges, urging the ministry to deal impartially with competing organizations.

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Participants intend to issue a statement demanding implementation of Trade Union Organization Law No. 52 of 1987, according to Hussein Jassim Al-Quraishi, a member of the General Federation’s executive bureau, who argued that the proliferation of rival federations has fragmented the movement and weakened its ability to protect workers.

Qasim Mohammed Al-Alayawi, head of the Al-Anbar Workers’ Union, called for labor organizations to coordinate their positions on workers’ rights, while Huda Al-Alousi, head of Iraq’s General Textile Workers’ Union, warned against divisions that could undermine their representation.

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