Chicago Indymedia : http://chicago.indymedia.org/archive
Chicago Indymedia

LOCAL Announcement :: Labor

June 17 Iraq Labor Leaders event info pack

Information, bios, images related to June 17 Iraqi Labor Speakers event in Chicago.
Amjad Al_Jawhary.JPG
Falah Alwan.jpg
button_5.25.2.pdf
button_5.25.2.pdf (199 k)
6_17_Iraq_labor.pdf
6_17_Iraq_labor.pdf (150 k)
Iraqi Union Leaders Speak

Friday, June 17
6 pm
UNITE HERE
333 S. Ashland
Chicago, IL


Falah Awan, President
Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq

Amjad Al-Jawhary
Representative for FWCUI in North America

For more info: Chilaborantiwar (at) yahoo.com • 773-561-0908

The FWCUI was founded after its first conference on December 8, 2003 which included representatives of elected councils, and preparatory committees in several plants, enterprises, and factories. It has led and assisted in strikes and job actions for better conditions in textile, leather, Pepsi and other industrial enterprises. Prior its formation many of its leaders and activists had been active in the Union of Unemployed Iraqis, a network operating in several cities of Iraq that mobilized for jobs or benefits for unemployed Iraqis. The Federation’s goal is to build workers’ organizations in Iraq that are independent, democratic, and free of governmental control. Furthermore, they seek to build unions free of religious, political, gender, and ethnic discrimination. FWCUI representatives have campaigned internationally for workers rights in Iraq. The FWCUI demands the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all occupying forces from Iraq. For more info: www.uuiraq.org

Sponsored by U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW) and affiliated unions and labor organizations, Chicago Labor Against the War (CLAW), Chicago Labor for Peace, Prosperity and Justice (CLPPJ)


This event is part of the US Labor Against the War (USLAW) Iraq Labor Tour

About the Tour

US Labor Against the War (USLAW) is sponsoring a national US tour by Iraqi labor leaders from three of the most important labor organizations in Iraq. Their visit will provide the first opportunity for American working people, members of Congress, students, scholars, the general public and the media to hear directly from Iraqi trade unionists. These courageous leaders struggled for years despite Hussein's repression and now have stepped forward to organize workers seeking to improve conditions at their workplaces under the difficult circumstances of violence and occupation.

The Goals of the Tour are:

• Inform the US labor movement about the difficult conditions facing Iraq’s labor movement and the common challenges of privatization, outsourcing and attacks on workers rights experienced by workers in both Iraq and the US
• Build international labor solidarity with the Iraqi trade union movement
• Present US audiences with seldom heard progressive, secular voices, personalizing the stories of Iraqi working people
• Raise the level of understanding in the U.S. labor movement about the impact of U.S. foreign policy on workers’ rights, jobs, living standards and working conditions, and to call upon American unions and the AFL-CIO to demand an immediate end to the occupation, return of all U.S. troops to their homes and families, and reallocation of funds from militarism to meeting human needs.

For more information on the USLAW Iraq Labor Tour:
www.uslaborgainstwar.org


Biographical information on FWCUI speakers:

Falah Awan, President, is a 42-year-old trained engineer who refused to sign a Saddam loyalty pledge and was subsequently barred from practicing his trade. He was an underground union organizer in factories and the construction trades during the Saddam's regime after the first Gulf War. After Saddam fell, he began working with the Union of the Unemployed and then founded the FWCUI in December of 2003. Falah has traveled widely to build support for union rights in Iraq.

Amjad Ali Aljawhry, Representative of the FWCUI and Union of the Unemployed in Iraq (UUI) for North America, was born in Baghdad in 1966. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology at Mosul University in 1989. Because of his political views, and organizing among sewing workers, he was blacklisted by the regime and was unable to find employment in any state enterprise. With his family, he fled to Turkey in 1995 and was active among Iraqi refugees there. Since 1996 he has lived in Toronto, Canada where he has spoken widely on Iraqi issues and has been active in the anti-sanctions and anti-war movements. He was invited to deliver lectures and hold conferences in Japan, France, United States, and Iraq regarding the labor movement before and after the US led war on Iraq. He is currently the FWCU's official representative in North America.


Donations

To bring six Iraqi labor leaders to the U.S. and transport them to twenty cities is a very costly undertaking. A donation in any amount to help defray these expenses is requested. Make checks payable to "USLAW Iraq Labor Solidarity Fund." (To make a tax-deductible contribution, make checks payable to "USLAW Iraq Labor Solidarity Fund/IPS.") Send contributions to:

USLAW
PMB 153
1718 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Contributions can also be made online at www.uslaboragainstwar.org. Click "Support USLAW."

If you wish to make a contribution to the local expenses of the tour in Chicago, contact:
Chilaborantiwar (at) yahoo.com • 773-561-0908
 
 

Donate

Views

Account Login

Media Centers

 

This site made manifest by dadaIMC software