A common adversary A common struggle In the U.S and Iraq . . . Workers want the same things.  Freedom of speech and assembly  Freedom of association and the right to organize unions without interference or harassment  The right to freely bargain  The right to strike, when necessary  Secure jobs at a living wage with decent benefits  The right to health care and a secure retirement  Justice for all without discrimination  Peace and freedom from violence Yet in both countries workers’ rights are under siege IN THE UNITED STATES Five decades of unrelenting assault by corporations, their allies in Congress and the courts have rendered the right to organize, bargain and strike in the U.S. a hollow promise. Corporations have employed plant closures, outsourcing, sub- contracting, turning full time jobs with benefits into part time and temporary jobs with none, injunctions, the use of strike breakers, control of the media, fear-mongering and more to strip American workers of their rights, job security and dignity. From one third of the work force in unions in 1954, today only one in ten remain organized. Our standard of living is plummeting. We can no longer promise our children a better life than our own. IN IRAQ In Iraq, in 1987, Saddam Hussein stripped workers in public enterprises and government employment of the right to belong to a union or negotiate over the terms and conditions of their labor. After the U.S. deposed Hussein – instead of liberating workers and restoring their rights – the U.S. continued to enforce the dictator’s labor codes. The Iraqi government promises to respect labor rights but continues to enforce the 1987 law. It has frozen union bank accounts in an effort to paralyze worker organizing and action. The U.S. military and Iraqi security forces have raided and ransacked union offices. Union leaders have been beaten, jailed and assassinated. Iraqi workers have seen the work of rebuilding their country outsourced to foreign corporations and their jobs given to imported contract labor. The same corporations that abuse labor rights in the U.S. are abusing labor rights in Iraq. The Bush administration tried to turn Iraq into a laboratory for privatization and de-unionization. Bush and his cronies in the oil industry tried to impose a law that would privatize two thirds or more of Iraq’s oil reserves for as long as 30 years, while at the same time denying Iraqi workers basic labor rights. They STILL don’t have the right to organize and bargain, and international oil companies STILL hope to get their hands on Iraqi oil. 80% OF IRAQIS SAY THEY WANT ALL FOREIGN TROOPS TO LEAVE THEIR COUNTRY NOW. . . . AND 70% OF AMERICANS AGREE. WE ALSO WANT ALL U.S. TROOPS BROUGHT HOME. The International Labor Organization of the United Nations lists eight core conventions (treaties) on workers’ rights: two each on forced labor (Nos. 29 & 105), freedom of association (Nos. 87 & 98), discrimination (Nos. 100 & 111), and child labor (Nos. 138 & 182). [see http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/norm/index.htm] Shockingly, the U.S. is one of only two states to have ratified just two (105 & 182) – the other is Myranmar (Burma). Iraq has ratified seven (all except 87). [see http://webfusion.ilo.org/public/db/standards/normes/appl/appl-ratif8conv.cfm?Lang=EN] Our government has yet to ratify the conventions on the right to organize and against discrimination. Is it any wonder that workers’ rights are in retreat here? We share the same concerns, the same problems, the same adversary . . . and the same destiny with working people in Iraq. When workers in this country stand in solidarity with workers in Iraq, we are standing up for ourselves, our families and our communities. THEIR FIGHT IS OUR FIGHT. OUR FIGHT IS THEIR FIGHT. WHEN THEY WIN, WE WIN. LET’S DEMAND THAT CONGRESS ADOPTS A NEW SET OF “BENCHMARKS” – ONES THAT INCLUDE  LABOR AND HUMAN RIGHTS  HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION  REBUILDING CITIES AND HOMES  CREATING JOBS AT LIVING WAGE  PROVIDING SECURITY IN OUR OLD AGE  EQUAL RIGHTS AND JUSTICE FOR ALL THESE ARE THE BENCHMARKS THAT REALLY MATTER – IN BOTH IRAQ AND THE UNITED STATES. THIS IS WHERE WE CAN ACHIEVE REAL SECURITY – for IRAQIS and for US. Find out how YOU can make a difference. Visit www.uslaboragainstwar.org. Issued by U.S. Labor Against the War, a national network of labor organizations representing millions of working people. 1718 M Street, NW, #153, Washington, DC 20036 // info@uslaboragainstwar.org // 202-521-5265