Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10BAGHDAD510
2010-02-26 11:47:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

AUSTR DELANEY VISIT: GOI PROGRESS ON LABOR RIGHTS

Tags:  KBCT ECON ETRD XF IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
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FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6843
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000510 

SIPDIS

NSC FOR SAMANTHA VINOGRAD
PLS PASS TO USTR (SHACKLEFORD, DEANGELIS, SANDLER)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2020
TAGS: KBCT ECON ETRD XF IZ
SUBJECT: AUSTR DELANEY VISIT: GOI PROGRESS ON LABOR RIGHTS

REF: A. BAGHDAD 190

B. 09 BAGHDAD 3202

C. 08 BAGHDAD 4060

D. 05 BAGHDAD 4051

E. MCFARLAND-DEANGELIS E-MAIL 02/14/2010

Classified By: EMIN John Desrocher for reasons 1.4 (b,d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000510

SIPDIS

NSC FOR SAMANTHA VINOGRAD
PLS PASS TO USTR (SHACKLEFORD, DEANGELIS, SANDLER)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2020
TAGS: KBCT ECON ETRD XF IZ
SUBJECT: AUSTR DELANEY VISIT: GOI PROGRESS ON LABOR RIGHTS

REF: A. BAGHDAD 190

B. 09 BAGHDAD 3202

C. 08 BAGHDAD 4060

D. 05 BAGHDAD 4051

E. MCFARLAND-DEANGELIS E-MAIL 02/14/2010

Classified By: EMIN John Desrocher for reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary: The Shura Council has completed its
constitutional review of a draft labor code and will send it
to the Council of Ministers "in the coming days," Shura
President Ghazi Milo Ibrahim al-Janabi told Assistant United
States Trade Representative Michael Delaney during Delaney's
February 7-11 visit to Baghdad. Government, parliament, and
justice officials told Delaney that movement on the modern
labor code -- which would replace existing Saddam-era laws
and complement ongoing social security, pension, and welfare
reform efforts -- had been slow because of: 1) the need for
the Shura Council to reconcile dozens of fragmented
Saddam-era labor laws (ref A); 2) a drawn-out
consensus-building process with union leaders and employers;
and, 3) bombings at the Ministry of Justice that injured
members of the GOI's labor code review committee. Labor
leaders generally criticized the GOI's slow progress on the
labor code, but focused complaints on "government
interference" in internal union affairs. Delaney heard
widespread understanding that the existing Saddam-era labor
laws -- which the new code will supersede -- are
unconstitutional and need to be repealed. ILO Beirut is
organizing a May workshop to review the GOI edits. End
Summary.

-------------- -
AUSTR DELANEY'S FEBRUARY 7-11 VISIT TO BAGHDAD
-------------- -


2. (C) AUSTR Michael Delaney traveled to Baghdad February
7-11 and met with: Deputy Prime Minister Rowsch Shaways,
National Investment Commission Acting Chair Dr. Sami
al-Araji, Acting Minister of Trade Dr. Safaa al-Din al-Safi,
Minister of Finance Bayan Jabr al-Zubaidy, Acting Minister of
Agriculture Dr. Akram al-Hakeem, Deputy Labor Minister Nouri
Nasem al-Helfi, Council of Representatives Economic and
Services Committee Chair Haider al-Abadi, and Shura Council
President Judge Ghazi Milo Ibrahim al-Janabi. Delaney hosted
a special meeting of the Strategic Framework Agreement's

(SFA) Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) Trade and Investment
Working Group and a follow-on dinner that included Director
General-level officials from the Ministries of Labor, Trade,
Finance, Industry and Minerals, Health, and Interior. He
hosted a labor roundtable for union leaders and led
discussion at a business roundtable sponsored by the
International Business Council of Iraq (IBC-I).


3. (SBU) Delaney advocated swift movement to modernize Iraq's
labor laws, encouraged officials to take greater advantage of
the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP),and
solicited comments on a June 24, 2009 AFL-CIO petition
seeking revocation of Iraq's GSP benefits.

-------------- -
SHURA COUNCIL - ILO-ASSISTED LABOR CODE PASSED
-------------- -


4. (C) In his February 8 meeting with Delaney, Shura Council
President Judge Ghazi Milo Ibrahim al-Janabi announced that
the Shura Council had "just completed" its constitutional
review of the ILO-assisted draft labor code, which had been
slowly working its way through Shura committees since 2007.
Originally 24 Chapters and 200 Articles, the Shura review
QOriginally 24 Chapters and 200 Articles, the Shura review
resulted in some consolidation of provisions, reducing the
draft Labor Code to 22 Chapters and 168 Articles, al-Janabi
said. The Shura board that reviewed and codified the
legislation -- comprised of 21 advisors from GOI ministries,
labor unions, and employer representatives -- "did not
identify any conflict" between the draft law, Iraq's
constitution, and the international labor standards enshrined
in the draft code, according to al-Janabi. Most edits, he
said, were required because the original draft bill, borrowed
from other models, had technical incompatibilities with Iraqi
social and cultural norms. Al-Janabi gave one example:

-- The original draft law provided by ILO set the regular
work week at Monday through Friday, limited the workday to
eight hours, and set overtime compensation rules for work
days and weekends. When the Shura review board attempted to
adjust the draft to fit Iraq's standard work week (i.e.,
Sunday through Thursday),labor representatives objected,
arguing that the work week should be shortened to four days,
al-Janabi said. After weeks of negotiations on this single
issue, the Shura Council brokered a compromise between the
Ministry of Labor, union leaders, and employer
representatives: the work week would be five days, seven
hours per day. Al-Janabi said the Board identified and
reconciled approximately 300 action items that required
similar deliberations during the three-year review.


5. (C) In addition to the Shura Board's lengthy internal
deliberations, al-Janabi attributed delays to 1) efforts to
synchronize sections of the draft labor code with reforms
that are still being crafted for other social services
(social security, pension system and welfare reform) (ref A);
and, 2) an impasse on a national debate over privatizing
Iraq's massive, inefficient state owned enterprises (SOEs),
Iraq's largest employment sector. He told Delaney that Shura
clerks were in the process of typing the Shura board's edits
to finalize the draft. (Note: Over the course of the
review, the Shura board hand-wrote hundreds of technical
edits on a marked-up copy of the draft bill, according to
al-Janabi. End Note.) When transcribed, the Shura Council
will deliver the draft to the Council of Ministers, al-Janabi
said. The edits did not change the draft's compatibility
with ILO's International Labor Standards, Al-Janabi said,
including with respect to freedom of association and
collective bargaining, forced labor and trafficking, child
labor, equality in employment and occupation, and maritime
labor standards, among others.

--------------
LABOR LEADERS - WE NEED MORE SPACE
--------------


6. (C) In a February 9 roundtable hosted at the Embassy,
labor leaders complained that: 1) current law recognized only
one labor union, the General Federation of Iraqi Workers
(GFIW),as the official labor advocacy group for Iraqi
workers; 2) Decree 8750, which froze union assets in 2005
pending union leadership elections, was still in force; 3) a
GOI-imposed "union election process" amounted to government
interference in internal union affairs; and, 4) inadequate
labor protections would result in Iraqis losing jobs to
migrant workers. Union leaders unanimously agreed that the
ILO-assisted draft labor code would remedy their complaints
-- if implemented appropriately and without substantial
edits.


7. (C) Comment: As we expected, the roundtable provided labor
leaders a platform for dramatic criticism of the GOI and the
allegedly slow steps it is taking to modernize Iraq's labor
environment. Union leaders called the GOI "fascists" and
"Hitlerists." Delaney probed for specific examples of labor
standards violations vis-a-vis the stated complaints.
Participants unanimously identified the GOI's
still-developing plans to impose a standard election process
for union leaders. Topics conspicuously missing from the
discussion were health, safety and environment (HSE)
protections, forced and compulsory labor, child labor,
workplace discrimination, and a minimum wage. End Comment.


8. (C) Hadi Ali Laafta, General Secretary, General Federation
of Iraqi Workers (GFIW),and Hasim Trakchi, Chair, Iraq
Federation of Industries, told Delaney that they sat on the
QFederation of Industries, told Delaney that they sat on the
2005 committee that drafted the ILO-assisted labor code, and
on subsequent committees to refine it. Laafta said he also
sat on the Shura Board that had just completed the three-year
labor code review. Laafta credited himself with championing
the inclusion of core labor standards in the draft, "I met
with every member of government during this process," he
said. Laafta also claimed that GOI officials practiced a
systemic campaign to ignore labor leaders and labor rights.


9. (C) Comment: In a short, candid exchange, two roundtable
participants (Hassan Juma'a Awad and Nazar Alwailli)
expressed frustration with Laafta and to a lesser degree with
Trakchi. Though Laafta and Trakchi sat on GOI boards and
commissions as labor representatives (seemingly a revelation
to Awad and Alwailli),Awad and Alwailli asserted that
neither had consulted other labor representatives during the
labor code debate or during discussions with the GOI about a
government regulated union election process. End Comment.


10. (C) Iraqi Labor Participants at Embassy Roundtable:


- Mr. Hadi Ali Laafta, General Federation of Iraqi Workers
- Mr. Hasim Trakchi, Chair, Iraq Federation of Industries
- Mr. Hassan Juma'a Awad, Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions
- Mr. Nazar A.M. Alwailli, Iraq Federation of Industries

--------------
GOI - AFL-CIO PETITION IGNORES PROGRESS
--------------


11. (C) Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA) Deputy
Minister Nouri Nasem al-Helfi told Delaney in a February 9
meeting that the growing number of unions in Iraq, "unlike
the Saddam-era," was indicative of "much more space for labor
rights." Al-Helfi confirmed that the Shura Council had
completed its review of the ILO-assisted draft labor code,
which, he said, would create additional space for unions. A
tri-partite committee, convened by MOLSA, and co-chaired by
MOLSA legal advisors (two members),employer representatives
(two members),and a union representative (one member),met
regularly to: 1) work through issues identified by the Shura
Council review of the draft ILO-assisted labor code; 2)
prepare implementing regulations for the eventuality that the
labor code passes; and, 3) address general labor concerns,
as necessary. "The differences of opinion (among tripartite
committee members) gives us invaluable insight, which we
depend on," al-Hilfi said. The Shura Council intended to
forward the bill to the Council of Ministers "within a week
or so."


12. (C) "My full respect to the AFL-CIO," National Investment
Commission Acting Chair and SFA Working Group Co-Chair Dr.
Sami al-Araji told Delaney at the February 7 JCC working
group meeting, "We would welcome their delegation to Iraq, so
that they could see the realities on the ground." "Every
factory in Iraq has seven or eight unions now," al-Araji
said. "We are trying to protect our industries and our jobs
and you complain about it," he said in reference to WTO
concerns. "But, local news stations broadcast live coverage
of workers' protesting. These are signs that Iraq's labor
rights environment is improving considerably," al-Araji said.
(Comment: In a meeting on the same subject with al-Araji
the next day, al-Araji pointed to his office television and
translated parts of an Arab language broadcast that showed
workers, complemented with protest signs, slogans, and
T-shirts, demonstrating for higher wages outside of a factory
in Basrah. End Comment.)

-------------- ---
ILO WORKSHOP TO REVIEW EDITS TO DRAFT LABOR CODE
-------------- ---


13. (C) In a February 21 phone call following Delaney's
visit, ILO Iraq Program Manager Ghassan Alsaffar (based in
Amman) told econoff that ILO had met with MOLSA officials in
Beirut to discuss the Shura Council's edits and that ILO
expected to receive the final version of the Shura passed
bill "within the coming days." ILO Beirut will schedule a
workshop in Beirut sometime in May, according to Alsaffar,
"to review the law with our constituents and to ensure that
the law is compliant with International Labor Standards."
Alsaffar said he had heard from MOLSA officials that the
Council of Ministers would not forward the draft code to the
COR before March 7 national elections. In the meantime, "ILO
will translate the draft labor code."

--------------
EMPOWERING LABOR UNIONS IN IRAQ PROGRAM (EUI)
QEMPOWERING LABOR UNIONS IN IRAQ PROGRAM (EUI)
--------------


14. (C) Empowering Labor Unions in Iraq (EUI),a $3 million
DRL-funded program implemented by Relief International,
provides a platform for official and unofficial Iraqi labor
unions to organize, train, and operate. Relief International
country director Dr. Yarub al-Shiraida, who attended the
February 9 labor leaders roundtable, told Delaney that EUI's
training and support activities have reached more than 57,000
Iraqi laborers. Specific programming includes training
workshops, national and regional union resource centers that
provide facilities for meetings, internet connectivity,
library materials, office equipment, and small grants to
unions for capacity-building, advocacy and membership
development initiatives. According to al-Shiraida, EUI held
753 workshops attended by 16,309 workers in the last quarter
of 2009.
Training topics included:

- What is a Trade Union?;
- Importance of a Union in a Worker's Life;
- Role of a Union in the Workplace;
- Local and National Role of a Union;
- Collective Negotiation;
- Workers' rights in the Labor and Social Security Law;
- History of Iraqi Trade Unions;
- ILO Standards;
- Role of Women and the Young in Trade Unions;
- Gender.


15. (C) NGO Participants in Labor Roundtable:

- Mr. Yarub al-Shiraida, Country Director, Relief
International
- Mr. Farouk al-Salim, EUI Director, Relief International
- Mr. Wesam Odeh, EUI Deputy Director, Relief International


-------------- --
COMMENT: STEPS TOWARD AFFORDING WORKERS RIGHTS
-------------- --


16. Comment: The Shura Council's progress on the draft labor
code, after more than three years of thorough review and
intensive deliberations, is encouraging. We will not know if
the Shura Council's changes are fully compliant with ILO core
labor standards until the ILO has obtained, translated, and
analyzed the final draft. While many steps remain before
this new reformed labor legislation becomes law, progress on
this path is measurable, and the GOI appears keen on defacto
implementation of labor protections even before the law is
passed.


17. (U) AUSTR Delaney has cleared this message.
HILL