When the Americans invaded Iraq, they said they were bringing Iraqis freedom. But apparently that "freedom" does not include the right of workers to organise and strike:
Arrest warrants have been issued for Iraqi oil workers, union leaders say, as they end the third day of a strike that has cut production.According to a statement released by numerous international solidarity groups working with the oil workers in and around Basra, in southern Iraq, the workers were charged with "sabotaging the economy" and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Tuesday he'd meet "with an iron fist" those who threaten Iraq's oil production.
ManFromMiddletown has an excellent background on European Tribune, here.
Under Saddam I bet the result would of been a lot more direct.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that the Iraqi government has made the decision to declare oil production as vital to the Iraqi economy and have passed a law making it illegal to strike.
That is a government elected by the people of Iraqi.
But don't that let you get in the way of a good anti-us rant.
Iraq is currently a war zone and presumably on some kind of a war footing. It is quite common for democratic (and free) nations to declare strikes illegal during such a situation. There were very few strikes in the US and UK during WWII.
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ReplyDelete"Under Saddam I bet the result would of been a lot more direct."
ReplyDeleteWhat's that got to do with anything? Isn't Iraq a free land, liberated by their friends the freedom loving United States? Thats a very low standard of behaviour you've set yourself there buddy boy.
Oh and Kent parker - I thought all you right wingers declared the war over on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln back in 2003? Arn't you guys just cleaning up a recalcitrant few Iranian suicide bombers and killing off those Iraqi's who stubbornly fail to embrace freedom? Right wingers like yourself spend a lot for their time studying the chicken entrails of neo-con fantasy and regularly declaring victory.
Now Iraq's suddenly a war zone? Amnesia is certainly a defining characteristic of the always wrong neo-con apologists.
here is a way to help stop global warming - promise to provide wages for striking oil workers as long as they are striking for MUCH higher pay.
ReplyDeleteGNZ
Striking is fine I suspect, as long as it doesn't stop the flow of the precious...
ReplyDeleteAll highly predictable based on the history of U.S. bombings and invasions:
ReplyDeletehttp://last-straw.net/2003/04/how-long-before-we-forget-iraq/
to 123: Christiaan clearly made a very serious error of judgement that caused serious injury to another person. That doesn't invalidate every thing Christiaan may say forever more. No problem acknowledging Christiaan's error, but yo ualso neglected to actually respnd to the point he was making. Try to play the ball and not the man.....or you're making the same sort of logical error Christiaan made on that bus.
ReplyDeleteYes I am the same Christiaan and no I won't be allowing this to stop me from criticising war crimes. And, just for the record, I did not harass the guy's girlfriend (I did not even see her). This very fact is what kicked off the whole lamentable incident in the first place.
ReplyDelete123, with reference to your final remark, one might note that Christiaan makes his identity known regardless of consequences.
ReplyDeleteYou, however, do not.