US Tour of Iraqi National Labor Leaders

About the Tour

US Labor Against the War (USLAW) is sponsoring a national US tour by
lraqi labor leaders from three of the most important labor organizations
in Iraq. Their visit will provide the firsrst 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.

WHO:

The group, representing the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI), and General Union of Oil Employees (GUOE), is the first delegation of Iraqi labor leaders to visit the United States, and one of the few groups of any sort not brought here by the U.S. government.

GOALS:

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

WHERE:

EAST
June 20-21: Boston
Contact: Russ Davis
russdavis@comcast.net
June 22: Hartford
Contact: Steve Thornton
homefront1@hotmail.com
June 23: Stony Brook, NY
Contact: Michael Zweig
mzweig@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
June 24: Philadelphia
Contact: John Braxton
morbraxton@aol.com

MIDDDLE (for lack of a better term)
June 17-18: Chicago
Contact: Thomas Bacon
thomasbacon@uslaboragainstwar.org
June 18-19: Atlanta
Contact: Ajamu Dillahunt
ardillahunt@igc.org
June 19: Detroit
Contact: Mike Parker
mparker00@rts-tech.com
June 20: Madison and Milwaukee
Contact: Carol Weidel and Sue Ruggles
carolaweidel@aol.com
ruggless@matc.edu
June 21: Pittsburgh
Contact: John Lacny
lacnyj@seiu1199p.org
June 22-23: Buffalo
Contact: Tom Johnson
trj3@cornell.edu
June 24: Cleveland
Contact: Gabe Kramer
labor.of.love@juno.com

WEST
June 16-18: Los Angeles
Contact: Andy Griggs
LAUSLAW1@aol.com
June 16 and June 19-21: SF Bay Area
Contact: Michael Eisenscher
m_eisenscher@uslaboragainstwar.org
June 22: Portland
Contact: Bob Marshall
Bobm@seiu49.org
June 23: Seattle
Contact: Kathy Lipscomb
kathylipscomb@juno.com
June 24: Philadelphia
Contact: John Braxton
morbraxton@aol.com

U.S. Labor against the War (USLAW) is a national coalition of 112 labor organizations representing more than four million union members. USLAW aims to protect its members and the lives and livelihoods of working people everywhere. The group advocates, educates and mobilizes the U.S. labor movement to work for a just foreign policy, bring about an end to U.S. occupation of foreign countries, facilitate a redirection of the nation’s resources, build support for U.S. troops and their families by bringing the troops home now, protect workers' rights, civil rights, civil liberties and the rights of immigrants, and stand in solidarity with workers and their organizations around the world.