Founded in October 2005 from unions that had begun organizing after the invasion, the Federation of Oil Unions of Iraq is the largest independent union consortium in Iraq, with tens of thousands of members. It fully opposed the

American occupation of Iraq American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

History

First organized in the Southern Oil Company Union in May 2003, Iraq's oil workers began organizing what became the

General Union of Oil Employees Founded in October 2005 from unions that had begun organizing after the invasion, the Federation of Oil Unions of Iraq is the largest independent union consortium in Iraq, with tens of thousands of members. It fully opposed the American occupation ...

(GUOE). They have pushed to keep Iraq's resources in the hands of Iraqis, while the union remained independent of any

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

and influences from the foreign occupation. It has not affiliated to either of the two major union federations of Iraq: the

Iraqi Communist Party The Iraqi Communist Party ( ar, الحزب الشيوعي العراقي '; ku, Partiya Komunista Iraqê حزبی شیوعی عێراق) is a communist party and the oldest active party in Iraq. Since its foundation in 1934, it has dominated the ...

-connected

Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions The Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) was the largest union federation in Iraq in the first half of the 2000s and, under Decree No. 16 in January 2004, the only one recognized by the Iraqi government. This, along with the organization's alli ...

or the Worker-Communist Party of Iraq-influenced

Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq The Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) is the second largest union federation in Iraq. The federation was formed in December 2003 by members of the Union of the Unemployed of Iraq, which is connected to the Worker Communis ...

, but it has worked with both groupings. As SOCU, the oil workers engaged in

direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...

to expel

Baathist Ba'athism, also stylized as Baathism, (; ar, البعثية ' , from ' , meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection"Hans Wehr''Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' (4th ed.), page 80) is an Arab nationalist ideology which promotes the creation ...

managers from oil facilities, occupation forces began moving in to attempt to take over administration of the industry. Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) led this, and was also militantly removed by the SOCU workers, along with subcontracted laborers. With threats to strike, the union was able to gain wage increases over what the United States-led occupation was willing to pay. KBR eventually took over much of the administration of the oil industry, although resistance in the form of strikes in June and August of that year, and blockades, continued. In cases where occupation forces threatened force, the SOCU workers warned that they would be met with armed resistance. In June 2004, the GUOE was formed from the workers of the major oil companies: Southern Oil Company, Southern Gas Company, Southern Refinery Company, Iraqi Drilling Company, the Oil Carrier Company, the Gas Packing Company, the Oil Production Company, the Oil Projects Company, and the Oil Pipe Lines Company. In May 2005, the GUOE organized a large conference against privatization with hundreds of unionists and representatives of other international groups. More strikes came in July and August, usually with outcomes favorable to the workers. In October, union president

Hassan Jumaa Awad Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottis ...

led the group to change its name to the Federation of Oil Unions of Iraq.

References

Trade unions in Iraq Trade unions established in 2005 {{Asia-trade-union-stub