The following letter was sent to Congressional and Senatorial leaders by Leo Gerard, President of the United Steel Workers union.  This union also represents oil industry workers in the U.S.  Any help you can provide to get other national union leaders to take a similar initiative would be of exceptional help to the Iraqi labor movement.

July 31, 2007
VIA FAX

Honorable Carl Levin, Chairman
Honorable Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman
Honorable John McCain, Ranking Member
Honorable Michael B. Enzi, Ranking Member
Committee on Armed Services Comm. on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Honorable Joe Biden, Jr., Chairman
Honorable Daniel K. Inouye, Chairman
Honorable Richard Lugar, Ranking Member
Honorable Ted Stevens, Ranking Member
Committee on Foreign Relations Senate Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate Subcommittee on Defense
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Honorable Patrick J. Leahy, Chairman
Honorable Judd Gregg, Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations,
and Related Programs
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senators:

I am writing to alert you to two important issues connected with the ongoing occupation and
war in Iraq. Though not widely discussed in the U.S., these issues are central to the challenges
faced by the Iraqi people. They concern the viability of the Iraqi labor movement and the fate of
Iraqs oil.

One of the few benign effects of deposing Saddam Hussein has been the emergence,
despite opposition from both the U.S. authority and many parts of the Iraqi government, of a vibrant
and growing labor movement. This is crucially important, because to all appearances the labor
movement is one of the few organizations structured on a secular basis, has genuine popular
support, and has membership across the growing ethnic and sectarian divisions.
This suggests that the labor movement in Iraq is one of the few organizations capable of
playing a significant role in lessening and hopefully ending the sectarian strife plaguing their
country. We strongly believe the views of this labor movement should be heard much more clearly
in Washington than they have been to date.

Enclosed, you will find two articles by free-lance journalist David Bacon, describing recent
labor issues in Iraq, as well as an interview he conducted with the heads of the electrical workers
union and the oil workers union.

A number of issues need to be emphasized. First, these leaders believe strongly that
sectarian strife will ease, and that unions will be able to act with substantially more freedom when
the U.S. military presence has ended.

Second, the unions believe equally strongly that Iraqs oil is a national resource that should
not be privatized, and specifically that oil privatization should not be used as any kind of
benchmark of the Iraqi governments success or failure. They state, and we agree, that the oil
privatization law now under consideration by Iraqs government is designed to benefit the
multinational oil companies; not the Iraqi people.

Additionally, we believe several policies imposed by the U.S. occupation administration
under its former head Paul Bremer and by subsequent Iraqi governments should be rescinded.
These include the continuation in force of a Saddam Hussein-era law banning collective bargaining
in Iraqs public sector, an onerously low general wage schedule, and the complete sequestration of
union funds by the government.

Therefore we ask that you do all you can to oppose the privatization of Iraqs oil resources,
correct the inequities present in Iraqi labor policy, and continue to support an end to the U.S.
military presence in Iraq

Thank you very much for your consideration of these vitally important matters.

Sincerely,

Leo W. Gerard
International President
LWG/ctl
cc: House and Senate Leadership
USW International Executive Board