strike of Basra Oil Workers

Support the strike of Basra Oil Workers

Under the leadership of the Southern Oil Union, the Workers of Oil Pipes Company in Shoayba in the southern Iraqi city of Basra began a general strike at 8.00 AM on 22nd August 2006. The strike has completely paralysed pumping oil from all Iraqi ports in Basra.

This strike came after months of protests by workers against their working condition and low wages. The workers´ demands are as follow:

1. Wages must be paid in due time.
2. Overtime work must be paid
3. Increase workers’ allowances
4. Provide ambulances at working places to transfer sick workers to hospital when needed.

The government and its administrations have turned a blind eye to the demands raised by workers for months. Therefore the workers were forced to resort to the weapon of strike to impose their demands on the government and South Oil Company.

We express our support for the workers and their demands. We ask the government and its administrations to immediately meet the workers’ demands. We hold the occupation and the government installed by it responsible for the consequences of this strike.

We call on all labour organizations, trade unions and all freedom loving people to support this strike and to exert pressure on the Iraqi government to meet the demands of Basra oil workers.


Abroad Organization-Worker-communist Party of Iraq
August 22,2006

An article about this strike :

Quote :

Iraq Oil Workers on Strike

By QAIS AL-BASHIR Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Aug. 22, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Hundreds of oil company employees went on strike Tuesday for higher pay, officials said.

The job action cut supplies to power stations and factories as Iraq faces its worst fuel shortage since Saddam Hussein's 2003 ouster.

About 350 workers from the Iraqi Pipes and Lines Company in the southern city of Basra and another 200 in Nasiriyah, about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, walked off the job Tuesday morning, according to the head of the workers' union.

The workers want higher salaries, paid holidays and a share of the profits. Monthly salaries at the company currently range from $130 to $280.

The company runs tankers and pipelines transporting oil and gas from the Shuaiba refinery in Basra to electricity stations, factories and companies in southern Iraq.

Although the strike was likely to add to the current fuel shortage, its effects would be limited, said Oil Ministry spokesman Assim Jihad.

"Definitely that will create a shortage in oil products, but not to a big degree," Jihad said, adding that refineries at Beiji in northern Iraq and Dora in southern Baghdad were still functioning and able to supply fuel.

Iraq has been plagued by periodic fuel shortages since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Even though the country has the world's third-largest proven oil reserves, it is forced to depend on imports because of an acute shortage of refined products such as gasoline, kerosene and cooking gas. Sabotage of pipelines by insurgents, corruption and aging refineries have been blamed.

Iraq's three main oil refineries _ Dora, Beiji and Shuaiba _ are working at half their capacity, processing only 350,000 barrels per day compared to 700,000 barrels a day before the war.

And an other :

Quote :

Southern Iraq Oil Workers End One-Day Strike
Wednesday August 23rd, 2006

AMMAN -(Dow Jones)- Hundreds of Iraqi oil workers in the south of the country Tuesday ended a one-day strike that shut the main pipeline supplying Baghdad with oil products, a senior Iraqi oil official said Wednesday.
"The striking workers decided to end their strike after a minister's adviser in the oil ministry promised to meet their demands," the official told Dow Jones Newswires by telephone.
He said the workers from the state-run General Company for Oil Lines and Pipes Tuesday closed for several hours the pipeline that carries oil products, aggravating an already acute fuel shortages in the Iraqi capital.
"The pipeline is now opened and oil products (have) start(ed) flowing to Baghdad again," he added.
The oil workers were demanding higher salaries, better accommodation and a share in the company's profits.
"The minister's adviser, Khadhem al-Yaqouby, has promised to meet their demands," the official said, adding that the workers had given the ministry a three-day ultimatum to meet their demands otherwise they would call for another strike.

Oil Workers’ Strike in Basrah – update

The workers of the Oil Pipelines in Basrah have organized a strike which began on the morning of August 22nd. It extended later to include other sectors of the industry such as the Gas Extraction sector. Moreover, the workers of Gas Production threatened to join the strike in addition to the workers of the South Oil Company.

The demands behind the strike were the following:

* Salaries increase and paying them in due time
* Paying their share of the annual incentive connected to profits
* Compensation of their unused annual leave to be paid immediately
* Equal opportunity to all workers in rewards and benefits
* Terminating bureaucratic conduct with the workers

Slogans of blaming the occupation for the crises were raised by the workers who repeated the necessity for the troops to leave.

We call out for you to support the strike of the oil workers in Basrah and their endeavors to have their justified demands met by the administration.

Some political forces attempted to highjack and take advantage of the demands of the workers for their own interests and objectives such as emphasizing on the division of the country based upon the federalism of the south. Their representative have prioritized this demand and was therefore alienated by the workers themselves.

At this time, the workers insist to have all of their demands met in full, otherwise the pipelines will not be opened and work will not continue.

Workers Media Center

Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq - FWCUI

August 24, 2006