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Urgent action request:

Support ITF dockers' affiliate facing closure and intimidation

On April 28, ILWU Canada received a letter of request for action from Frank Leys, Dockers' Section Secretary and Bilal Malkawi, ITF Arab World Representative.

Leys and Malkawi wrote to ask all affiliated dockers' unions to support the Port Workers' Union at Khour Al-Zubeir Port in Iraq, which has had its offices and committees closed by the port authority. Its officers are also facing intimidation. The union is a member of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers. Both organizations are affiliated to the ITF.

The ITF has written to the Minister of Transport calling for an end to the unjust treatment of our affiliate, which includes:

Closure of the union offices and committees
Depriving the union's board members of their salaries
The transfer of board members to a location 550km away from their normal workplace and their homes.
Intimidation of board members' families
Issuing an order for the arrest of the union board members under Convention No. 150 (1987), a law introduced by Saddam Hussein banning public sector workers from joining trade unions.

Leys and Malkawi are urging all dockers' unions to demonstrate solidarity with our Iraqi affiliate by sending a letter of protest.

A sample protest letter is attached for your use. Your letter should be sent to the Iraqi Embassy in your country. Please also send the Dockers' Section a copy for their records (leys_frank@itf.org.uk).

You can also read the letter from the ITF General Secretary to the Iraqi Minister of Transport here, or view it on the ITF website at http://www.itfglobal.org/solidarity/solidarity-1148.cfm.

Thank you for taking action on this worthy cause.