The Central Committee of temporary contract workers in electricity called for a general strike in all sectors of the southern region of the Ministry. The strike started on May 19th and is still proceeding currently. This strike was initiated to protest the Ministry’s policy, which refrained from installing temporary workers and referring them to permanent positions, despite that many of the workers have surpassed their contract end dates by close to 14 years. Additionally, the general strike protests the Ministry's postponement and failure to pay the salaries of the temporary workers for three months.

This bourgeoisie policy of the governing authority continues, in light of the neo-liberal policies of the authority and under the dictation of international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to repudiate the rights of workers as much as possible and for governments to evade responsibilities towards society as well as exercise the greatest possible economic pressures on workers and employees.

 This anti-workers policy deprives workers of permanent positions to avoid the responsibility of granting them benefits, compensation, etc. The temporary worker lacks any rights and is not eligible for any of the known securities such as retirement funds. In fact, these workers can lose their jobs at any moment without any rights or compensation. This is especially important because these workers experience harsh and dangerous work conditions that have led many of them to lose their lives while leaving their families with no securities, retirement, or compensation. Therefore, one would realize that this is a brutal policy that is being exercised against workers.  On the contrary, as an extension to the repressive policies of the corrupt militia authority, with the goal of “breaking the thorns” of workers who participated in the strike, and instead of listening to and meeting the workers rightful demands, two days after the strike has erupted, the minister removed and relocated the head of the Central Committee of workers, Wael Shaker Al-Asadi, to the “ remote southern region.” This act was carried to isolate Al-Asadi from the strike and his striking collogues and to punish him for playing an outstanding leadership role in organizing the workers and advancing their protest and struggles.   Once again, the apparent truth is revealed: there are two opposing classes in society today. One class is inhumane that only fosters and pursues profits with no regards to the situations, status, fates, livelihood of the producers of goods and services in society or the future of their children. This corrupt class has plundered hundreds of billions of the society’s wealth for longer than a decade and a half while it deprived workers from the simplest living conditions.

This class does not consider the producers of the goods and services in society, those of which are workers, as people with lives, livelihood, and have the right to enjoy a life they have produced its prosperities. This class does not recognize that these people are of the twenty-first century nor does it realize that they have dreams, hopes, and wishes to revel in their society’s wealth and live in a better world. It only sees them as slaves to reap profits and accumulate wealth to swell up the pockets of the avaricious capitalists, nothing more.

At the time of which the Worker Communist Party of Iraq (WCPI) is demanding the corrupt Ministry of Electricity to acknowledge the basic self-evident rights of workers and grant them permanent positions, WCPI condemns all the repressive practices done against the workers’ leaders and activists. Additionally, WCPI demands the Ministry of Electricity to stop the policies of repression, muffling the mouths of people, and confiscating the rights and freedoms of workers to strike. Furthermore, WCPI demands the Ministry of Electricity to restore Al- Asadi’s position, the head of the Central Committee of temporary workers, and allow him to return to his work location immediately.

The Worker Communist Party of Iraq calls on all the workers, all the international organizations in Iraq and abroad, all the organizations, associations, and parties that advocate for human rights and freedoms to express their solidarity with the workers striking and to exert all forms of pressure on the standing militia government to acknowledge the rights of workers, to stop the policy of singling out activist workers, and penalize them for demanding their rights.

Yes to employ all temporary workers in permanent positions!

Yes to return Wael Shaker Al-Asadi to his work location immediately!

Long live the struggle of Iraqi workers!

The Worker Communist Party of Iraq

May 25^th, 2020