Iraqi
Workers’ Letter of Solidarity To the Workers and
Students of
France
This
letter was posted on the Internet March 22, 2006. It has been edited slightly for style
purposes for Labor Standard. The
letter was issued by the Federation of Workers’ Councils and Unions in Iraq.
The massive protest that swept France against
the anti-worker decree recently has proved the vitality and depth of radicalism
in the labor movement in France,
where the radical left and workers are the spearhead of the labor and
libertarian movement in the world. The march of hundreds of thousands in Paris streets is the
scream of the French workers and the world against exploitation and anti-worker
policies.
In addition the participation of
the students confirms the unity and integration of the mass with the labor
movement. This movement coincided with [the anniversary of the] Paris Commune,
when we commemorate the heroic acts of the workers of Paris and the establishment of the first
labor government in history.
The workers in Iraq, who are
proudly watching their colleagues in France, consider a victory for the
French workers to be an Iraqi victory, [even though Iraqi workers still] face
the plans and agendas of the U.S.-led invasion. That invasion has brought
reactionary and right-wing groups to power, crumbled Iraqi society, and driven
it to a potential sectarian conflict.
We salute the French workers and
students!
Long live the labor movement!
Long live freedom and equality!
Solidarity,
Amjad Al-Jawhary
Federation of Workers’ Councils and
Unions in Iraq