General Federation of Iraqi Workers

Iraqi labour federation created in a 2005 merger between the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions and the General Federation of Trade Unions.

The IFTU, which has been accused in the past of trying to claim status as Iraq's sole officially-recognized labor federation, entered into a controversial pact with its former Ba'athist adversaries in September. The IFTU's new partners are the General Workers' Federation of Iraq and the General Workers' Federation of the Republic of Iraq, both remnants of the state-sponsored General Federation of Trade Unions under Saddam Hussein. This agreement, brokered by the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, gave the new General Federation of Iraqi Workers the right to represent the country's labor movement internationally (specifically, at the ICATU) "until circumstances allow the holding of general union elections."

The agreement calls for rejection of the occupation as its first point. It is possible, some observers believe, that the IFTU is preparing for the end of the occupation, and seeks to break a "nationalist" element away from the insurgency in preparation for US troop withdrawal. Some also speculate that the agreement is evidence of a decline in the influence of the Iraqi Communist Party in the union federation.

Affiliations

• Labour Friends of Iraq
• Unison
• TUC Iraq Solidarity Committee
• International Committee of Free Trade Unions