Workers of the world, unite! Happy May Day, international working class solidarity day!
First and foremost, on behalf of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s workers, I congratulate all workers worldwide on May 1st, the international day of working-class solidarity and comradeship. Comrades, we Kurdistan workers require support more than ever in this terrible situation. Hundreds of thousands of Kurdistan workers are denied basic rights, and we have been subjected to inhumane working conditions. Lack of freedom of organising; firing from job; long work hours; low wages; unsafe workplace; delaying and cutting wages; imposing dozens of taxes on us; making markets and goods more expensive; increasing unemployment; lack of public services; depriving our children of education, child labour and so on… are miseries legitimised by the government. The private companies and employers, exactly like the government, delay wages and sack workers from their jobs. Despite the international labour organisations’ support, the authorities and employers continue to target us. As a result, we are requesting your continued support today. Your exertion of pressure on the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi government would be beneficial to our cause. We ask you in this regard: 1. Put pressure on the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government to grant the rights of Kurdistan workers. These include the right to be paid on time, the freedom to form associations and to ban dismissing workers by their employers. 2. Donate and support the Labour Cooperation Fund, founded by the Worker’s Voice, to assist workers who are on strike or who have been injured at work. Regards Mahdi Rasoul (known as Wasta Mahdi) Editor-in-Chief of the Worker’s Voice 1st April 2024
