Iraq’s oil workers and their union, Photographs by David Bacon

>Archive - PWW Print Edition Archive - 2006 Editions - Jan. 28, 2006


 

Following the fall of Saddam Hussein, oil workers in Basra reorganized one of Iraq’s oldest unions, faced the occupation’s prohibition on collective bargaining in the public sector, and forced U.S. contractor KBR to leave the oil districts. They helped workers organize in other industries, and defended Iraq’s oil against the threat of privatization. This photo documentary project shows them at work on the rigs and in the refineries, their union and its leaders, and their lives at home with their families.

The Los Angeles Harbor is hosting this exhibition of photographs of Basra’s oil and longshore workers:

Jan. 31 – Feb. 28 at the United Steelworkers (formerly PACE) Local 675, 1200 E. 220th St., Carson, Calif. (Wilmington Avenue exit off 405 toward the BP refinery, right on 223rd, right on Lucerne to 220th). Opening reception: Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m.

March 1 – March 31 at ILWU Local 63, 350 W. 5th St., San Pedro, Calif.

The show will travel to other unions, labor studies centers, schools and even plant gates, and will provide space for class visits and community discussions.

Sponsored by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, USW Local 675, United Teachers Los Angeles, ILWU Local 63, Diane Middleton Foundation, the Harry Bridges Institute and the L.A. chapter of U.S. Labor Against the War.

For more information, visit http://dbacon.igc.org/.