NEW YORK -- The daunting physical obstacles faced by Iraqi workers and the wounds that remain from the Saddam Hussein regime were described by Adnan Al Saffar, executive officer of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), Iraq's largest labor group, at a Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) meeting last month at the ILR New York City campus.

The June 17 meeting was part of a labor breakfast forum sponsored by the Union Leadership Program at ILR-NYC. Following a congressional briefing in Washington D.C., Al Saffar and his Iraqi labor colleagues took part in a national speaking tour. The tour was filmed for a documentary about the Iraqi labor movement.

Addressing the standing-room-only audience, which included 75 labor union officers and staff, Al Saffar described how the trade union movement was extinguished under Saddam Hussein's regime. Now, he said, the goals of the IFTU are to rebuild Iraqi unions, remedy the 50 percent national unemployment rate, increase pay scales (which average $35 a month) and address the perils of privatization.

Repeating the sentiments he expressed in Washington, he said, "The cooperation of the international community and the political process of our country is a vital factor in rebuilding Iraq and its political situation. The wounds of the Iraqi people caused by the previous regime are still open and burning."

Rashad told the ILR audience: "We really need to rebuild trade unions in Iraq. The unions of Iraq are not based on any politics and we are working to make trade unions involved in all aspects of liberties. Affiliation with our union is not based on any discriminating factors (i.e., ethnicity, religion, etc.). It is open to all sectors of our people."

The unions, he noted, are dedicated to improving conditions for working women. "In Basra the president of the union is a woman. Each province must have one woman in leadership," he said. "Your solidarity with Iraqi people and the IFTU is very important and not an easy position to take," he told the labor leaders.

Gene Carroll, director of the Union Leadership Program, introduced Al Saffar and described Cornell's interest in sponsoring the forum "as a unique opportunity for a dialogue with one of the elected union leaders from Iraq."

The Cornell-ILR School's Union Leadership Program conducts five labor breakfast forums each year at the school's ILR Conference Center at 16 East 34th St. in Manhattan.

Brenda Tobias '97 is on assignment in New York City, reporting on Cornell's many connections and collaborations in the Big Apple.