Iraq unions vow ‘mutiny’ over oil law

Iraq’s unions say that the draft oil law is a threat and threaten “mutiny” if parliament approves the bill.

“This law cancels the great achievements of the Iraq people,” Subhi Al Badri, head of the Iraqi Federation of Union Councils, told the Al Sharqiyah TV station. He referred specifically to laws that nationalized Iraq’s oil sector.

Iraq holds 115 billion barrels of proven reserves, the third largest in the world, and likely much more when the country is fully explored.


It could produce more than the 2 million barrels per day, and many are pushing the oil law as a means of solidifying investment in the sector. The law, as drafted, allows for foreign access to the oil, a line that must not be crossed, the oil unions say.

They have threatened to strike in the past – and made good on the threat as recently as last month – and claim that workers of all sectors support them.

“If the Iraqi parliament approves this law, we will resort to mutiny,” he said. “This law is a bomb that may kill everyone. Iraqi oil does not belong to any certain side. It belongs to all future generations.”

Middle East Times