WASHINGTON, January 5, 2005–The AFL-CIO today condemned the murder of Hadi Salih, the international secretary of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), who was shot last night by assassins who broke into his Baghdad home. AFL-CIO President Sweeney said, "Hadi was a courageous trade unionist fighting for Iraqi workers. He put aside all thoughts of his own personal safety, returned home even before the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime. From exile, he actively supported an underground labor movement committed to organizing workers. He returned to Iraq as soon as it was possible to help make Iraq a better place to live and work.
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Work Stoppage Silences St. Louis Symphony
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Prospects of weekend concerts by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra grew dim Tuesday and musicians geared up for picketing under the ensemble's first work stoppage in a quarter century.
The orchestra's management was weighing whether to cancel performances scheduled for Friday and Saturday, with the fate of future performances to be decided on a week-by-week basis as the labor dispute presses on.
"Like all trade unionists, Hadi believed in peaceful solutions to working people's problems. His commitment to rebuilding the trade union movement and a more democratic Iraq even under dangerous circumstances has cost him his life and thus a great loss for his family. He will be sorely missed by all of us who have met him and by the workers whom he valiantly fought for. Sadly, Iraq has now joined the list of countries where trade unionists live under the almost daily threat of violence and death, and Iraqi working people have lost someone who worked tirelessly on their behalf."
On many occasions, Hadi Salih spoke out against the use of violence and terror in Iraq. Last month he participated in the ICFTU World Congress in Japan where he met President John Sweeney and other American trade unionists.
Hadi Salih, 56, was a former printing worker who helped found the IFTU last May. Under Saddam Hussein's regime, Hadi Salih was sentenced to death for his labor activism in 1969. But after five years in jail his sentence was commuted. After fleeing Iraq, Salih became a political refugee in Sweden but returned to Baghdad shortly after the war began to help rebuild the labor movement.
It’s time to talk about the future of America’s union movement.
How should we strengthen the union movement for the future? What will it take to give working families the power we need to balance corporate power? How do we make the most of the solidarity and energy of the 2004 presidential election campaign? And most important, what will it take for the union movement to grow?
Our union movement, 58 affiliates, state federations and central labor councils, face formidable challenges—but we face them with the strength of solidarity and a committed and resilient grassroots membership that has always brought us through tough times. The American labor movement, measured by the loyalty and pride of our members, is the strongest in the world, and is stronger today than ever before.
In the 50 years since the AFL-CIO was formed there have been sea changes in work, in America’s economy and in our society. Since President John Sweeney, Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka and Executive Vice President Linda Chavez Thompson were elected to lead our movement in 1995, the AFL-CIO and affiliate unions have targeted resources to better support the movement’s top priorities: helping workers form unions and building the most dynamic labor political program in our history.
But much more is left to do. The AFL-CIO is leading a detailed examination of how our union movement has navigated these changes and what we must do to change and build strength for the future.
