Murdered Iraqi Trade Unionist

One of the most telling and grim spectacles in the mayhem of today's Iraq is the systematic murder of trade unionists by barbaric psychopaths. Quite like Jews, they're are a good bellwether for the state of a country's sanity. Saddam's Baath had trade unionists slaughtered or arrested because they represented the most sophisticated and cohesive form of opposition to his rule. It used to be an automatic response by the international left to stand in solidarity with the workers living under a blood-brutal fascist regime, or trying to reconstitute themselves in its aftermath. Alas, you won't find an obituary for Najim A Jasem, the general secretary of Iraq's Mechanic Workers' Union, in the pages of The Nation or Mother Jones (hat tip: the Trots):

The TUC has condemned the abduction, torture and murder of Iraqi trade unionist Najim Abd-Jasem, General Secretary of the Mechanic Workers' Union..

Sue Rogers, Chair of the TUC Iraq Solidarity Committee, had met Najim, and said:

'Najim was one of the most positive influences in the Iraqi trade union movement. He was very progressive, and very clear about where the movement needed to go.'

The TUC will continue to support trade unionists in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, and will continue to press for better labour laws and more protection for the trade union movement from sectarian killings.

The Iraqi trade union movement, the GFIW, has issued the following statement:

' Najim A Jasem was kidnapped by militias on 27 March. His body was found on 30 March 2007. His body bears huge signs of torture. He was member of the underground Workers' Trade Union Movement (WDTUM) and fought against the regime of Saddam. He was dismissed from his job because of his trade union activities. He was reinstated after the fall of Saddam. He was one of the key founder of the new democratic IFTU, now the GFIW, and was elected the General Secretary of the Mechanics Workers' Union.'

The TUC send condolences to his family and colleagues.