Iraq unions vow to fight Rumaila award

Sadr City's council officials prepare to hoist the new Iraqi flag in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008. Earlier this month, Iraq's parliament voted to remove Saddam-era emblems from the banner, including the stars thought to represent the three objectives of Saddam's now-dissolved party: unity, freedom and socialism. The new Arabic script across the middle of the flag reads 'God is Great'.(AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

KARIM KADIM

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By News wires

 13 July 2009 13:11 GMT

Unions are lobbying against Iraq's new oil contract with BP and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), but the weakened labour movement may have a hard time thwarting deals desperately needed to revive a struggling oil sector.

The Federation of Oil Unions of Iraq and the Federation of Workers Councils & Unions in Iraq have condemned the Oil Ministry's decision to award a foreign consortium the contract to develop Rumaila, the country's largest producing oilfield.

"We have written a letter to BP and the British consul in Basra, warning them against entering Basra as it will be illegal ... If they do, we will protest and strike," Faleh Aboud Amara, a top official with the Federation of Oil Unions, told Reuters.

Unions were one of the opponents of the ministry's…

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