BAGHDAD, July 20 (UPI) -- Embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is currying favor with oil workers, needed support from a faction that went on strike last month.
Maliki's Shiite and Kurd dominated coalition is weakening as violence increases and the Parliament struggles to hold sessions. Political parties are taking hold of the controversial oil law as a spear in Maliki's rule. It's stuck in negotiations between factions that want either a strong regional/local control over the important oil sector or a strong federal hand.
The oil unions are warning against allowing too much foreign access to the oil. They have demanded a seat at the law negotiation table, as well as improved worker conditions, and in early June stopped oil production to leverage their power.
Maliki reached a tentative agreement with the unions last month, and this week he gave the workers in the oil industry a raise of around two-fold.
"However, his clout within the Iraqi oil industry is limited," wrote Rochdi Younsi, an analyst for the business risk firm Eurasia Group, "and union leaders will continue to follow orders emanating from their respective religious and political leaders."
Younsi noted a threat by Planning Minister Ali Ghaleb Baban to resign if the Parliament moves forward with the oil law.
