Iraq oil strike called off

BASRA, Iraq, June 11 (UPI) -- Iraq's oil unions ended their strike, which was to restart Monday and include oil exports, after a government committee was formed to address demands.

Hassan Jumaa Awad, president of the Iraq Federation of Oil Unions, released a statement that the work stoppage that began last week and was to escalate Monday will be canceled.

The IFOU, an umbrella union federation representing more than 26,000 workers, met for the past five days with a delegation sent to Basra, Iraq, by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The Iraq Pipelines Union began the strike last Monday after the Iraq Pipelines Co. halted regular bonus checks. The IPU is a member of the IFOU, which had been threatening to strike since last month over complaints of poor working conditions, among other issues.

The unions also want to be a party to negotiations over the draft Iraq oil law, which they fear will give foreign companies too much access to the country's 115 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the third-most in the world.

Following a meeting May 16, the IFOU said Maliki agreed to form a committee to address the union's demands.

Awad said the "minister of state for parliament affairs" led Maliki's delegation last week and the sides agreed to officially form the committee, resulting in the unions calling off the strike.

Last week, production and transport of oil, natural gas and products were halted, including shipments to Baghdad, and the unions were threatening to take all of Iraq's 1.6 million barrels of oil per day off the market, the sales of which fund 93 percent of the federal budget.

Awad's statement was translated and distributed by Naftana, a Britain-based solidarity group.

Negotiations over the oil law are stuck on a dispute over distributing the oil revenue, regional versus central control over the oil and the limits of foreign investment.