Matthew Harwood's April 2005 article in the Washington Monthly on the anti-labor bias of the CPA in Iraq gives us this exciting historical tidbit:
After the Japanese surrender in World War II, the country'snewly-appointed premier knocked on the door of Gen. Douglas MacArthurand was greeted with a memorandum outlining the framework for Japan'sdemocratization. First on the list was the "emancipation of the womenof Japan through their enfranchisement." Second was "the encouragementof the unionization of Labor."
Kevin mentions the contrasting story about how the CPA, staffed by Republican ideologues who were trying to turn Iraq into a conservative utopia with flat taxes and privatization, regarded the labor movement as an enemy. Even as everything else was overturned, Saddam-era prohibitions on union activity were maintained. A strong union movement -- one of the political forces best equipped to make sure that the government is responsive to the economic needs of the people -- was never allowed to form.
