Hashimia Mohsen al Hussein, the president of the Basra engineering union that represents workers at electrical power stations, is the first woman to head a national union in Iraq. Mohsen condemns the management of the power industry for refusing to talk with the union, citing Saddam Hussein’s law banning unions for workers in the public sector. She also condemns the contracting of jobs to foreign companies, especially given Iraq’s unemployment rate of 50-70%.