January 24 is the day of the nationwide gatherings of retirees
On Sunday, January 23rd, the retirees and pensioners of the Steel Pension Fund gathered in the cities of Tehran, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Rasht, and Shahroud to protest against their poor living conditions. They have declared that every Sunday they will gather and protest, and so far several weeks on Sundays we have witnessed the gatherings of the retirees in many cities and towns. This day too was one of their protesting Sundays and they gathered in front of the fund buildings in these cities. Matching salaries to that of working people and increasing their pay level above the poverty line, (which officially was 12 milion toman/month 2 years ago), and having a humane life is the demand of all retirees. There was a large gathering in Tehran and the presence of women was significant.
At these gatherings, the retirees chanted: “one embezzlement less, our problem will be solved”, “Only by coming to street floor, we can get our rights”, “the government betrays, the parliament supports”, “Yesterday’s steelmakers, today’s displaced”, “such an injustice, never seen by any nation”, “Implementation of assimilation without fraud”, “Steel is awake and hates discrimination”, ” “If justice is not done, there will be more gatherings.”
On the same day, social security retirees also gathered in the cities of Rasht, Mashhad, and Tabriz.
It should be noted that education retirees will gather in front of the Pension Fund for a rally at 10:00 AM on January 24th, Different workers’ and retirees’ organisations have supported the retirees gatherins and demadns.
Retired teachers have issued a resolution on the occasion of the gathering on the January24th, in which they emphasized the continuation of their protests until their demands are met
One of the protests of retirees today is against the government’s austerity budget bill, which they see as an attack on their lives and livelihoods.
We support the demands of retirees and pensioners and call on all workers and humanitarian unions and organisations to support them.
Free Them Now (FTN), shahla.daneshfar2@gmail.com
January 23, 2022