Free Them Now report of The May Day conference held on April 25
As May 1st approaching, the “Free Them Now” (FTN) organized a campaign on April 25, 2023. This campaign was for the release of imprisoned workers in Iran. (FTN) welcomed May 1st International Labor Day by holding a conference with representatives of unions and organizations and institutions from Canada, England, Iraq, America, and Iran. The conference was presented live on New Channel TV in English and Farsi languages and published live on social media. Meysam Atigh from New Channel TV played a role in coordinating and managing the conference and Bahram Soroush from the group of “Global Boycott Campaign of the Islamic Republic” was one of the speakers who assisted in translating the talks into Farsi and English.
The speakers and messengers of this conference were: Shahla Daneshfars, the spokesperson of the campaign for the release of imprisoned workers; Kazem Nikkhah, the international relations manager of FTN; Saeed Nama, the general secretary of the “Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions”; Peter Tatchell, a global political campaigner from England and a human rights activist explicitly in the LGBT movement; Stephen Van Cichowski, general secretary of the Vancouver and Suburban Labor Council (VDLC); Stephanie Smith, general secretary of the British Columbia Public Service Union (BCGEU), along with Kerry Michael, Judy Phipps, and Massoud Arjang who are the active members of BCGEU; Eric Lee, the founder of the international labor website LaborStart; Bahram Soroush, the spokesperson of the “Global Boycott Campaign of the Islamic Republic”; Tehmina Sadeghi, a member of the “Canadian Public Sector Employees Union” and a member of the CUPE Committee, and the contact person of FTN on the west coast of Canada; Vale Zamani, a member of the organizing council of oil contract workers and Alborz painters union; Farhad Mirzaei, a teacher from Islamabad west of Kermanshah; Peyman Shajirati, an activist of the labor movement and a former worker of Ahvaz Steel; and Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, a labor activist and children’s rights activist and former political prisoner; and activist Kamran Sakhtemangar a labor activist from Sanandaj.
At the end, Shahla Daneshfar expressed the gratitude of the campaign for the release of imprisoned workers to Maysam Ateeq for presenting the program and Bahram Soroush for helping to implement the program and the new channel for managing the program. He also thanked all the participants in the conference both in person and by sending their warm and sincere messages and pointed out the common points of the topics discussed in the conference and listed those points as follows:
1- The conference declared its support and solidarity with the national strike of oil workers and the protests of pensioners, nurses, the national hijab movement, teachers, and all sectors of society and the Women Life Freedom revolution.
2- The conference emphasized the campaign for the release of imprisoned workers, imprisoned teachers, revolution detainees and all political prisoners and the abolition of executions and the halting of executions.
3- The conference emphasized the all-round support of the Charter of Minimum Demands of Twenty Organizations and the Charter of Progressive Demands of Women and the support of all people for these two charters as important chapters of the resolutions of May 1 this year.
4- The conference emphasized the global boycott of the Islamic Republic for all its crimes, including the expulsion of this government from the International Labor Organization and the International Convention on the Rights of the Children.
5- The conference emphasized on holding May Day in Iran and in the world and turning this day into a historic day in the revolution of Women Life Freedom.
You can see the clip of the lectures here:
Meysam Atigh: Introduction of the Conference
Shahla Daneshfar’s speech in Conference, Spokesperson, Free Them Now! Campaign to Free Jailed Workers in Iran
Kazem Nik-khah’s speech in Conference, Kazem Nik-khah head of the international relations of Free Them Now
The joint message of Stephanie Smith, president of British Columbia General Employees’ Union (BCGEU), Kari Michaels and Judy Phipps Executive Vice Presidents of BCGEU and Masoud Arzhang, chairperson of Local 803 Community Health Services Workers, BCGEU in Vancouver and a contact person of FTN in West Coast of Canada
Bahram Soroush’s speech in Conference , Bahram Soroush – Co-ordinator of the Campaign to Boycott the Islamic Regime of Iran
Valeh Zamani’s speech in Conference, Valeh Zamani, a member of the Organising Council of Oil Contract Workers’ Protests and Alborz Painters Union
Kamran Sakhtemangar’s speech in Conference, Kamran Sakhtemangar, well-known worker activist in Sanandaj – Iran
Message by Eric Lee, founding Editor of LabourStart
Eric Lener’s speech in Conference, Eric Lerner, long-time socialist activist in the United States and a member of the International Luxemburgist Network
Behnam Ebrahmizadeh’s speech in Conference, Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, former political prisoner, labour activist and children’s rights Activist
Message by Saeed Naema , President of the Iraqi Trade Unions Federation
Message by Stephen von Sychowski – President of the Vancouver and District Labour Council (VDLC), representing approximately 60,000 union members across the City of Vancouver and neighbouring municipalities
Message by Peter Tatchell – Director of Peter Tatchell Foundation and long-time human rights and LGBT rights campaigner in the UK
Farhad Mirzaie’s speech in Conference, Farhad Mirzaie, well-known teacher from Kermanshah – Iran
Peyman Shajirati’s speech in Conference, Peyman Shajirati, former worker of Ahvaz Steel Company in Iran, and a labour activist
Tahmineh Sadeghi’s speech in Conference, Tahmineh Sadeghi, member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and contact person for Free Them Now in West Coast of Canada
Shahla Daneshfar: A summary of the points emphasized in the conference
Eric Lerner,’s speech in Conference. Eric Lerner, long-time socialist activist in the United States and a member of the International Luxemburgist Network