Labor protests news from May 1st to May 5th:
A historic May day in Iran
– May Day, the International Workers’ Day, arrived in the midst of the woman-life-freedom revolution, carrying the colors of the revolution.
– Thousands of contract workers in the oil, gas, and steel industries continue their strikes, declaring that they honor International Workers’ Day with their strikes in the face of threats of layoffs and the hiring of new workers instead of striking workers. Their immediate demands include a 79% increase in wages, a 20-day work period, and a 10-day rest period.
– In continuation of the strikes in the oil industry, on May 5th, contract workers employed by Ayrik Sanaat Company in protest of the lack of wage increase for the year 2023 joined the nationwide strike of contract workers.
– Retirees from the Social Security Organization have announced nationwide gatherings for the seventeenth of Ordibehesht (May 7th) as part of their ongoing protests against poverty, high prices, and the minimal wage increases. On May Day, these workers gathered in several cities as part of their previous call. They marched in Ahvaz, Shush, and Kerman. In Ahvaz, they carried a big banner in commemoration of International Workers’ Day at the front of the rally, creating a brilliant scene of protest. Their demands include a wage increase above the 25 million toman a month ($500) which is so called cost basket, free healthcare, and an end to embezzlements. Retirees from the Social Security Organization have held gatherings in various cities from the 10th to the 14th of Ordibehesht (April 30th to May 4th ). In Shush city, Ali Nejati, a well-known member of the board of directors for labour syndicate of Haft-Tappeh sugarcane factories, was the first speaker at the retirees’ gathering in May Day.
– The Coordination Council of Teachers’ Associations has called for nationwide gatherings in all cities on the nineteenth of Ordibehesht (May 9th) in protest of the government’s chemical attacks on schools, arrests, and to pursue their demands for freedom of their imprisoned colleagues. There were murmurs about organizing International Workers’ Day among teachers, which led to the government arresting and summoning some teachers. Some teachers were arrested during a meeting with the family of Mohammad Habibi, a teacher who is currently in prison. Nine of them, namely Reyhaneh Ansarinejad, Anisha Asadollahi, Zhaleh Rouhzadeh, Asal Mohammadi, Soroosh Ahmad, Hirad Pirbodaghi, Kamyar Fakour, Hassan Ebrahimi, and Oldouz Hashemi, are still in prison. The Coordination Council of Teachers’ Associations expressed their support for the revolution by launching a Twitter storm with the hashtag #اعتصاب_انقلاب.
– On May day, the Yazd Tire workers gathered for the third day to protest against poor living conditions, poverty, and lack of job security. The nurses and medical staff at Imam Sajjad Hospital in Shahriar also gathered to protest against inadequate wages and unfair nursing tariffs.
– The state run “Workers’ house” held a ceremony on May 4th in Isfahan for International Workers’ Day. However, angry workers disrupted the ceremony and took control of the program, chanting slogans such as “Our demand is fair wages according to inflation” and “Our expenses are in dollars, but our wages are in rials,” and so on. A brave woman, went up to the scene and forcefully grabbed the microphone from the program host and, by shouting protest slogans and rallying the workers present in the hall, turned the government ceremony into a scene of their own protest.
– May 1st, International Workers’ Day was celebrated in various cities of Kurdistan in different forms. The Construction Workers’ Union in Kamyaran honored this day.
– 48 organizations, including students, activists, and social activists, issued a call for nationwide strikes and protests on the occasion of International Workers’ Day, which received a widespread response. Starting three nights earlier, anti-government slogans were chanted in various cities, and on the first of May, protest slogans continued in many neighborhoods in Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, and other cities. In some neighborhoods in Tehran, people closed the streets as a sign of protest, while in neighborhoods such as Sattar Khan, Sadeghieh, Tehranpars in Tehran, and some areas in Karaj and Isfahan, marches with anti-government slogans took place.
– On the occasion of International Workers’ Day, numerous resolutions were issued by various labor organizations and social institutions. One resolution had the signatures of fifteen organizations underneath it. Supporting strikes in the oil industry, emphasizing nationwide strikes, protesting against suppression and executions, and demanding minimum rights were the main themes of many of these resolutions, including the resolution signed by fifteen organizations.
– In Nishekar-e Haft Tapeh (sugarcane factories), workers distributed sweets from the early morning to celebrate International Workers’ Day. However, later, under the scheme of Naseri, the company’s management, two representatives of the workers, Yousef Bahmani and Ebrahim Abbasi, were attacked by the security forces, and in protest against this oppressive act, the workers of Nishekar-e Haft Tapeh gathered.
– On Wednesday, 12th of Ordibehesht 1402 (May 2nd ), retired telecommunication workers gathered in front of the Ministry of Communications in Tehran and in front of the telecommunications office buildings in other cities to protest their living conditions, employment conditions, and the non-payment of some of their job and healthcare related demands. These gatherings took place in cities such as Sanandaj, Ahvaz, Kermanshah, Arak, Qazvin, Khorramabad, Shahrekord, Isfahan, Hormozgan, Zahedan, Shiraz, and Tehran. In Ahvaz, retired workers held gatherings and marches.
– Reza Shahabi and Hassan Saeedi, two members of the executive board of the Syndicate of Workers of the United Bus Company, and Keyvan Mehamedi, a member of the Writers’ Association, were sentenced to five years in prison. Sepideh Gholiyan, a labor rights activist, was sentenced to an additional two years in prison. She was arrested during the protests of the workers of Nishekar-e Haft Tapeh in 2018 and was released under pressure from the current Revolution after 4 years and 7 months of imprisonment on 24th of Esfand (March 15th). However, she was rearrested the next day and charged for shouting the slogan: “Khamenei, you are a murderer, we will bury you!” and not wearing a mandatory headscarf. She stated that the Islamic Republic’s kangaroo court, whose head has signed the execution orders of revolutionaries, lacks legitimacy.