The powerful strike of Wagon Pars workers in Arak has been going on for more than ten days. The protest of these workers is about job conditions, wages and dismissals.
The protests of Wagon Pars workers started on July 25 due to the awkward conditions of working hours and the switching of the closure of Thursday and Friday to Saturday and Sunday due to the lack of electricity, and their livelihood problems. Workers gathered in front of the company’s office building and asked the management to prevent the implementation of this decision. But in response to them, the next day, the management prevented 12 workers from entering the factory. In response to this action, the workers gave an ultimatum that if this decision not cancelled, they will strike. When they faced the shameless response by Molanejad, the manager of the company, and his insults, on the 2nd of August, their protesting crowd came to the street and gave a strong response to the hated management and the authorities who support him.
More than 1,170 workers are employed in this company, and according to the workers, their salary level is very low, and despite the high orders for construction and production, even some of their payment items have been removed. For instance the salary of a worker after 20 years of work with overtime is 25 million tomans/month (around $500), and the management has also reduced overtime. Molanja even removed the resting rooms of the workers and the workers have to rest on the floor of the hall on cardboard. On the other hand, the salaries of managers are astronomical and they get various benefits such as travel allowance, sports expenses, car donation, etc. Workers object to these discriminations.
In their protests, these workers chanted “Workers don’t accept humiliation, even if die”, “Enough of discrimination, the manager must be sacked!” They expressed their protest against the corrupt management and the ruling thieves. Other urgent demands of these workers include termination of contractors, equalization of workers’ rights and levelling of pays with other neighbouring factories, formalization of workers’ contracts, and return to work of fired workers.
The demand for the end of the contractors’ control is workers’ nationwide demand, and is now at the top of the demands of thousands of oil workers. Workers are challenging the anti-labour structure of the economy.
Pars Wagon Company is a subsidiary of “Mapna” industrial group, the majority of whose shares belong to the Ministry of Energy and an Islamic entity known as “Astan Quds Razavi” and it is the place of massive thefts and looting by the heads of the government.