Producer: David Aram
News headlines from some labor protests in July 28 to August 9, 2017
July 28 to August 2, 2017
Labor protests are widespread. In the protests, the workers call for strike, they Ultimatum, they close the road, they stand front of management To prevent factory shutdown, and etc., One example of these protests is the protests of workers of the Haft Tapeh sugar cane, they continued to protest and managed to free their colleagues from prison. Today, more than ever, They emphasize the right to organize and demand the recognition of their syndicate.. During the protests in other working environments, the issue of the right to organize is a hot topic Among the workers. The national and mass dimensions of the protests is more than ever, and all of these have put the workers’ movement on the brink of the mass organization. The militancy of workers in these struggles, the unity, and solidarity of the workers in order to meet their demands, the presence and role of labor families in these struggles represent the vibrant atmosphere of the working environments in Iran.
Among the worker’s protests last week, the following headlines attract attention:
August 9, 4,000 workers from the Ahwaz Steel National Industrial Group protested against their 4 months unpaid wages and insurance premiums, with the desire to start production and maintain employment . They have been struggling to strike since July 20. The great strike of these workers has had a widespread reflection.
On July 29, Andimashk city workers again gathered in protest at the lack of 12 months pay in front of the Andimeshk Municipality building.
On July 20, following a series of protests from the workers of the Sardasht municipality, a month was deducted from the four months of paid wages of the city’s 200 employees.
– In the afternoon of July 29, a group of workers from the Esfahan Provincial Bureau of Transportation and Department of Railways gathered in front of the governorate of Isfahan in a protest against the lack of job security and wage arrears and payment of nine months’ salary. On July 29, about 460 workers from the Ghazvin tolee pres factory in the city of Alborz, Qazvin province, were a cumulative protest to seize a portion of the property of this industrial unit, preventing the seizure of the company’s property and closing down the factory leading to their unemployment.
July 31, a number of city drivers of the company and their families gathered in a protest against the non-delivery of their residential homes by the housing cooperative to the central office of the company. The protest of the workers of the bus unit company was to blame the managers of the Sepidar Housing Projects 2 and3. For these projects, workers have paid 70% of the cost of the houses and have been abandoned for several years, Now more than 260 employees of the company are waiting for the delivery of these houses.The protesters gathered in this march through protest rallies and slogans such as we have been abandoned, the workers wake up, Workers are wary of hijacking thefts, An affordable housing is our absolute right. and, if we do not see our housing, This situation continues. , Protested against discrimination and inequality, theft and unsafeness.The slogans of the workers on this day were screaming protest of all the people.
Astronomical salaries wage several times below the poverty line, and anxiety has plagued a large section of the entire population. The whole community is angry. Particularly, housing is a huge part of the household’s income, and many people are incapable of providing shelter for themselves have been driven out to the city’s margins.
The workers of the bus unit company in Tehran, with the slogan of housing, is our right.
On Aug. 2, a group of workers from the Ahwaz city train project (Kayson Company) The strike and protest gathered against the non-payment of one year’s salary for another time against the governorate of Khuzestan.
August 2: About 470 workers in the Karun Cement Factory (Masjed Soleiman) have been protesting about nonpayment at least three months’ wages and the problem of extending their insurance bills about two weeks ago.
August 1: Temporary leave of Mohsen Omrani from prison – Mohsen Omrani, a protesting teacher in Bushehr province, who was imprisoned on April 13 this year, was released on leave for three days. After his release, he announced his support by obtaining a handwritten note asking for the immediate release of Ismail Abdi. He has arrested again on August 7th.
Ismail Abdi, a leader of teachers’ protests, who was released on bail on July 5, was arrested on the morning of August 5 without an arrest warrant. Ismail Abdi has been sentenced to six years.
Also, Reza Moslemi, a teacher from Hamedan Province and Taher Ghaderzadeh, from Saqez teachers, was sentenced to one year suspended prison sentence of five years and 91 days suspended imprisonment for their struggles, respectively.
The Teachers’ Teams’ Association of Tehran has said in a statement this week that it has reaffirmed its right to pursue freely its demands and pursue the elimination of security allegations against teachers’ activities and to defend teachers in prisons throughout the country.
The bus Company Unit: syndicate called for the immediate release of arrested teachers and the abolition of judicial orders issued to them. Part of this announcement states:
“The Syndicate of Workers of the Bus Company of Tehran and the Sub-district condemns all judicial sentences against teachers throughout the country and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Ismail Abdi and Mohsen Omrani.
The bus Company Unit: syndicate also condemns persistent security incidents and judicial sentences against other workers from unions and other independent labor organizations, including sentences against Mr. Ebrahim Madadi, Reza Shahabi and Davoud Razavi, members of the Board of Directors of The Syndicate of Workers of the Bus Company And demands the abrogation of the sentences against them and all activists of the labor and trade union affairs. The harassment of workers and labor activists must be stopped! ” A major issue in the protests of teachers, workers and social activists over the past two years has been the protest against the security of the struggle. Broadly support this campaign. Ismail Abdi should be released immediately. Security sentences issued to all workers, teachers and social activists should be lifted.
July 29, the workers of the Haft Tapeh sugar cane cured on the eighth day of their united strike, as in previous days, gathered in the factory premises, pursuing unpaid wages, releasing the arrested workers, and other demands. On this day, while arrested workers were tried in the court of Shush, The presence of a large number of workers at the factory in front of the courthouse in support of his detained colleagues, including in the existing security environment, created the beauty of unity and solidarity. Thus, following the persistence of the united strike of the workers of the Haft Tape Sugar Cane Company and their insistence on the freedom and return of their colleagues, The ten arrested workers of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Production Company at Dezful Prison, under the names of Rostam and Hamid Abdollahzadeh, Ahmad and Yaghoub Alqatif, Adel Simaeen, Ebrahim Zahiri, Behzad Nazari, Sabah Sari and Ahmad Moradi, were arrested on the 7th of August with the bail of 20 million And among the warm welcome of a group of their colleagues they were released. Five others were released on the same day as Rahim Chananeh, Kazem Chenani, Yasser Hamidi, Ahmed Moradi and Yaber Haviza, who was arrested on August 4th. The Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Syndicate, during a statement, While reporting this news from all workers and institutions and labor organizations inside and outside Iran that who have always expressed their support, appreciated, The release of all Tapeh Sugar detention workers is an important success in the struggles of these workers. We congratulate the success of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Workers, their families, and everyone.The security files for the haft tapeh detainees must be closed. Recognition of the Haft-Tape Sugarcane Syndicate, putting an end to the security of the factory, ending the prosecution and threatening protest workers, and urgently paying the wages of employed and retired workers and formalizing temporary contracts are among the immediate demands of the workers of the Haft Tapeh sugar cane, Strongly support their struggles.
On July 29, Ardakan Wood and Metal Workers gathered in front of Yazd Governorate in protest over more than five months of unpaid wage arrears. The workers, in protest of non-payment of their wages and demands, set up several gatherings against the governorate.
On July 28, a group of tile workers, Ehsan Meybod, gathered in protest at the closure of the factory and unemployment, and the failure to pay four months’ rights to the unpaid insurance of employers, MPs and senior officials in the city of Vâstan.
About 100 workers of the Pars Ghav Vegetable Oil Plant from 11 am on July 31 gathered in Nahal Gol Malek Factory for the promise of not paying their wage demands.
The pine plan, the Youth Employment Scheme, is a plan for the redundancy of the youth unemployed. According to this plan, the employer may, with the admission of the interns for a period of 4 to 6 months of internship, benefit from the employer’s insurance contribution for two years This scheme involves young people aged between 23 and 34, young, educated, and ready to work. During this period, interns will be covered by accident insurance and pay a third of the minimum wage. In the face of this plan, there is now a campaign that students and workers form an important line of protest against this work slavery. This week, close to 400 of the well-known social figures in the statement called for cancellation. The signatories of the statement, while pointing to the offensive dimensions that lay on the basis of an internship plan for workers and the entire community, call for the abolition of this shutdown.
The leading telegraph channel has been issued a press release on Tuesday, August 31st, at 10 am – in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly – calling for an A nationwide rally of retirees.
In the month of August, 240 workers from Pasargad Gondman Tile Company gathered in front of the governorate of Boroujen to protest the company’s gas shutdown and the risk of shutting down the factory and getting unemployed.
– On Aug. 1, the company’s nurses from the Ahvaz Institute of Health Voice called for accelerated payment of their one-year grace and pay claims by summing up Ahwaz University of Medical Sciences.
– On Aug. 1, nurses and nursing students gathered at the al-Ghadir Abhar Hospital to protest and demand the lifting of the hospital nurse training plan, in the presence of the Minister of Health. And while the Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, with a capacity of 60 people, is in a nearby hospital. The plan is to recruit non-expert forces with low wages. The plan reduces the level of nurses’ salaries, their unemployment, and the division of nurses. Nurses are protesting at the national level.
Workers of the world united
Workers Solidarity Network of the Middle East and North Africa
Coordinator:shahla.daneshfar2@gamil.com