Oil “Protest Mondays” Continue in the South as Razi Petrochemical Strike Enters its 11th Day

Detained Workers Released, Workplace Entry Ban Lifted

On Monday, August 18th, formal oil workers in the southern oil and gas operational areas gathered once again as part of their ongoing “Protest Mondays” to pursue their demands. The locations where these gatherings took place include: Fajr Jam Gas Refinery, Pars Oil & Gas Company Kangan Site 2, Pars Oil & Gas Company Assaluyeh Site 1, Pars Oil & Gas Company Kangan (Site 2), Gas Refinery at South Pars Gas Field, Assaluyeh Special Zone, Pars Oil & Gas offshore platforms (POGC Forty Platforms), South Pars Gas Complex (SPGC – 98% at the Second Refinery and 2% at Headquarters), the Twelfth Refinery, the Tenth Refinery, and the Seventh Refinery.

Workers and employees at Pars Oil & Gas Assaluyeh (Site 1) marched and chanted slogans to press their demands. At the Fajr Refinery, protesting workers chanted: “Illegal deductions must be abolished!” At the South Pars Gas Field Refinery, they chanted: “We want stable production, remove the wage cap!” The demands of the formal oil workers are nationwide and include, among others:

1. ·  Full payment of wages and correction of minimum salaries, alongside the complete removal of the wage cap.
2. ·  Elimination of retirement caps and full payment of severance benefits.
3. ·  Refund of excess taxes unlawfully collected.
4. ·  Full implementation of Article 10 and payment of all outstanding arrears.
5. ·  Independence of the Oil Pension Fund.

On this same day, the strike of the third party (contract) workers of Razi Petrochemical entered its eleventh day. For the third consecutive day, around 500 of these contract workers gathered and protested in the yard of the company’s central office. These workers are firmly resisting management’s repression and coercion while pursuing their demands, with wage increases as their main demand.

Under the pressure of these protests, yesterday two detained workers of the company, Ahmad Asakereh and Javad Rashidi, were released on bail, and the entry ban imposed on several protesting workers who had been prevented from entering the workplace was lifted. This achievement is the result of the workers’ united resistance. The third-party workers of Razi Petrochemical have declared that they will continue their strike and protests until all their demands are met.