Today, December 13th, in response to the call of the Coordinating Council of cultural organisations, teachers staged nationwide rallies following two days of strikes and sit-ins in schools, to pursue their demands. These gatherings and rallies have been held in Tehran in front of the Islamic parliament and in the provincial centres, and in the cities and towns, in front of the education departments.
The teachers’ strikes and sit ins in the last two days, took place in 150 cities, followed by massive and glorious rallies in various cities today. According to reports, rallies have been held so far in 27 provinces and in more than 60 cities, including: Tehran, Karaj, Qom, Yazd,Tabriz, Isfahan, Genaveh, Bandar Abbas, Saqez, Marivan, Bukan, Yasuj, Dehdasht, Kilk, Ahvaz, Izeh, Andimeshk, Behbahan, Ramhormoz, Karkheh, Shiraz, Noorabad Mamasani, Alam Rudasht, Khorramabad, Azna, Doroud, Babol, Sari, Rasht, Shahrekord, Lordegan, Ardabil, Zanjan, Urmia, Semnan, Kerman, Qazvin, Mashhad, Golpayegan, Gorgan, Amol, Hamedan, Malayer, Arak, Takestan, Bijar, Kermanshah, Siran, Gachsaran, And Noorabad Lorestan.
Teachers at this day’s rallies chanted “if our problems will not be solved, the schools will be closed”. And thus they emphasised their resolution to continue the rallies and struggles. Large crowds of teachers took part in the day’s protest rallies in various cities. For example, thousands of people participated in the rally in Shiraz, and in Tehran, a larger rally was held than before. In Tehran, security forces tried to disperse a line of teachers, but were repulsed by teachers’ resistance and chanting slogans against them, and the rally continued.
In Mashhad, in addition to employed and retired teachers, retirees of road, health, railway, agriculture, blood department and bank employees also participated. In Nurabad, Lorestan, a large number of teachers gathered and marched. In Shiraz, the crowd was very large and thousands participated with the slogans of “teachers standing up to eliminate discrimination”, “free jailed teachers”. An enthusiastic atmosphere of protest was prevailed in all the teachers’ rallies.
In Saqqez, Kurdistan a large crowd of teachers gathered in front of the education building, chanting “We are all Amanj” and protested against the beating of the protesting teacher Amanj Amini and the government’s repression.
The central demand of these gatherings is the full implementation of job rankings for employed teachers and equalization of salaries for employed teachers and the release of imprisoned teachers. The Islamic parliament is due to decide over teachers’ salaries and employment tomorrow and the teachers have warned that if they don’t answer to theit demands the schools will be closed in coming days for indefinite time.
Widespread protests by teachers have attracted the attention of the entire society. The students’ banners in support of the teachers’ demands and struggles was significant during this round of protests. News of the protests has been widely reported on various social media groups. The Council for Organizing Protests of Oil Contract Workers has also announced its support for the demands and struggles of teachers. Specially the arrest of Rasoul Badaghi, a member of the board of directors of the Islamshahr Teachers’ Union on 11th December has met with many protests. Teachers’ organizations from different cities have expressed their disgust at his arrest and condemned it.
The Coordinating Council of Cultural Trade Unions also stated in a statement that the teachers will not be intimidated by these arrests and attacks.
At the global level, four trade unions, the Swedish Central Workers ‘Organization, LO, the Swedish Transport Workers’ Union, the Swedish Metal Union, the Municipal Union (Municipalities) and the Swedish National Union of Teachers, have condemned the arrest of Rasoul Badaqi. In Iran, they have announced their support.
We are here today to warn the parliament that if the ranking bill is put together and approved as it is, and the equalization of retirees payments is not implemented, we will continue our widespread protests. If the government and security institutions believe the arrest of Mr. Rasoul Bodaghi, the representative of the Coordinating Council, the trial of Mr. Jafar Ebrahimi, the inspector of the teachers’Coordination Council, the beating of Mr. Amanj Amini, and the imprisonment of Mr. Mohammad Reza Ramezanzadeh, Mr. Ismail Abdi and Mr. Mehdi Conquerors can stop our struggles and demands ,they are absolutely mistaken.
The Coordinating Council in its resolution also emphasizes the global unity of teachers and warns the parliament that if the job ranking and salary equalization plan is not fully implemented, teachers’ protests will continue more intensively nationwide.