Iranian workers protest on streets, demand payment of overdue wages

Workers in Iran have taken to the streets demanding payment of overdue wages and the implementation of the job-classification law.

Local media radio Farda reported on Saturday August 1, 2020, that the Iranian workers were mainly in the oil and gas industry, with some of them demanding the company’s return of ownership to the public sector or the workers themselves.

There have been many labour strikes in Iran recently, including the labour strikes at Abadan in southern Iran, Parisian and Qeshum oil refineries, and in the Lamerd petrochemical complex, and South Paris oil field.

Workers at Qeshm oil refinery said that their employers did not pay them regularly; however, one of the refineries directors said the workers were demanding raises and had no problem concerning overdue salaries.

Employers in Iran have been accused of unpaid wages and benefits – an issue that has led to workers protesting across Iran, notably including the Haft Tappeh sugarcane industrial complex, in the oil-rich Khuzestan province.

Last Saturday marked the 48th day of strike action embarked upon by sugarcane workers in protest against their unpaid wages and in demand of the company’s return of ownership to the public sector or the workers themselves.

Parts of demands of the Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers include immediate payment of three-month overdue wages, renewal of their insurance, the return of fired employees, immediate arrest and life imprisonment of the company’s CEO, Asad Beigi and the company’s top director, Mehrdad Rostami.

The recent labour crises in Iran show that the US sanctions have hit hard the Iran’s economy and the government is struggling to bail out troubled companies amid the alleged corruption and mismanagement in some companies by the labour protests.

In Iran, labour protests are not allowed as authorities will arrest people if they participate.

Many workers of the Haft Tappeh industrial complex have been detained and sentenced to long term imprisonment