AUT: Solidarity Campaign with Iranian workers

["rc-am" <rcollins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[apologies for the xposting, but someone asked for more info on iran.
here's something that just came thru on the iww list.  - Angela]

NEWS BULETTIN
  WORKERS Protest in Iran
Volume 1, Issue 2
http:\\www.etehadchap.com\worker
Aug 1999

Solidarity Campaign with Iranian workers
http:\\www.etehadchap.com\worker      email : woker@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Victims of accidents at work
In Iran 10,000 workers die every year as a result of accidents at work.
It is difficult to imagine that in a country with 65 million
inhabitants, every year 10,000 workers loose their lives in accidents at
work and in total there are 150,000 incidents in the workplace  leading
to complete or partial loss of  limb. However officials of the Islamic
Republic admit that these are accurate statistics. Alireza Mahjoub, the
director of 'House of Labour' a  government workers organisation and
member of the Islamic parliament gave these statistics in Rasht on the
18th of April 99 adding that these figures do not include incidents that
have not resulted in death or loss of limb.  In other words these
figures do not include death or illness caused by pollution in the work
place.
According to Dr Ghazanfar Forouzanfar another government official , over
30 % of carpet weavers in Khorassan and Birjand ( in Western provinces)
suffer from brittle bones, pulmonary illnesses and eye problems caused
by their work. Given that most carpet workshops in Iran are in  small
humid underground rooms, one can imagine working conditions in this
industry.
However the most worrying statistics, concerns the 10,000 deaths last
year; of these only the families of only 10 i.e. one in a hundred  ,have
succeeded in getting any damages , and in the cases of injuries the
proportion is the same , incapacity benefit has been given to less than
one in hundred. If anything these figures, given by officials of the
Islamic regime, underestimate the extent  of such accidents.
One of the officials of the ministry of Social services recently told
the paper Hamshahri that in the first six months of last year , 5952
workers insured by this organisation suffered from accidents at work,
2900 were careless . Of this total 52 died as a result of the accident
and 170 resulted in severe injuries. In other words 5% of those covered
by insurance, got any payment.
As we wrote in the first issue of this bulletin, In Iran a small
percentage of workers benefit from labour legislation and new
legislation proposed to the parliament about 3 months ago , exempts
workshops of 3 employees or less from labour legislation and therefore
any insurance against accidents at work. However , although the number
of accidents at work is very high, the issue is not simply the use of
legal means to secure the safety of the workforce. In other words , even
if the necessary insurance cover existed, the main issue remains
conditions that lead to these cruel deaths or loss limbs. According to
the newspaper Salam, in its 7th Jan 99 issue , for thousands and
thousands of small and large workshops in Tehran , there are only 20
safety inspectors. Given the existing bureaucracy and widespread
corruption, it is safe to assume that there is almost no systematic
control and inspection of safety at work in Iran.
In addition the privatisation of many factories, workshops has worsened
the
situation  at a time when bankruptcy and depression  is dominant. For
example,  the death of 30 miners in Sangrood Boushan ( a mine in
northern Iran ) as a result of gas explosion was caused by the sale of
safety equipment , including equipment for releasing gas trapped in the
mine, by unscrupulous private owners who sold the safety equipment for
profits. The paper Slam adds in this issue that every year millions of
tomans are spent on treatment of workers who have become ill as a result
of their job or in accidents, while 1/5 of these costs will suffice to
avoid the conditions prompting accident or illness caused by work.


About the campaign
The campaign in Solidarity with Iranian workers has been set up to
provide regular information about the struggles of Iranian workers to
save jobs, for better salaries, for the right to establish independent
organisations. We believe that workers demonstration on 1st of May 1999
protests by Iranian workers against changes to the labour law have
created new conditions in Iran. We aim to bring news of these events and
seek support from International organisations, trade unions and workers
organisations throughout the world.

Protest march -demonstration by workers in Farsa Company
On the third of July , 200 workers from the construction materials plant
Farsa in Savjebalagh , stopped work in protest at lack of payment of
salaries and bonuses for over six months and walked 12 kilometres
between the plant and Savjehbalagh. The workers then staged protests in
front of the offices of the local governor as this plant comes under the
authority of the state owned bank of industry and mining. The
authorities of this bank had started rumours regarding the redundancy of
most of the workforce  and created more uncertainty. Workers protested
at these conditions.



News of Workers protests
Protests by workers in Azadan Shoe
Workers in Azadan shoe factory , in Shahr Alborz industrial estate near
Ghazvin, sent a letter of protest to state authorities, complaining
about lack of payment of salaries and bonuses. These workers have
received no payment since January 1999. The company was originally state
owned, under a government organisation called Imam's support committee.
Like many such plants it was privatised in 1997, the ownership has
changed hands a number of times and the company is facing serious
financial problems.


Sit in by Naghshiran workers-
On the 19th of June, workers in the Naghshiran
machine made carpet manufacturers, in Shahr Alborz , who have received
no salaries or bonuses for the last 3 months, staged a sit in front of
this plant a, stopping traffic for a few hours on this busy road.
This plant is part of a state owned foundation, called the 15th Khoradad
foundation , and it is rumoured that  the foundation intends to sack
half of the workers. Although workers representatives have expressed
their protest a number of times to local authorities, there are no signs
that their demands will be met. The security forces were deployed to
break the sit-in.

Strike by Hospital workers in Abhar Hospital: Tens of ancillary workers
in Abhar hospital stopped work for two hours on the morning of 22 June
1999, and demonstrated outside the hospital protesting that their
salaries haven't been paid for over 3 months. A few days before this
strike, when Dr Mehdi, deputy minister of health visited the hospital,
he told workers: " the problems regarding transfer of ancillary and
support work to the private sector have not been resolved. When one of
the workers asked if the length of time taken for these negotiations
isn't the fault of ministry, he responded: if you didn't want to, you
(the workers) shouldn't have worked!
`In recent years many ministries, government offices, hospitals and
state owned factories and plants have contracted out their support
services to the private sector. The workers who are employed by this
sector usually get 3 months contracts and are therefore constantly
facing redundancies and are deprived of the most rights. Workers in
Abhar hospital say that over the last few years, in 1996, 97, 98 they
have gone to the regional offices of health authorities complaining that
they have not received any salaries, without getting any answers. Their
last protest was in May 99, when many workers went on strike.

Protest by office workers in Khalkhal schools: Office workers in
Khalkhal schools have been doing the work of two people for the last few
years. However they do not receive any payment for overtime work. A
group of such workers wrote a letter to the press in late June, and went
to the local education office to complain about lack of overtime pay.
They also demanded that the number of employees in this section should
be added so that all the work can be done. The education office told the
workers that because of a budget deficit they couldn't pay the workers
for overtime work or employ more workers.
Protest by workers in Aryan Carpet
150 workers from Aryan carpet factory in Abhar, signed a petition to
complain that they have not received any payment for New Year bonuses
for last year. The owner of this plant reduced the annual bonuses of the
workers by 20% claiming it was for tax purposes. The workers are
demanding an investigation into this claim.

Strike by municipality workers in Abadan: Workers of Abadan municipality
have gone on strike, protesting at lack of payment of salaries. The
workers then staged a demonstration in front of the local governor's
offices to express their anger and dispersed after the authorities
promised to follow up their demands.
Protest by Saf industrial workers
In Saveh, workers from Saf industries sent a letters of protest
regarding lack of payment of their salaries to the press and media. In
this letter the workers wrote: In this New Year (since March 99) we
haven't received any wages. The workers pointed out that most of them
rent their homes and have to pay monthly rent , but the owner keeps
giving them vague promises and they face eviction from their homes.

Protests by expelled workers: Some of the workers in Khomeini hospital
in Oroumiyeh, wrote a letter to the press on the 12th of July
complaining that they face destitution as they do not have any
employment insurance and don't receive any unemployment benefit.
 These workers wrote: " some of us have worked for 20 years in this
hospital how can we accept that after all this time, we are made
redundant with one letter , with no pay ... when we worked we paid
regularly to a social security fund so that we could use this fund in an
emergency, however those responsible for the fund have informed all
workers that there will be no payment.

Sit in by workers in Wool factory in Isfahan:
On Monday 19th July 99 , workers in wool industries in Isfahan , staged
a sit in front of the regional Labour office, protesting that  the
construction of a new site for this factory, outside Isfahan had been
stopped.
The workers complained that they have been unemployed for a month and
now it is not clear if the site designated for this plant has a license
for food manufacturing or will continue as a wool plant , if the
construction is ever finished.

Non payment of salaries in Khouzestan factories : Most factories in
Khouzestan province have not paid any salaries to their workforce for 3
to 5 months, these include tube manufacturers of Khouzestan, Koushan
factory , agricultural plant, Pars  hospital and a metal plant  which
has been closed down.
Expulsion of 269 workers in Mahabad
after years of working for  Ghods road Construction Company in Mahabad,
269 workers were made redundant  in early July , as this company was
dissolved.
This company was set up in early eighties to help construct roads in the
unreachable section of Azarbaijan province. The responsibility for such
companies has moved to another government office and as a result of the
closure of this section , the workers have lost their jobs and their
families face destitution. None of these workers were contract workers,
they had permanent jobs and qualify for social security benefits ,
however they have been denied  any payment.

Explosion in Ahvaz Oil Line: on the 22nd of May 99 an explosion rocked
the oil line in Ahvaz, injuring 70 workers, 30 of whom were in a serious
condition caused by severe burns. This explosion is not exceptional in
Iran. every day tens of workers loose their life  because of lack of
safety and even according to government statistics, every year 10,000 of
workers loose their life because of lack of safety at work.

An accident a day in Ghom:
According to a report in the paper Kar va kargar( work and worker) 7th
July 99 published in Tehran, workers in Ghom's industrial plant say that
due to lack of safety equipment , accidents resulting from work in these
units is endangering their physical and mental health. The workers say
that employers ignore their demands for  improving working conditions .
this complaint is at a time when the officials of the office of labour
admit that there is at least one accident a day in the workplace in
Ghom.
Many productions in Ghom deal with stone works, carpentry , ...which can
be  particularly dangerous. One stone worker said : noise pollution is a
minor problem , many other factors endanger our lives.  Workers in the
textile factories in Ghom complain about noise pollution. According to
one worker in the blanket manufacturing company the old and non-standard
equipment  in this plant makes noise well above accepted levels,
deafening the workers and causing mental illness. Mostafa Kaviani , who
is in charge of the health and safety admits that the situation in many
plants is deplorable and 300 accidents in one year , some causing loss
of limb have created  an intolerable situation. Another industrial
expert told the same paper that the age of machinery, their non-standard
use endangers the lives of the workers.

Tehran : two weeks after the students protest in July, it was announced
that 2 people who died as a result of injuries caused by the security
forces were workers. Behrouz FrajZadeh was a 53-year sold worker who had
been injured in the demonstrations in Laleh Zar Ave. The other was a
worker called Mahmoud Khabazan who died from his injuries in hospital.


Iranian year 1377 , workers struggles go beyond the factory

>From the 181 protests and strikes by workers in 1377 ( March 1998 -
March 1999)
there are 63 cases of demonstrations and protests outside the factory ,
in front
 of local governor's offices, ministries and other government offices in
various
cities and provinces as well 46 cases of
of workers strikes. Inevitably the 181 cases we know about are only a
fraction of workers protests during this period and only cover major
protests covered by the press and the media.  On the basis of these
figures last year was the year when  workers decided that strikes, even
occupation of the factory has little effect and  took  their protest
against unbearable living conditions to the streets . The main reason
behind most of these protests was the lack of payment of salaries by
state owned, semi private and  private firms and were directed at
government officials or state organisations . This in conditions when
even if  the salaries were paid and increased 3 or 4 times , they would
only be sufficient to provide enough to survive given the cost of living
in Iran. The economic situation is so bad that the current situation
where most plants, factories don't pay their  workers cannot be
sustained for much longer  .Workers demands in 1377 ( March 98 -99) The
principle demands !
!
!
of Iranian workers in this period  can be summarised as follows: payment
of salaries on time, the right to keep their jobs an end to closure of
plants and  sackings. In total , 100 of the 181 protest were concerned
with unpaid wages , 90 of these cases were to do with unpaid salaries, 6
cases of unpaid New Year bonuses in the Iranian year 1376 ( March 1997)
and 4 cases of unpaid wages in new Year bonuses for 1998.  There were 77
cases of protest at sackings and factory closure, 33 cases of protest at
factory closure and 18 cases of protest at sackings. According to our
figures only in 3 cases , management responded to the protest and
accepted the workers demands, in 9 cases they promised to deal with the
workers demands , in 7 cases military forces were called to arrest
protesting workers and in 2 cases workers were threatened with job loss
and in 2 other cases workers who protested lost their jobs. Although it
is not possible to obtain  accurate information about all workers !
!
!
protests but it does look as if the majority of these protest fail to
achieve their aims.
Inevitably as the principle of paying wages , basic demands such as
workers demands for the right to work, to live , demands for wage rises
and  for basic social welfare are rare and marginalised. In all the
struggles of these twelve months there were only 4 cases of national
bargaining. , 8 cases dealing with grading of jobs, 15 cases of demand
for increased salaries and 18 cases of social benefits.
The issue of wage rises and the council of labourThe supreme Council of
Labour in Iran , normally sets the minimum wage and arbitrates on wage
rises , however over the last few years , given widespread  bankruptcy
,  this council has decided that the issue of wage rises is meaningless.
Part 2 next issue






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