Open Letter from Iranian Workers and Labor Activists to International Workers, Labor Organizations, Syndicates, and All People of Conscience
International working
class solidarity calls on workers of all countries, especially countries in
which workers still have the basic rights of free speech, protest and
association, to support the struggles of their fellow working class
members, condemn the anti-labor and anti-democratic policies of the Islamic
Republic.
September 14, 2019
A Wave of increasing
repression, arrests and inhuman prison sentences of workers,
teachers, retirees, women, students, writers, journalists and
environmental activists in Iran continues. The repression, imprisonment and court convictions of workers are a clear
and continuous violation of basic labor rights and principles by
the Islamic Republic of Iran.
As a member of the
International Labor Organization (ILO), the Iranian state is obliged to
respect these principles and rights. However, Independent labor
organizations, including the Syndicate of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Workers
and the Syndicatie of Tehran Vahed Bus Workers which were established
some years ago and have the sole purpose of defending the rights of
workers and toilers, are treated by the judiciary and security
officials as worse than criminals. History is our
witness. The bitter experiences that have ruined the lives of the
majority of toilers in Iran prove that the most basic rights of workers and
toilers in Iran are not respected.
The repression of
activists, members of syndicates and other labor organizations,
striking workers, women, teachers, retirees has intensified and has
reached ominous proportions. A large number of workers have turned
to strikes, protests, marches and sit-ins. The demands of workers
in general have been the following:
1.The payment of unpaid wages and
benefits.
2. Improvement in labor conditions.
3. Opposing the
privatization of state-owned companies which has in many cases led to shutting
down the companies and expelling the workers.
4. The release of
imprisoned workers, political prisoners, prisoners of conscience and
civil rights activists.
5. The right to form independent
organizations.
For years, the
workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Factory have been subjected to the most
intense forms of discrimination and repression for the crime of fighting for
their basic legal rights. Despite the U.N. charter on human rights,
basic labor laws and ILO Conventions 87 and 98 concerning the right to free
speech, association, protest and strike, the work places and homes
of workers are under occupation by military and security forces and
workers have been subjected to a barracks-like life.
Despite this,
the workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Factory, went on strike
for over a month and protested to demand their unpaid wages, to oppose
privatization and the corrupt management, and to demand the release of
imprisoned workers. The authorities responded by arresting, beating and
torturing many of these workers and the activists who supported them. The following workers
and labor activist supporters were arrested in relationship to these protests:... read more:
https://www.allianceofmesocialists.org/open-letter-from-iranian-workers-and-labor-activists-to-international-workers-labor-organizations-syndicates-and-all-people-of-conscience/
