Iran

The blockade of the factory is the latest in a series of actions undertaken by workers, who are continuing their strike in the face of brutal repression by security forces.

Workers at Haft-Tapeh started their strike on May 5 to demand immediate payment of wages, which had not been received for three months prior to the strike.

The workers had been on strike at the Kian Tire Factory in the Alborz region of northern Iran since last Thursday, demanding the payment of unpaid wages. On Saturday evening, security forces entered the plant using bulldozers to tear down walls, and arrested around 1,000 workers.

Mahmoud Salehi’s Message to All Workers and concerned organizers and participants of the March 6th Global Day of Action.

A number of their members have been imprisoned. The most famous case being the Saqqez Seven, which includes Mahmoud Salehi.

On “Coordinating Committee to Form Workers Organization”

The ‘Coordinating Committee to Form Workers Organization’ is not a workers organization. This committee is an organized group of worker-activists struggling to meet the following aims:

In the statement, issued on November 23, 2007, workers say "[we] have learned that the French government along with their capitalist allies has pummeled your retirements rights that had been gained over many years of struggle."
"Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company Syndicate unequivocally supports your great cause and let it be heard that your struggle is the struggle of all workers of the world.

Here is the statement from the Workers Action Committee following the initial strike.

Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane workers in southern Iran go on strike

Of particular interest is the observation that "in practice the [workers'] councils, due to their complete accordance with workers' direct and immediate exercise of power, won an indisputable victory vis-a-vis the unions. The few attempts at creating unions remained irrelevant to the real workers' movement."

An Iranian court has sentenced a dissident labor leader to five years in jail, a judiciary official was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Mansoor Osanloo, who runs a union grouping bus drivers, was detained in July for "distributing statements against the system". Western rights groups say Iran has launched a crackdown on dissenting voices, although Tehran denies this.

The ITF is condemning the latest tactic in what it describes as a cynical catalogue of dirty tricks played by the Iranian government on imprisoned trade union leader Mansour Osanloo.

The following report was received this evening from the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) in London:

By Wayne Spencer

In Tehran, in which only the government-sponsored Workers’ House is legally permitted to hold rallies, thousands of workers with independent slogans participated in the event at the Shiroodi (former Amjadie) stadium and did not let the official event conclude. Alireza Mahjoub, the head of the Workers’ House, was interrupted by chanting workers and could not finish his speech.

Attached as a print-friendly pdf file below.

According to the Teachers’ Trade Association of Iran’s website and other reliable sources, about 30 of the arrested teachers were arrested in the office the teachers’ Trade Association of Hamadan and a number of other educators were arrested in their homes and other places; this included all members of the board of directors of the association in Hamadan.

Iran has clamped down on teachers following strikes of 100,000 last week and a 10,000 strong picket outside parliament. These mass arrests come after six teachers' union leaders were arrested during International Womens Day events.The teachers strike last week was the largest workers' action in recent years, and possibly since the revolution of 1979.

People in Iran welcomed 8th March this year by organising many events well ahead of the actual day in different cities all over the country. It culminated in major gatherings on Thursday, international women's day. People were passionate about the day, had prepared manifestos, resolutions and banners demanding equality, condemning gender apartheid and women's oppression.

According to the Organisation for Womens' Liberation, "all along the regime has refused to meet their demands. On 8th March (International Women's Day), many students and the women's movement showed their solidarity with the teachers. Many 8th march leaflets were distributed among the demonstrators.

Introduction

According to one of the representatives of workers, Ranjbarian, the strike was spontaneous. Workers are sacked by the employer despite previous protests as well as meetings in the governor's office to create employment opportunities for laid off employees.

The ITUC and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) today welcomed the release of detained Iranian trade unionist Mansour Osanloo, while deploring the fact that he had to post additional bail to ensure his release. Osanloo was already on bail of 150 million Toman (US$ 165,000), stemming from his previous detention by the authorities from 22 December 2005 to 9 August 2006.