Iran Khodro Sazeh

news and reports-workers' struggles in iran- june 2008

The company has been imposing harsh working conditions on employees through the use of contractors and temp agencies and violation of basic rights such as the right to organize as well as forced overtime work. Many workers have been hired on temporary contracts for over 10 years.  After workers went on strike, the company issued a statement in which they threatened workers that the strike was called following the agitation of “banned” leftist opposition groups, such a the Worker-communism Unity Party, and asked workers to report any activities to the company’s security. This way, the company and the government authorities will find excuses to use force and violence in order to intimidate workers and crush their strike. Despite all these threats, the strike still continues as of July 1, 2008.  (Source: dastranj news agency) Throughout the strike, workers along with their families had blocked the transit road of Ahvaz- Andimeshk to express their protest to the unpaid wages and other demands. Security forces surrounded them with the fire trucks to control them. Their demands were:  Payment of three months unpaid wages, right to organize an independent syndicate, ending the legal proceedings against the workers, release of arrested workers and the dropping of all charges against them and other labour activists; the sacking of the general manger of the company, a mullah called Yaghoob Shafiee, and the whole management committee; the sacking company’s security chief. The city of Shoosh Security Forces arrested four worker activists. Their names are: Nejat Dehli, Ahmad Raji, Iraj Abedini and Mohammad Leissi. (June 18)  ·         Mohammad Jarahi, who is a 48 year old labour activist and a resident of the city of Tabriz , was arrested and sentenced to 4 month imprisonment without a trial or being given the right to defend himself. Mr. Jarahi is a member of the Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Free Workers’ Organizations in Iran .  Last year, he was arrested for his labour activities and after 4 days was released on bail. On June 19, 2008, he was summoned to the branch 11 of the Tabriz Revolutionary Court where he was taken to the prison without any trials.  ·         34 workers were killed in explosion of the two chemical production factories, Kimiagaran Emrooz and Kimia Gostar. The Shazand Governor is the one who confirmed this number. According to Gholamreza Moradi, a worker activist in Arak , 30 workers are actually hospitalized in Qom , Arak , Isfehan, and Tehran .  The incident happened in May 26. (June10) ·         Gelavizh Soltannia committed suicide by self-immolation and passed away after 18 hours in a hospital. She was originally from Mahabad. Her father and she were working in a brick kiln in Hamadan , where Ibrahim Elyasi, the factory owner assaulted her and she could not bear the emotional pressures of the assault. (Human Rights activists in Iran , June 4, 2008) ·         30 contract workers and 100 permanent workers of Kesht-o Sanat Khash haven’t been paid for 12 and 8 months. Also, they haven’t received their yearly benefits, New Year allowance and so on. According to Mir Balooch Zehi, the representative of Islamic council of the company, this unit is related to the Cooperative Industries of the prisons of the country. (June 17) June 30, 2008- Mansour Osanloo, the president of the Executive Board of the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburban Bus Vahed Company, who had an eye surgery on May 26, 2008 at the Labafinejad Hospital, and was later transferred from the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of Labafinejad hospital to the health clinic at Evin prison was transferred to the Evin prison section 350, on June 30, 2008, despite doctors’ advise to keep him in the clinic. Osanloo is serving five year jail term because of his labour organizing efforts.  (Soures: dastranj news agency and Vahed syndicate). Dastranj- June 28, 2008, 2:00pm local time: Gholamhoseini, is in Evin prison in the sever charge with acting against national security, is an afflicted worker who just wanted to talk to the General Director of Vahed Company and Tehran Mayor about returning him to the job. Following the detention of Gholamreza Gholamhoseini, a member of the Syndicate of the Workers of Vahed Company, in last week, his attorney criticized his detention and the ill treatment by the judiciary officials.  As reported by Dastranj, Parviz Khorshid in reaction to the charges against him with the action against national security through rioting and chaos, said, “How my client could act against national security by himself in such a high secured place.  Khorshid added, “Gholamhoseini, is in Evin prison in the sever charges with acting against national security, as an afflicted worker, just wanted to talk to the General Director of Vahed Company and Tehran Mayor about returning him to the job.”  According to Ebrahim Madadi, a member of the Syndicate of the Workers of Vahed Company, Gholamhoseini was one of those few members of the Syndicate whose dismissal order was broken by the Dispute Board at the Department of Labor, but the employer still refuses to return him to the job. As khorshid, the attorney of Gholamhoseini, said, “Judiciary officials have been taking hard on Gholamhoseini by the order of detaining which is as hard as the charges have been brought to him, because detention order should be the judiciary’s decision for those who have been accused to murder.” Taking hard on Gholamhoseini has been continued while, today, his family went to the security prosecutor office without getting any results. Source: http://www.syndicavahed.org/engl65.htm While the authorities of the judiciary in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the head of the judiciary, are talking about the ruling laws, respecting civil rights, justice and human dignity and announcing that the judiciary system is ready to revive public civil rights on the occasion of the Judiciary Week , practically, unpleasant incidents have been taken place which emotionally affect everyone. Mr. Gholamreza Ghomalhoseini, a hard working driver and member of the Syndicate of the Workers of Vahed Company, who had received the definite order to be returned to the job by the legal institutions, has not been returned to his position because the management and the intelligence office at the Vahed Company refused to comply with the order.  Following the management refusal to meet him, Mr. Gholamhoseini went to the Azadi Stadium, where the National Women Day had been celebrating by Vahed Company and Mr. Ghalibaf was the speaker, to meet the manager of the Vahed Company at 8:00 pm on June 24, 2008. Unfortunately, in the coordinated action between the intelligence office at Vahed Company and Najafzadeh, officer of the Security Police, he was insulted and arrested and taken to the second base of the Security Police at Jalal Alahmad street   where he spent the night while he was beaten by the commanders of the night shift. He was ordered to be transferred to the solitary confinement in Evin prison by Judge Hadad in charge of “acting against security’ at 4:00 pm on June 25, 2008.  The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburban Bus Company urges the country’s high level authorities, especially at the Ministry of Labor who claim that the labor organizations are free, as well as country and international trade unions, especially ITF and ITUC and the related committees at ILO, and all the organizations and individuals who are seeking democracy and justice, to launch a wide efforts for Mr. Gholamhoseini’s immediate and unconditional release. On June 3rd 2008 an evening of solidarity with imprisoned workers and worker activists in Iran was held at Brecht Forum- New York , at 7:00 pm.  Bhairavi Desi- the Executive Director of NY Taxi Workers Alliance and Houri Sahba a representative from International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran (IASWI) were the speakers and Mimi Rosenberg was the moderator.

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