In response to a call by Amnesty International for the immediate release of Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholian from prison, representatives of the British trade union movement – including the TUC, UNISON, the International  Transport Federation, NASUWT and UCU – joined a protest outside the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to send a clear message to the Iranian authorities that they should “End Torture and Free Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholian NOW!” and that “Workers’ Rights are Human Rights.”

CODIR views this solidarity action, on 29 January 2019, as yet another example of the reaffirmation of commitment by the trade union movement internationally to stand by the victims of human rights violations in Iran.

CODIR has called for a global campaign for peace and for human and democratic rights in Iran. It has urged trade unions across the world to call upon the Iranian government to respect workers’ rights and implement all ILO Conventions, in particular Conventions 87 and 98. CODIR demands the release of all trade union and workers’ representatives who are serving time in prison because of their legitimate trade union activities.

At present scores of Iranian trade union leaders and activists are serving long prison sentences simply for representing the interests of their members and standing up for justice. These include Esmail Abdi and Mohammad Habibi, leaders of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association, Ali Nejati, former president of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane workers Trade Union and Dauod Razavi and Ibrahim Madadi, national executive members of the Tehran and Suburbs Public Bus Workers’ Union. Workers in Iran are prohibited from forming independent trade union organisations; forced to work in inhumane, unsafe and hazardous conditions and are denied their due wages for months and even years.

Join our campaign for workers’ rights in Iran!  Workers’ rights are human rights!