Act now! Free Ismail Abdi, Iranian teacher union leader

Incarceration of Iranian Teacher Union Leader Ismail Abdi

On behalf of the British trade union movement and our 6 million members, I urge you to convey to your government our call for them to release Ismail Abdi immediately and unconditionally and drop all charges against him as he is a prisoner of conscience held solely for his peaceful trade union activities, and to ensure that he is granted regular access to an independent lawyer of his own choosing if he is not released immediately.

I understand that Ismail Abdi, a leader of the Iranian teachers’ trade union was arrested on 27 June after he went to the Prosecutor’s Office at Evin Prison to inquire about the travel ban placed on him. He had been prevented from travelling to Armenia to apply for a visa to attend the 7th Education International World Congress in Ottawa, Canada in July 2015 (Education International is the global teachers’ trade union to which several British education unions belong.)

Ismail was transferred to Section 2A of Evin Prison, which I understand is run by the intelligence unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and subjected to at least 17 days of interrogation, without access to his family or lawyer. It seems that Ismail Abdi has been denied the right of access to his lawyer based on a provision in Iran’s new Code of Criminal Procedures which restricts access to legal counsel during the investigative phase, for people facing national-security-related charges, to only a list of lawyers approved by the Head of the Judiciary.

Ismail Abdi has said the interrogators accused him of “organizing and participating in illegal gatherings”, which is not an offence under Iranian law. The “gatherings” were a number of peaceful demonstrations held in recent months by teachers and members of the ITTA, a legally constituted entity in Iran, in protest at poor wages, low education budget and imprisonment of teacher trade unionists.
If the legal process that has begun against Ismail Abdi leads to a conviction, he risks facing over a decade in jail because a suspended 10-year sentence he received following a 2010 arrest and subsequent conviction related to his trade union activities would also be implemented.

This action is a disgraceful breach of Iran’s professed adherence to the International Labour Organisation’s core conventions on freedom of association, as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognizes the right of everyone to form and join trade unions of their choice for the promotion and protection of their economic and social interests.

I would be grateful if you could confirm that you have passed our concerns to your government, and would be grateful for their response as a matter of urgency.

Yours sincerely

FRANCES O’GRADY

General Secretary

 

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Iran: Attacks on Workers’ Rights Escalating

The ITUC has expressed alarm at increased repression of workers’ rights in Iran over the past several months.

 

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Unison calls for the Release of Ismail Abdi, Secretary General of Iran’s Teachers’ Trade Association

Dear Mr Zadeh,

Re. Imprisonment of Ismail Abdi, Secretary General of Iran’s Teachers’ Trade Association

I am writing on behalf of UNISON’s 1.3 million members in public services in the United Kingdom, to express our deep concern about the imprisonment of Ismail Abdi, Secretary General of Iran’s Teachers’ Trade Association (ITTA). Ismail Abdi is a prisoner of conscience and has been held solely for his legitimate and peaceful trade union activities.

We ask you to convey our concerns to your government and call on them to release Ismail Abdi immediately and unconditionally and drop all charges against him. In the event that he is not released we request that he is granted regular access to an independent lawyer of his own choosing.

I understand that Ismail Abdi was arrested on 27 June for allegedly “organising and participating in illegal gatherings”, after he enquired at the prosecutor’s office at Evin Prison about a travel ban placed upon him. He had been prevented from travelling to Armenia to apply for a visa to attend the World Congress of Education International, the global teachers’ union, in Ottawa, Canada in July 2015.

Ismail Abdi was transferred to Section 2A of Evin Prison, where he was subjected to at least 17 days of interrogation, without access to his family or lawyer. The allegation of “organising and participating in illegal gatherings” is not an offence under Iranian law, and apparently refers to a number of peaceful demonstrations held by teachers and members of the ITTA, a legally constituted entity in Iran, in protest against poor wages, the low education budget and the imprisonment of teacher trade unionists.

The detention of Ismail Abdi is in breach of the International Labour Organisation’s core conventions on freedom of association, as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognises the right of everyone to form and join trade unions of their choice for the promotion and protection of their economic and social interests.

I would be grateful if you would confirm that you have passed our concerns and request to your government for the immediate and unconditional release of Ismail Abdi and dropping of all charges against him.

Yours sincerely,

Dave Prentis
General Secretary

CC. Mr Tobias Ellwood MP, Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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Britain Union of Teachers Demands Abdi’s Freedom

Dear President Rouhani

REQUEST FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE IRANIAN TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION, MR ESMAIL ABDI

News has reached us in recent days of the re-arrest and detention of the General Secretary of the Iranian Teachers’ Association, Mr Esmail Abdi as a result of his legitimate trade union activities.

I write on behalf of National Union of Teachers to express our grave concern at the treatment of Mr Abdi – his arrest and the nature of the allegations against him.

According to reports that we have received, Mr Abdi was taken into custody on 27 June after he had been prevented from traveling to Armenia to obtain a travel visa to participate in Education International’s (EI) 7th World Congress in Ottawa, Canada, from 21 – 26 July. We have also learned that after Mr. Abdi’s passport had been confiscated at the border, he was instructed to return to Tehran to meet with the prosecutors’ office. After having reported to the prosecutors’ office he was arrested.

We believe that Mr Abdi’s detention and your government’s efforts to prevent him from attending EI’s 7th World Congress represents infringements of various international human rights’ conventions, including International Labour Organisation convention 87 guarantees freedom of association and convention 98 the right to collective bargaining.

By preventing an EI Congress delegate from attending the meeting of its governing body, your government is also obstructing the democratic functioning of our global union federation.

We remain vigilant of the situation in Iran and more so of the treatment of workers and trade unionist.

In the case of Mr Abdi, there appear to be no other grounds for his arrest and the 10 year jail sentence now imposed on him, other than the fact of his trade union activity. This is activity which he should be able legitimately to pursue. We therefore call upon your government to take immediate action to secure his release. We also call upon your government to release all teachers currently imprisoned in Iran on the basis of their trade union activities.

I trust that you will give this matter your most urgent consideration.

I look forward to an early reply. Yours sincerely,

Christine Blower
General Secretary

cc His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
info_leader@leader.ir ;
UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office
fcocorrespondence@fco.gov.uk

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Canadian Teachers’ Union Calls for Abdi’s Release

06 July 2015

His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei” Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
To His Excellency Hassan Rouhani President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: media@rouhani.ir

Sirs,

I am writing on behalf of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, the voice of nearly 200,000 teachers in Canada and an Affiliate Member of the 30-million member Education International (EI).

As one of the host organizations of EI’s 7th World Congress, the CTF echoes EI’s call to release immediately our colleague Mr. Esmail Abdi, the General Secretary of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association (ITTA) and to secure his right to travel to Canada to attend the Congress in Ottawa, Canada, July 21-26, 2015.

Iran must live up to its responsibility as a signatory to the universal Declaration of Human Rights and related conventions. Confiscating Mr. Abdi’s passport, taking him into custody and preventing him from travelling to Canada for the EI Congress is an infringement of numerous human rights conventions including the right to freedom of association and the right to travel. The detention of Mr. Abdi obstructs the democratic functioning of Education International and silences the voices of Iranian teachers.

We urge you to release him immediately and to secure his right to travel to Canada. Time is of the essence.

Sincerely,

Dianne Woloschuk
President

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Global Education Union Calls for Abdi’s to be Released

Brussels, 4 July 2015
REQUEST FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE IRANIAN TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION, MR ESMAIL ABDI

His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei” Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
To His Excellency Hassan Rouhani President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: media@rouhani.ir

Sirs,

I am writing to you on behalf of Education International (EI), the global federation of education unions and teachers’ associations representing more than 32 million educators and education support professionals in 170 countries. We urge you to immediately release Mr Esmail Abdi, the General Secretary of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association (ITTA).

The Iranian teachers’ association is a member of Education International. We will hold our 7th World Congress in Ottawa, Canada, from July 21st to July 26th. “Unite for Quality Education – Better Education for a Better World” will be the theme of this congress. More than 1500 representatives of member organizations of Education International will discuss their professional ambition to achieve quality education for all young people around the world. Mr Esmail Abdi is registered as a Congress delegate.

According to reports that we have received, Mr Abdi was taken into custody on June 27 after he had been prevented from traveling to Armenia to obtain travel visa for Canada. We have also learned that after Mr Abdi’s passport had been confiscated at the border, he was instructed to return to Tehran to meet with your prosecutors. After having reported to the prosecutors’ office he was arrested.

We are of the view that Mr. Abdi’s detention and your efforts to prevent him to attend our World Congress represent infringements of various international human rights’ conventions, including those protecting the freedom of expression and association, as well as the right to travel. We are also of the view that by preventing an EI Congress delegate to attend the meeting of our Governing Body, you are obstructing the democratic functioning of our international organization. We have requested the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Director General of ILO and the Director General of UNESCO to contact your government on this matter.

Finally, with global education on top of the agenda of the international community, no government wishing to enhance educational opportunities for its young citizens, should want to prevent representatives of their country’s teaching profession to attend Education International’s quadrennial congress.

We strongly urge you to facilitate the immediate release of Mr Esmail Abdi and to secure his right to travel to Canada and attend our 7th World Congress.

Yours sincerely,

Dianne Woloschuk
President

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Iranian teacher union leader jailed

04 July 2015
Esmail Abdi, the general secretary of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association, was arrested following his attempt to obtain a visa to attend the 7th Education International World Congress in Ottawa, Canada later this month.

According to reports, Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association (ITTA) General Secretary Esmail Abdi was taken into custody on June 27 after he was prevented from traveling to Armenia to obtain a travel visa for Canada. Abdi intended on participating in Education International’s (EI) 7^th World Congress in Ottawa from 21 to 26 July. The ITTA is an affiliate of EI.

EI General Secretary demands Iranian government to release Abdi

“Preventing Esmail Abdi to leave the country to attend EI’s 7th World Congress is a serious violation of human rights standards,” said EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen. “There is no excuse for placing him under arrest. This is unacceptable. We are contacting the Iranian authorities demanding his immediate release. We are also requesting the heads of ILO and UNESCO to intervene.”

After Abdi’s passport was confiscated at the border he was ordered to return to Tehran to meet with prosecutors after an apparent order was sent banning Abdi from leaving Iran. However, upon reporting to the prosecution office he was arrested while more than 70 teachers waited outside in support.

EI calls on the ILO and UNESCO to take action

Abdi’s arrest is the latest incident involving Iranian authorities’ efforts to silence the trade union leader. In addition to a 10 year suspended sentence handed down in response to his trade union work, reports also reveal that Abdi has been under pressure from the Intelligence Ministry to resign from his position with the ITTA.

Abdi’s incarceration comes after nationwide rallies were held earlier this year to protest wages that leave the majority of teachers below the poverty line.

Read EI’s letter to Iranian President Rouhani here

 

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Open letter from former trade union leaders and the Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran (UMMI)

To: Mr. Hassan Rouhani, the honorable President of Iran, and
Mr. Sadegh Larijani, the honorable Head of Judiciary

What is being done to the [Iran’s] labour community these days is very unfortunate. In fighting for their rights, labour activists not only for years have been sentenced to jail but also it is a couple of years now that they are being sentenced to lashing as well. Even recently the employers have dared to file grievances against their workers and workers’ representatives who have been fighting for the labour rights and demands, and have taken them to court and fired them. According to a report by ILNA on May 13th 2015, “Three workers of Khuzestan Pipe and Tube Manufacturing plant where summoned to court based on a complaint filed by the employer for charges of disrupting the production. This private sector employer entered the factory in the company of a few plain-clothes officers and forced 80 senior workers out of the plant.”

On the eve of the May Day, Embrahim Madadi and Davoud Razavi, trade union activists from the Union of Tehran Bus Transit Workers (VAHED), and also Mahmoud Salehi and Osman Esmaeili in the province of Kurdistan were arrested for celebrating the International Workers’ Day. You know very well that no one can be arrested unless a crime is committed, let alone if someone is just following the Constitution that guarantees rallies and gatherings.

In recent days, Shapour Ehsani-Raad and Jafar Azimzadeh have also been arrested and detained for their labour activities. After the gathering of the educational workers and teachers on the eve of the May Day, Esmaeil Abdi, the president of the Teachers Trade Association of Iran (TTAI) was sent for and threatened and forced to resign. Also in recent days, Mr. Ali Akbar Baghani, vice president of TTAI was taken to prison.

Article 27 of Iran’s Constitution clearly highlights the freedom of assembly (gathering) provided that no weapons are carried and the gathering does not infringe upon Islam’s principles. Who doesn’t know that one of the principles of Islam is to serve justice, and that the labour activists have been fighting for justice for more than 150 years.

Mr. Rouhani and Mr. Larijani, according to the law, you will retire after 30 years of work and will enjoy your retirement pensions. This is a benefit that we, the labour activists, achieved for our society through our struggles, and you will also enjoy the fruit of this labour.

We ask you: where in the Constitution says that before an incident occurs, the judiciary agents have the right to arrest and detain the people? Where in the law says that activists who act within the framework of the Constitution would be raided in their homes and their families would be insulted? Is there not an establishment called the Department of Justice in this county and are there not summon letters to be sent to these activists calling them to go to the Justice office? Were these activists “fugitives”, whose homes should be raided in the middle of the night (the illegal practice that happened to Ebrahim Madadi and Davoud Razavi)?

We were union activists for years during the anti-labour regime of Pahlavi (Shah’s monarchist regime) and never witnessed such practices. We, who fought to change the monarchist regime to a regime which will respect the very freedoms that were restricted during the Pahlavi’s, never imagined such behaviour and practices that we are witnessing today against the labour activists. Violating and trampling the Constitution and disrespecting the human dignity are unfortunately on the rise in our country. We have been witnessing clear violations of such Articles of the Constitution as: 3, 9, 19, 20, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 38, 43 and 44.

Mr. Rouhani, per Article 121 of the Constitution you have taken the oath that: “I, as President, …will devote all my capacities and abilities to the …support of truth and justice, refraining from every kind of arbitrary behavior; that I will protect the freedom and dignity of all citizens and the rights that the Constitution has accorded the people.”

Mr. Larijani, you are obliged by the Article 156 of the Constitution to “…secure public and individual rights and promote justice and legitimate freedoms; [and] supervise the proper enforcement of law.”

Under the Article 33 of the Pahlavi’s Labour Law, strikes were legal, although from time to time the state apparatus would violate that right and even sometimes the workers were shot at. Let us remind you that the late Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti who, as the Head of Judiciary, was one of the authors of the Constitution, stressed in an interview with the Islamic Republic newspaper after the ratification of the Constitution that: “Strike is the right of the workers and we hope that in the Islamic Republic of Iran such a day will never come that workers would be forced to go on strike for their rights.”

The authors of the Constitution duly paid attention to the clarity of these laws so that the people in power after them could not abuse these laws and restrict the freedoms of the people. They duly stressed under the Article 9 of the Constitution that: “No authority has the right to abrogate legitimate freedoms, not even by enacting laws and regulations for that purpose, under the pretext of preserving the independence and territorial integrity of the country.”

In respecting the dignity of the labour and human rights activists, we, the undersigned, call upon you to free the trade and labour activists and strive to be adamant in your responsibility to ensure that the above-mentioned laws are properly implemented.

Alireza Farhadi, ex-member of the board of directors, Syndica VAHED (Tehran)

Mohammad Hossein Khaan-Yaghma, ex-member of the board of directors, Union of Mechanics and Metalworkers of Iran (Tehran)

Nabi Maroofi, ex-member of the board of directors, The Union of Masonry Workers (Tehran)

Javad Mehran-Goehar, ex-member of the board of directors of The Union of Shoemakers (Tehran)

Reza Kangarani Farahani, ex-member of the board of directors of The Union of Tailors (Tehran)

The Union of Mechanics and Metalworkers of Iran (UMMI)

May 29th, 2015

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ITF and ITUC protest harassment of labour activists in Iran

The general secretaries of the ITF and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) have jointly written to Ayatollah Khamenei to protest against the ongoing harassment of labour activists in Iran.

07/05/2015

The recent arrests and incarceration of Davood Razavi and Ebrahim Madadi, together with Mahmoud Salehi and Osman Ismaili of the Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations, are just the latest in Iran’s continuing victimisation of union activists.

In their letter, Steve Cotton and Sharan Burrow said: “We find it inconceivable that these men are once again the target of persecution for the exercise of their legal and rightful trade union activities. In the case of Ebrahim Madadi this latest detention is yet another move in a long and inglorious campaign of persecution that looks increasingly like a determined and malicious attempt to make him suffer.

“We therefore ask you to investigate the circumstances of these latest arrests and intervene to reverse them.”

The ITF and ITUC spearheaded a global campaign for justice and applied pressure on Iran through the ILO. This helped win the release of Madadi, a board member of the ITF-affiliated Tehran bus drivers’ union, the Vahed Syndicate, in April 2012. Madadi had spent over three years in jail on false charges of endangering national security.

The federations have also campaigned for the release of the Vahed Syndicate’s treasurer, Reza Shahabi, who was arrested, beaten and imprisoned in June 2010, apparently because of his union work. Shahabi remains imprisoned and reportedly still suffers physically as a result of the beating.

The ITF and ITUC are launching a LabourStart appeal to protest against the harassment of these activists.

 

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The Call for Action on May Day 2015- In solidarity with the Iranian workers

30 Apr 2015

 

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Solidarity group launches May Day call for trade union rights

30th Apr 2015

Press Release – For Immediate Use

 

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IndustriALL Global Union demands President Rouhani of Iran: Hands off May Day

27 Apr 2015

Dear Mr. President Hassan Rouhani,

 

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IndustriALL tells Iranian government: Hands off May Day

27 Apr 2015

The Iranian government is cracking down against workers organizing May Day celebrations. IndustriALL Global Union supports the brave Iranian unions operating in face of intimidation and arrests to mark the international workers’ day.

 

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Strife at the Mines

Since this morning 150 coalminers within the tunnels of at Western Alborz Coal Mine Workers in Sangrood of Gilan have gone on strike, protesting against the plans to close the mine, 8 months of unpaid wages and the issue of early retirement for workers with hazardous and physically demanding jobs.

Undoubtedly the news of this strike will be spreading within the next hours and the whole of this mine will be on strike. These miners have taken refuge in the tunnels in the depth of underground tunnels in order to neutralise management and security forces tactics – because they have actual experience of the security force entering the mine’s compound and the detention of labour activists and the arrest and trial of the secretary of the miners association at Chadormlu mine. The strikers’ leaders took refuge in the mine before the other miners. They want their demands to be implemented and they have taken oath of solidarity together to remain in the mine till the end.

Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran, while supporting the workers’ demands has warned against any attempts by the security forces to enter the mine and holds the management and the ministry of labour responsible for the consequences of the security forces getting into Sangrood mine.

For further information and background please see the following report:

Strife at the Mines

recent updates by Iran Labour Report

December 30, 2014 0

Privatization of the mines and the mining industry has been in the forefront of the privatization drive moving full force in Iran. Along with this trend, harsh treatment of the workers, accidents at the mines and suppression of the workers protests are also topping other sectors. Calling in special forces on miners of Bafgh, arresting their leaders as well as those of Chadormalu mines are indications of what workers should be facing in the privatization drive to come. A trend which is to be hastened by international nuclear agreements and drive to attract domestic and foreign capital.

The mines have been scene of worker protests in the face of this onslaught.

In January 2014, 28 Chadormalu Iron Ore Miners were arrested following 2000 strong miners strike over firing of the workers representative, Bahram Hasaninejad. Hasaninejad was a leader at Toos Asphalt Workers Trade Association, the contracting company employing the miners as well as the low wages. The 28 workers were called in by the security police and arrested following the complaint by the general manager at the mine. Not succeeding in securing Hasaninejad’s return to work, they were able to achieve some of their other trade demands such as job classifications scheme implementation at the mine. 656 miners have signed a petition calling for return of Hasaninejad. The miners also held a protest gathering on December 14 over rumors of an election to replace Hasaninejad’s position.

Bafgh Miners staged a 39 day strike over the summer in which they successfully pushed back the attempts at privatization of the mines. In the course of the strike, riot police were called in and several of the labor leaders were arrested.

On July 6, about 1400 Eastern Alborz Mines workers in Semnan went on strike over privatization of the mine. According to Rahman Ajam, a member of Islamic Labor Council of the Eastern Alborz Coal Mines talking to Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA), the privatization organization has transferred one hundred percent of the shares of the Eastern Alborz Coal Mines Company to Isfahan Steel private sector. This has caused anxiety amongst the workers over job security.

According to Ajam, the workers receive minimum wages with months of delay and are engaged in most difficult tasks mining coal. About 1200 of the workers work on temporary contracts and the rest are permanent. The workers never have job security and start their daily work with stress.

Eastern Alborz Coal Mine Workers held five strikes in one month to protest the privatization effort at the mine. Of concern to the miners is transferring 42 acres of land owned by the Mine to the municipality of Shahrood where 120 miners houses are located. The miners fear the transfer would mean they having to vacate their homes.

On December 1, Eastern Alborz coal miners along with the bus and truck drivers and contractors walked off of their jobs over 70 days of back wages for the workers at the mine and held a strike for a few hours. The employer share of the dues to the social security has been delayed by 4 months. The troubles started with transferring of ownership of the mine to Isfahan Steel six months ago.

Similarly, 300 Takht Coal Miners in Minoodasht went on strike on December 2 over two months of back wages. Takht is also one of the three parts comprising Eastern Alborz mines. Takht miners demands are similar to the rest of Eastern Alborz coal miners.

310 Western Alborz Coal Mine Workers in Sangrood of Gilan went on strike on September 16 over three months of back wages and closing down of the mines. The workers gathered by entrance to tunnel number nine in the mines. Workers representatives also set out for province capital of Roudbar to discuss their grievances. On the sixth day of the strike, about 150 miners traveled to Tehran and staged a gathering by the Ministry of Labor.

Talks of the Mine close down surfaced on November 30 of last year around the Mine not being profitable. Miners protests at the time resulted in the closure debate to be delayed until March 2017. The involved parties have yet to ratify the decision.

Madanju Coal Mine workers in Zarand had to bow to pressures and sign their blank signature contracts foregoing their demands that had led to several days of protest in November. The miners had demanded their back payment dues.

More than 260 Kooshk miners in Bafgh, went on strike for five days starting on December 9. Among the miners demands were timely payment of the wages and dues, job classification scheme implementation, health care and adequate medical examinations, safety and sanitation measures at the mine.

Asghar Dashtabadi, the head of the Labor Office of the city of Bafgh called the workers strike illegal and that they had to go back to work if they wanted their demands to be met. According to Dashtabadi, talking to ILNA, “although protesting in certain situations is the legal right of the worker, no where in the Labor Law, however, strikes have been specified and any action leading to disruption of the affairs is not acceptable and should end immediately.” 95 percent of the miners at Kooshk mines work on temporary contracts and suffer from job insecurity. After payment of one month out of the three due and other promises, the miners ended their strike. Two miners lost their lives last year at Kooshk. The miners at Kooshk are among the least paid in the mines of the region. Bafgh Mine Company Limited is the private owner of the Koosh mine.

Miners at Aghdareh Gold Mines in Western Azerbayjan held a gathering on December 27, over the cut in labor force by 350. Pouya Zarkan Company, the main contractor at the mine, did not renew the contract of the workers who held between one to seven years of work at the mine. The miners held their gathering until 8:00 p.m. in which three miners attempted suicide during the protest. One of the workers talking with ILNA, said that “I decided to end my life by taking a piece of glass and stabbed myself in the stomach. Then, I could not remember anything and lost conscious. When I regained my consciousness, I noticed that I was in the hospital.” The worker had gone under surgery. Commenting on the reason behind his attempt, he said “it has been several years that I am working these mines in seasonal basis but have never had a sense of job security and this issue that at any moment we could loose our jobs bothered not only me but all the workers”. “At the time of the incident”, he said, “I felt the condition of my employment and the fate of my family and the other terminated colleagues is of no importance to anyone, thus, I decided to end my life.” “For someone like myself”, the miner said, “who has a small child living in a remote village with no amenities, loosing paycheck is tantamount to hunger for the family.”

According to a report by Haleh Safarzadeh on the site of Free Union of Iranian Workers, the Iran Statistics Center reported that, in 2013, the private sector owned 98 percent of the mines in Iran. Furthermore, according to the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Trade, in 2013, privatization in mining sector brought in a revenue of 28 thousand Billion Toomans to the government coffers, topping the privatization drive in the country. The privatization has been carried out by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization(IMIDRO).

The deputy head of the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Trade has said that privatization started in 2002 and the mining sector has been the vanguard of this trend. The privatization of mines picked up in the final months of Ahmadinejad administration.

According to the chairman of the board of IMIDRO, the priority has been with the domestic investors first and then Iranians living abroad and finally foreign investors.

The privatizations are through Rents afforded to the circles close to the regime including several tied to the Revolutionary Guards. Several of these have involved graft, wrongful financial and corrupt dealings and misappropriation of public resources.

Among foreign investors in the mining sector are those from Austria, Germany, France, Georgia, Russia and China. The head of Iranian Chamber of Commerce reported of 70 Billion dollar deal with Russia in this regard. Other investors are awaiting for the results of Iran 5 + 1 on going negotiations.

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1100 workers protest outside Iranian parliament

Construction workers are angry at government plans to stop social insurance for 400,000 workers in the industry and end it completely for new workers. The plans will enable developers to make bigger profits.

Around a hundred dismissed workers from Ilam Petrochemicals joined the construction workers on 16 November. The company is refusing to reinstate the sacked workers despite a ruling by the Labour Office that they be allowed back into the plant. The workers are also demanding back-pay.

Independent trade unions in the country continue to fight for workers’ rights, even though they are not recognized in the country.

“The catastrophic economic situation in Iran and the policies of the regime have taken away the protection of labour law from workers, especially in the construction industries,” says Jamshid Ahmadi an Iranian activist working with the Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran (UMMI). “Millions of Iranian workers have grievances against their employers for unpaid work, for being laid off and for other violations of their basic rights.”

Despite the serious personal risk they take in protesting, angry workers have been gathering and demonstrating outside the parliament and government ministries to demand justice.

“The UMMI and associated independent trade unions are doing their best to find ways to ensure that these protest actions are organized and focused in their demands,” says Ahmadi.

However, building union power and improving working conditions is a mammoth struggle and the reason why UMMI is looking to IndustriALL Global Union for support says Ahmadi: “We have a long way to go before trade unions are able to effectively give voice to all workers.”

 

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United appeal for president Rouhani to end media violations in Iran

8 October 2014

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has joined Iranian journalists in a renewed call for the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, to show courage and follow up on his election promises by proving his respect for media freedom and freedom of association.

The IFJ has joined its affiliate, the Association of Iranian Journalists (AoIJ) and journalists from across Iran in a united appeal to president Rouhani to stop interfering in the way journalists organise themselves and to allow the Tehran offices of the AoIJ – closed since August 2009 – to be reopened.

The IFJ has also urged the president to scrap government plans to establish a new guild for Iranian journalists, a move which represents a clear u-turn on his elections promises and will undermine press freedom and increase government control.

Jim Boumelha, IFJ president, said:

“Since Rouhani’s election as president over one year ago, the IFJ has repeatedly appealed to him and his government to send a strong message about media freedom in Iran by reopening the offices of the AoIJ, freeing imprisoned journalists and respecting the right of media to organise without fear of intimidation or violence.

“But no such action has been taken, and it is clear that steps are now been taken to tighten the control of authorities on the media and further violate media freedom. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sister in Iran to once again call for the president to make good on his election promises by showing respect for the important role of journalists in the future of the Iranian nation.”

The IFJ call comes after over 135 Iranian journalists, backed by the AoIJ, sent an open letter to president Rouhani in response to an interview he gave on CNN in which he claimed that no one is imprisoned in Iran for their journalistic work. The letter was covered in news reports in English, French and Persian media.

Responding to the president’s position, the journalists’ letter states:

“We, the undersigned, expected you to take serious and practical measures to fulfill your promises. Yet more than a year after resuming office, the demands and expectations of journalists have not been realised.”

Commenting on the 23 journalists who are being held in Iranian prisons, the letter states:

“In fact, in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, you denied that there was anyone in jail in Iran for their work as a journalist.

“We, the undersigned journalists, believe that it is unethical, unprofessional and insulting to deny the fact that, today, many journalists remain in prison in Iran for doing their jobs. In fact, a number of journalists have been imprisoned during your presidency.”

Jim Boumelha added:

“Enough is enough, there can be no more excuses. The president, his government and the Iranian judicial system must respect the basic human rights that are guaranteed by the Iranian constitution and release all journalists being held in Iran.”

 

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Britain’s Teachers Union Calls on Iran to End Repressing trade Unions

Dear Mr President

Subject: call for clemency for Benham Ebrahimzadeh

The National Union of Teachers, on behalf of its over 300,000 members, is appalled at the brutal and inhumane treatment suffered by trade union activist BEHNAM EBRAHIMZADEH, a member of the Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Workers’ Organizations and a Children’s Rights advocate, who has been detained in Evin Prison since June 2010.

Behnam has been subjected to torture, solitary confinement, and cruel and inhuman treatment. His circumstances have been worsened by an increase in the number of charges brought against him in order to ensure that he remains in prison for the ‘crime’ of exercising his right to assemble workers and campaign for trade union rights in Iran.

The National Union of Teachers is extremely concerned for the welfare and safety of Behnam, who is currently on hunger strike in protest of the new charges brought against him for causing unrest in prison. I have been told on good authority that Behnam has been threatened by the prison authorities that if he does not end his hunger strike, he will be transferred to solitary confinement.

We therefore urge you to respect workers’ and human rights, and call for clemency for Benham Ebrahimzadeh, whose health is rapidly deteriorating. The reputation of your country will be dealt another blow by the continued attacks on the trade union movement. The fate of Benham and others is in your hands.

Yours sincerely,

Christine Blower
General Secretary

cc Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Leader info@leader.ir
Office fcocorrespondence@fco.gov.uk

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IndustriALL demands release of arrested Iranian miners

Over 5000 miners have downed tools in support of the detained workers who who were arrested for taking part in a 40 day strike at the mine earlier this year.

IndustriALL is also alarmed that there is an arrest warrant for a further nine miners.

In his letter to the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, IndustriALL’s general secretary Jyrki Raina said:

“We are utterly dismayed at the unlawful arrest of scores of miners and the escalation of the conflict by sending the riot police to the mine in response to the legitimate strike called by the workers on account of earlier illegal arrests on 19 August.

“It is important to note that workers have been detained because of their opposition to the government’s insistence in privatizing the company, and, as consequence, deteriorating the working conditions of the miners… In addition, all arrested workers should be immediately and unconditionally released.”

The miners, who have been on strike since the arrests, are also demanding that 15 per cent of revenue from the mine should be invested in the Yazd region.

The striking miners have received unprecedented support from the citizens of Bafgh who joined miners and their families for a large-scale sit-in outside the governor’s office.

IndustriALL has also condemned the use of riot police to break up peaceful demonstrations by on 20 August in response to miners’ protests.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports state that one of the arrested miners has been released last night (1 September).

 

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27 Journalists Now Detained in Iran, says IFJ

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has issued a renewed appeal for the government of Iran to show its commitment to press freedom and human rights by releasing the ever increasing number of journalists being held in the country.
29 July 2014

According to statistics from IFJ affiliate, the Association of Iranian Journalists (AoIJ), there are now 27 journalists imprisoned in Iran – making it one of the worst jailers of journalists in the world. A number of those journalists have been imprisoned over the course of the last few months as the country’s government has stepped up its clampdown on freedom of expression and press freedom. 

“President Rohani promised reform and change when he came into power, but the reality for media in Iran has been very different,” said IFJ President Jim Boumelha. “The country’s international relations have improved and negotiations are taking place over its nuclear program, but there has have been a brutal clampdown on free and independent media within its borders and an increase in the number of journalists imprisoned simply for doing their jobs and reporting the truth.

“We repeat our appeal for President Rohani and his government to apply the progressive stance they have shown in other areas of life to the work of journalism. There can be no more excuses. The time for action has come and the president must make good on his election promises by showing respect for the important role of journalists in the future of the Iranian nation.”

The latest journalists detained in the country are Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and his wife Yeganeh Salehi, who works for the United Arab Emirates daily newspaper, the National. According to reports, the couple was arrested in their home on Tuesday 22 July. Their families and employers have not heard from them and no charges have been formally brought against them, but an Iranian judicial official has confirmed that they are in government custody. Two U.S. citizens working as freelance photographers are also believed to have been detained.

A number of women journalists have also been detained in recent months including leading figures Saba Azarpeik, Marzieh Rasouli and Reyhaneh Tabatabaei.

Azarpeik, a high profile independent journalist for the Etemaad and other reformist publications, has now been detained at an undisclosed location (possibly a detention centre in east Tehran) since 28 May. She was arrested during a raid on the office of the magazine Tejarat-e Farda, for which she is also a correspondent, but no formal charges against her have been made public.

Reports say that she has been detained because of her consistent coverage of the case of Sattar Beheshti, a blogger whose death in custody in 2012 highlighted torture and detention conditions in Iran, and her reports on the violent quashing of the rebellion of political prisoners in Evin prison in Teheran. On July 21 and 22, she appeared before Iran’s revolutionary court for a hearing in a separate case in which she is not involved. Her family says she is in poor physical and psychological condition and is suffering from severe back pain and weight loss.

Rasouli is charged with spreading anti-government propaganda and has been sentenced to two years in prison and 50 lashes. She writes on arts and culture in well-known reformists newspapers including Shargh and Etemaad. She was first arrested last January, given bail and subsequently arrested again.

And Tabatabaei has now been held in Evin prison for two months on the charge of propogating against the state’ and insulting conservative presidential candidates in 2013.

In addition, woman journalist Sajedeh Arabsorghi, who returned from France to Iran last year, has been jailed for one and half years, while Serajoddin Mirdamadi, who has been detained for the last two months after returning from France, was this week sentenced to six years in prison for undermining national security. 

Giving the IFJ’s full backing to the AoIJ and journalists in Iran, Boumelha said: “We call on the Iranian judicial system to uphold its responsibility to respect the basic human rights that are guaranteed by the Iranian constitution and release all journalists being held in Iran. We also repeat our demand for ban on the offices of the AoIJ to be lifted so they can continue their work to support journalists and press freedom.” 

For more information, please contact IFJ on +32 2 235 22 17

The IFJ represents more than 600 000 journalists in 134 countries  

 

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Release Reza Shahabi from prison!

15 July 2014

The statement below has been forwarded to the public relation department of the ‘Metalworkers and Mechanics Trade Union’ by the ‘Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company’. As well as circulating this statement, we give our total support to the demands of Reza Shahabi and the ‘Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company’ in relation to asking him to end his hunger strike.

Metalworkers and Mechanic Trade Union (Syndicate)
Founding Board of the Syndicate of Paint Workers and decorators – Tehran
Syndicate of Paint Workers – Alboorz Province
15th July 2014

“Stop Reza Shahabi’s persecution and his inhuman conditions [in prison]!”

As previously stated by the ‘Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company’ (Sherkat-e-Vahed Trade Union), we offer our overwhelming support in defence of the human rights of Raza Shahabi’s, the dedicated bus driver of Vahed Bus Company and member of the executive board of the Syndicate and protest against his [prison] relocation and the intolerable jail conditions – we call out our regular objections against the violation of rights of Reza Shahabi and the terrible and grave situation of this persecuted worker. And we are calling on the senior [Iran] state officials to end his catastrophic conditions. We also, while, respecting Reza Shahabi’s right to protest against violation of his human rights and reiterating his demands for freedom, access to full [medical] treatment, return to work and complete restoration of his labour rights – however due to his extremely dangerous physical conditions and in order to alleviate the anxiety of his innocent children, his anguished wife and relatives and colleagues including his true friends, we urge him to straightway end his hunger strike and resume normal intake of nutrition.

The Syndicate [Sherkat-e-Vahed Trade Uniuon] while sincerely is grateful for the unsparing international support, once again is asking the international organisations, workers syndicates and well known and broad minded personalities to continue defending Rezah Shahabi.

Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company

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ITF demands Shahabi release

11 July 2014

The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) has demanded the release of Reza Shahabi, the imprisoned Iranian trade unionist and prisoner of conscience. Shahabi, who is the treasurer of the ITF member union the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (otherwise known as the Vahed union), was unjustly arrested in 2010 and is now on a hunger strike.

In a strongly worded letter sent today to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, the ITF’s acting general secretary, Steve Cotton, stated:

‘The ITF has written to your government on a number of occasions to demand Shahabi’s release and to ensure that he is provided with the medical treatment he needs. The Federation also on several occasions reminded you of your country’s international legal obligations to comply with international human rights and labour standards, and in particular on the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

‘Indeed, this obligation has been re-affirmed by the ILO in their report to the March 2014 meeting of the Governing Body which states that:

“As regards the situation of Mr Shahabi, the Government indicates that it genuinely continues its constructive attempts to seek his parole and pardon through legal channels. The Government recalls that, when meeting with the Director of the International Labour Standards Department of the ILO, on 17 April 2012, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare had reaffirmed the Government’s inclination for the immediate freedom of Mr Shahabi; he had instructed his Deputy for International Affairs to closely follow this case. In relation to the accusation of maltreatment of Mr Shahabi, the Government states that any alleged mistreatment of suspects and arrested people, irrespective of the charges against them, shall be subject to appropriate legal prosecuting and that perpetrators thereof would be sued and duly punished if found guilty of the attributed maltreatments and neglects charges; in this respect, Mr Shahabi has the power to exercise his constitutional and legal rights toward reclamation of his rights, if he so decides.

‘In regard to the allegations of negligence and carelessness in addressing the immediate medical needs of Mr Reza Shahabi during his prison term, the Government indicates that the Department of Prisons, Correctional and Rehabilitation Services is responsible for the safety, security and health of prisoners, and that different articles of the Executive Standing Order of the said department legally requires it to constantly supervise the public and individual situation of the prison inmates and address their needs immediately. Paragraph 1 of Article 44 of the Standing Order requires the prison ombudsperson to closely monitor any infringement of the legitimate rights of the prisoners. The Government states that, realizing the importance of providing a detailed account of Mr Shahabi’s medical treatment, it will undertake to provide the Committee with a detailed report on his medical treatment. The Government indicates that he has already been in hospital for bone spurs’ treatment.”

Despite the statements by the Government, and repeated commitments for proper treatment, these promises continue regularly to be broken. Furthermore, Shahabi was recently transferred from Section 350 of Evin prison in Tehran to Raja’i Shahr prison, in the city of Karaj. In protest at this transfer- to a prison where political prisoners and violent criminals are held together – it is reported that Shahabi started a hunger strike.

Given the developments with Shahabi’s health and the deterioration of the situation, the Government has little choice but to act now. The ITF once again forcefully repeats its position that no worker be imprisoned for his/her trade union activities, much less be treated in a way which amounts to deliberate torture. ITF affiliated members  are urgently demanding that Shahabi is released immediately and unconditionally from prison. Pending his release, the Federation also demands that ShahAbi’s physical integrity and safety are fully respected.

The ITF will continue to monitor the development of the situation carefully. The ITF and ITUC have already written to the ILO, which has indicated that it supports the demand for the unconditional release of Shahabi and the provision of appropriate and necessary medical treatment.

The Federation continues to support its affiliate and worldwide, its members will not hesitate to demonstrate their solidarity, should this be necessary.’

The ITF has also launched a LabourStart appeal which asks people to send messages of protest at Shahabi’s detention to the Iranian president. This is at www.labourstart.org/go/freereza and attracted 1,000 signatures in its first two hours.

Amnesty International recogniseS Reza Shahabi as a prisoner of conscience. See:
www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/029/2014/en/5ab7e725-0ee6-4799-945c-0e992823b1ce/mde130292014en.html

ENDS

For more information contact ITF press officer, Sam Dawson.
Direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260.
Email: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk

International Transport Workers’ Federation – ITF:
HEAD OFFICE
ITF House, 49 – 60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DS
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7403 2733
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7375 7871
Email: mail@itf.org.uk
Web: www.itfglobal.org

 

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Trade unions challenge regime’s anti worker policies-

Open Letter to Trade Unions and Workers of Iran

The new workers’ year started on May 1st of this year while workers were treated in violation of the humanitarian and legal norms and standards. Considering the violation of the Article 41 of Iran’s Labour Law pertaining to determination of minimum wage, and then approving a minimum wage by the so-called “workers’ representatives” that was 3 times lower than the poverty line and 10% less of the current rate of inflation, which led to the million-strong protest of Iranian workers, a few of Iran’s trade unions, i.e. Syndicate of Transit Workers of Tehran Bus Company (Vahed), Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran, Painters and Internal Decoration Workers and the Union of Project Workers, submitted a protest letter to the Minister of Labour to raise their objection against this illegal measure. What happened to workers after submitting this letter was violation of all legal norms. On the evening of April 30th two members of Free Labour Union (FLU), i.e. Mr. Jafar Azimzadeh and Mr. Jamil Mohammadi were arrested and detained. At 10 a.m. on May 1st another two members of FLU, Mr. Shapour Ehsani-Raad and Ms. Parvin Mohammadi who were present in front of the Ministry of Labour along with other workers were arrested. At noon time, 23 members of Vahed syndicate who were distributing flowers and pastries among the bus drivers at Azadi bus terminal were mass arrested, and a few of them were beaten and transferred to Evin prison. The on-call judge at the prison tactfully denied to admit the detainees because of lack of arrest warrant and released all those who were arrested on May 1st. However, the security forces did not stop there, and at 12 midnight of May 1st arrested Maziar Gillani-Nejad, member of the Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran at his house, searched his house and while his wife was watching, took him and his personal belongings with them to Sepah’s (Guards Corps) detention centre at Gohardasht (city of Karaj). He was kept there illegally for one week and has subsequently been released.

We ask the authorities: what did these workers wanted, or what “crimes” were they going to commit that justified such treatment? Is protesting against an illegal decision about the minimum wage, in front of the Ministry of Labour, warrants arrest and prison? Should greeting each other [on the occasion of May 1st] and distributing flower and pastries and celebrating this International Workers’ Day be penalized by arrest and detention of workers? Should arranging a gathering for the workers’ families, in a park out of town be responded by arresting workers and threatening them in front of their families? What kind of national security is this that is compromised by distributing pastries and celebratory gathering of workers’ families?

In our country distributing flowers and pastries and going to a workers’ gathering in a park threatens the national security, but in Iraq, which is faced with a wave of terrorism and turmoil, workers hold rallies and demonstrations on IWD to protest their government regarding anti-worker polices and the national security is not threatened! In workers’ culture “national security” means trusting workers, improving the livelihood of people, protecting and improving the social and economic sovereignty, elimination of poverty and unemployment, and respecting the social liberties stipulated in the country’s constitution. Workers and working people, and trade unions ahead of them in every country protect and assure the national security and are the true militants who fight corruption and inequality which threatens the national security.

In those few days Articles 27, 32 and 38 of the constitution and the citizenship rights of workers were violated by those who are supposed to implement and execute these articles. We condemn the mal-treatment of labour activists and violation of the constitution and demand an apology from the relevant authorities and the release of all imprisoned workers.

We declare that we have no complaint against the wage-earners in such state institutes, but we will file a complaint against the perpetrators to ILO. Labour trade unions in Iran will not waive their right to hold demonstrations according to Article 27 of the constitution and celebrating International Workers Day, and will not relinquish this right which is an achievement of our forefathers.

The Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran
21st May 2014

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Iran’s trade unions take complaint to ILO

Dear honorable Mr. Guy Ryder,
Director General of International Labour Organization (ILO)

The Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran, an independent labour union which is registered in 1960 under number 34 in accordance with the state laws, and defends the interests and rights of industrial workers of Iran, hereby would like to submit and file its formal grievance against the employers and Ministry of Labour of Iran for their refusal and failure to implement various Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in direct relation to health and safety in workplaces. Please remit our grievance to the special commission to review and make a decision about the matter.

As you are aware, several workplace accidents in recent weeks – which were preventable- have led to injury and death of a large number of workers. A list of a few of these tragic occupational accidents which have been documented and were denoted in our recent official communique dated 20th January 2014 is submitted along with this grievance for ILO information and records.

According to the ratified Conventions of ILO, including Convention No. 81, “Labour Inspection in Industry and Commerce”, 1947, and No. 155 “Occupational Safety and Health and the Working Environment”, 1981, and No. 172 “Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents”, 1993, which obligate states and employers and trade unions to implement the regulations related to the safety of workers and employees in workplaces and factories and organizations and monitor the implementation of regulations, and Convention No. 170 “Safety in the use of Chemicals at Work”, 1990, and No. 176 “Safety and Health in Mines”, 1995, and also in view of the conclusions of the ILO meeting with regards to the global strategy of “Safety and Health at Work” in 2003, and also based on last year’s agreement in negotiations with the government and employers of Bangladesh regarding the “improvement of working conditions in Garment factories” (January 2013), which mandates governments and employers to fulfil their obligations with regards to safety and health of workers in workplaces, the Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran (UMMI) believes that employers and Ministry of Labour of Iran have not complied with the Conventions and are obligated to answer responsibly about the above-mentioned cases.

Regrettably, the Ministry of Labour and employers of Iran have operated in violation of the principles of Constitution and the articles of Labour Law and international Conventions and have been causing death of Iranian workers in industrial shops and large factories every day. According to a report of Office of Public Relations and International Affairs of Iranian Legal Medicine Organization (Coroner’s Office) released on 17th December 2012, the number of fatal workplace accidents increased by 19% compared to the year before. Based on the same statistics, every day 5 workers lose their lives in workplace accidents in Iran.

On May 19th, 2013, the unions of Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane Workers, Metalworkers and Mechanics, and Painters and Internal Decoration Workers of Iran issued a joint statement titled “Killing continues; let’s put an end to employers’ profiteering” and pleaded for “enhancement of activities of inspection and safety department of Ministry of Labour, obliging the employers to provide on-the-job-training to workers in industry and construction, and [for] freedom of union activity, and consequently, [for] strong monitoring of workplace safety and health by unions”, which has not found a listening ear yet.

The course of fatal accidents of workers due to profiteering of employers and failure of inspection department of Ministry of Labour led to the traumatic incident of fire in a garment manufacturing complex and death of 2 female workers on January 18th, 2014, which was the result of failure to observe the ILO Convention No. 155; this incident tormented the Iranian labour community and wounded the hearts of the Iranian people, such that even Iran’s President reacted to this accident.

As you are aware, and the proceedings of relevant committees during the annual meeting of ILO (including 2013 conference) have clearly indicated, state-independent unions in Iran are under harsh restraints contrary to Conventions No. 98 and 87, their members and officials are under security and employment restrictions, and even their activists are arrested and incarcerated with false allegations. Currently 3 well known and prominent union activists are in prison and a number of activists have also been fired for implementing the above-mentioned Conventions. It is notable and worth mentioning that last week, union and non-union activists were even threatened to get fired for interviewing with Iran’s Labour News Agency (ILNA) about inhuman working conditions and violation of their labour rights by state and private employers. As a result of these circumstances, the existing independent labour unions are not able to have close supervision over safety condition in production shops and factories and protect the well-being and lives of workers. On the other hand, by adopting the inconsiderate prescriptions of International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government and employers of Iran have passed regulations that violate Iran’s Constitution (Nation’s Rights section) and Labour Law with respect to safety in production shops and factories, and refuse to spend money to make shops and factories safer and to prevent occupational accidents.

The Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran would like to inform you that according to Article 40 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran, “no one can advance their rights at the cost of inflicting damages on others and infringing upon the public interests”. Also, according to Article 96 of Labour Law and its proviso number 2, “Ministry of Labour is obligated to regularly inspect manufacturing shops and factories”, and in ratified Conventions of ILO regarding observing the codes of safety and prevention of occupational accidents, the responsibility and obligations of governments and employers have been emphasized.

In line with its human and labour duty, the Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran officially submits this grievance to the honorable Director General of ILO. We call upon pertinent departments of ILO to organize fact finding missions to our country and in coordination with independent labour unions of Iran, including UMMI, investigate the circumstances and causes of rise in occupational accidents in Iran and also the cases of violation and disregarding the Conventions of ILO by employers and Ministry of Labour. We would like to ask you to insist on real improvement of health and safety conditions of work environments based on obligations of government and relevant organizations, and by doing so, help out the working people of Iran.

The Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran
30th January 2014

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Profiteering through massacre of workers

ILNA, 19 January 2014: “two female workers were killed in a fire that broke out in a textile workshop.”

The news was short, but the depth of the disaster was immense. The women who were working out of desperation in dungeons called “workshops” to provide for their working class family, will never return home.

Fatality of workers because of profiteering of employers and lack of monitoring by the inspectors of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has become common [in Iran]. On the day before the above-mentioned fatal accident, three well-digging workers in Argentine Square in Tehran lost their lives under the rubbles of the collapsed well. On January 12th, a worker died after falling from a building scaffold in Mashhad.

On January 8th, five members of the technical crew died in an explosion during a filming project. The tragic fatality of workers does not happen only in small shops. On January 6th, a worker’s uniform was caught on a load-carrying car in the subway line in Ahwaz, which resulted in the tragic death of the worker. On January 4th, at the Petrochemical plant in Khorram-Abad (in Lorestan province), two welders were killed in an explosion of a gasoline tank. These are just a few examples of workplace accidents that are reported and reflected in the media. In this recent case of the tragic death of two textile workers, unfortunately firefighters came to the scene without air cushions and proper and long enough aerial ladders to reach the higher floors of the burning building. Realizing that firefighters did not have proper equipment, and scared from burning to death, the terrified workers jumped out of the window onto the street to escape the blazing flames, which resulted in the tragic death of two women? Ironically, this fatal incident happened in an area close to the Presidential Palace.

The Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran extends its condolences to the mourning families of the killed workers, and pledges to submit a report to the ILO about the large number of workplace accidents in Iran and the lack of attention of related organizations in preventing such accidents, and will file a complaint with this international organization.

Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran
January 20th, 2014

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Iran remains a country without rights

by Owen Tudor
November 2nd, 2013

Despite the optimism in the west surrounding the election of reformist Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier this year, little has changed on the ground for working people in Iran, and the leaders of independent trade unionists remain in jail, along with many others fighting for truth and justice, like journalists and high-profile actress Pegah Ahangarani. Whatever diplomatic progress is being made regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions – suggesting that his motivation is not to improve the lives of ordinary Iranians, but to free the elite from the effect of western sanctions.

This weekend, the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) protested to President Rouhani about the continued detention of bus workers’ leader Reza Shahabi, the treasurer of ITF affiliate the Vahed Syndicate. UK campaign group CODIR has also protested, building on the call Amnesty International made with trade unions in August when Rouhani was inaugurated.

Reza was briefly freed for medical reasons earlier this year, but was almost certainly returned to jail too early, and is now suffering further health problems: an MRI scan has shown that three lower vertebrates have been damaged and are in need of immediate surgery in a hospital. Reza has been suffering from lower back pain for months, his left foot becoming almost paralyzed as a result, with very little mobility left in it. Due to the numbness of his foot and his severe back pain, he was transferred to the Imam Khomeini Hospital on 19 October. After all examinations, physicians have once again recommended that Reza is in no condition to be returned to a prison environment, and is in need of hydrotherapy and physiotherapy in a stress free environment outside of prison. They have also warned that unless such treatments are provided there is a very high possibility that his entire left side could be paralyzed.

Another attack on freedom of speech, condemned by BECTU, was the sentencing this week of 24 year old actress, Pegah Ahangarani, to 18 months in jail for the alleged crime of “action against national security and links to foreign media”. CODIR reports that Ahangarani has been detained twice since the protests in 2009 over the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, although she was released without charges. Following the recent election victory of Hassan Rouhani, who was elected on an allegedly reformist platform, Ms Ahangarani asked him at a public meeting to appoint a culture minister who would be able to deliver promises on “freedom of thought and expression.” The 2012 TUC Congress carried a resolution from the Musicians’ Union about the restrictions on freedom of expression being faced by artists around the world, following the union’s earlier defence of Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr.

At the start of last week, the NUJ and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) held a briefing for MPs about the restrictions on media freedom in Iran, highlighting the continued imprisonment of 20 journalists, many since the 2009 protests. Jim Boumelha, NUJ member and IFJ president said:

“We are reinvigorating our campaign since the election of Hussain Rouhani. We have reacted forcefully to every one of his public declarations, especially the comment that ‘guilds and associations are the best ways to run social affairs of the society.’ We are making the re-opening of the Association [of Iranian Journalists] headquarters our priority and will continue to press for the release of journalists in jail.”

 

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Reading Marx in Tehran

In the face of Iran’s economic crisis and declining living conditions, none of the current candidates on the ballot has put forward a tangible economic plan that addresses workers’ concerns. They have made references to difficulties and criticized the Ahmadinejad administration’s mismanagement and corruption, but they have not proposed or discussed any solutions to the workers’ plight.
Mansour Osanloo
New York Times
June 13, 2013

IRAN’S presidential election on June 14 will be neither free nor fair. The candidates on the ballot have been preselected in a politically motivated vetting process that has little purpose other than ensuring the election of a compliant president who will be loyal to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Regardless of the outcome of the vote, the most urgent challenge for both the next president and Ayatollah Khamenei will be to confront a rising tide of discontent resulting from a rapidly deteriorating economic situation.

The outside world is primarily focused on whether the election will signal a shift in the Iranian regime’s stand on the nuclear issue. But for the average Iranian the most important issue is the impact of this election on her pocketbook – especially for the hardworking masses, whose purchasing power has drastically decreased as they struggle to provide the most basic necessities for their families.

Iran’s industrial workers, teachers, nurses, government and service-sector employees have been hit hard. The profound mismanagement of the economy by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government, coupled with stringent international sanctions, has made these workers’ plight the most important aspect of Iran’s domestic politics.

The situation inside Iran may appear calm, because of the government’s harsh repression, but there are widespread workers’ protests. Dissidents from all walks of life, including educated but unemployed young people and women, are searching for any opportunity to express their grievances peacefully. Just last week in Isfahan, during the funeral of the prominent dissident cleric Ayatollah Jalaledin Taheri, thousands chanted “Death to the dictator” and “Political prisoners must be set free.”

The authorities in Iran are aware of the time bomb that the impoverishment of large segments of the population is creating. During a recent meeting of Iran’s National Security Council, high-ranking officials expressed their concern about possible uprisings of “the hungry.”

I know how far the authorities will go. I spent more than five years in prison for my labor-organizing activities. I was physically and psychologically tortured and threatened with rape. My interrogators also often threatened to detain, torture and rape my wife and children.

My son Puyesh was imprisoned and severely tortured. The authorities expelled my other son, Sahesh, from his university. Intelligence agents kidnapped Sahesh’s wife, Zoya, three times. She was beaten and threatened, and during one of these episodes, she miscarried. Tehran’s notorious prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, threatened my wife many times simply because she was pursuing my case with the judiciary. And my interrogators constantly harassed her with threatening calls and vulgar text messages.

For the slightest protest against my treatment, I was held in solitary confinement – once for 7 months and 23 days. Interrogators often threatened to kill me, telling me, “No one knows you are here, we can easily kill you with impunity.” They would remind me of the massacres of political prisoners during the 1980s and the many killed in detention since then.

But I was fortunate enough to have widespread international support, especially from international labor unions and human rights organizations. News about my case had an effect on my relationship with the prison guards. They were exposed to the news about my activism and reasons behind my imprisonment through satellite television channels and the Internet. As a result, their attitude toward me changed over time. I even forged friendships with some of my prison guards, themselves from working-class backgrounds, advising them on how to pursue work-related grievances against their employer.

I recently left the country because of death threats. But Iranian workers in many sectors are still organizing; some are publicly known, others remain under the radar to avoid the sharp sword of repression. Intimidation, prosecution and imprisonment of labor activists are rampant, but unions in Iran haven’t been fully silenced, and some have even had some limited success. My colleagues in the Tehran Bus Drivers Union managed to win an 18 percent wage increase, despite the imprisonment and firing of several of its members. Widespread unemployment, runaway inflation, shortages of essential goods and a precipitous decline in the value of Iran’s currency have had such a debilitating impact on workers and wage earners that they can’t afford to remain silent and indifferent.

In the face of this economic crisis, none of the current candidates on the ballot has put forward a tangible economic plan that addresses workers’ concerns. They have made references to difficulties and criticized the Ahmadinejad administration’s mismanagement and corruption, but they have not proposed or discussed any solutions to the workers’ plight.

We welcome international support from all those who care for our struggle. The American left has rightly opposed military adventurism against Iran, but it should also oppose sanctions that hurt ordinary Iranians and back our struggle to gain the freedom of speech and association, as well as the right to bargain collectively and advocate for workplace improvements. Those basic liberties are essential for our dignity – and for the future of genuine democracy in Iran.

Mansour Osanloo, a former president of the Tehran Bus Drivers Union, was imprisoned by the Iranian government from 2006 to 2011. This essay was translated by Hadi Ghaemi from the Persian.

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on June 14, 2013, on page A27 of the New York edition with the headline: Reading Marx in Tehran .

 

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May Day message!

CODIR’s urgent call for solidarity!
May 1, 2013

This May Day Iranian working people once again mark International Workers’ Day in extremely difficult conditions. Inflation, mass unemployment, poverty wages, unpaid salaries and attacks on trade unions are the everyday experience of our comrades in Iran. The Iranian people face massive challenges. International sanctions have brought the economy to its knees; the threat of military attacks is still in the air.

Workers protests against these conditions are brutally suppressed. The regime does not tolerate trade unions. Many trade union activists are imprisoned. Some are tortured.

Unemployment is reaching catastrophic levels. The regime officially admits that over 15% have no work. Iranian currency has lost 70% of its value since November 2011, plunging many into abject poverty. The regime’s own statistics show that nearly 20% of people live under the poverty line.

CODIR is committed to support campaigns to win the widest possible solidarity with the Iranian people engaged in this struggle. This can save the lives and liberty of workers.

CODIR calls on all trades unions to join its campaigns for democracy, human and trade union rights and helping to secure a better future for our Iranian brothers and sisters. Affiliate to CODIR!

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May Day message from UNISON to the Committee for the Defence of Iranian Peoples’ Rights

UNISON
May 1, 2013

On behalf of UNISON I would like to send a message of solidarity to the Committee for the Defence of Iranian Peoples’ Rights (CODIR) and to the workers and trade unionists of Iran on the occasion of May Day 2013.

UNISON stands in solidarity with the struggle of the Iranian people for peace, human and democratic rights and social justice. To this end UNISON will continue to support CODIR’s campaigns for the release of all political prisoners, for women’s rights and in support of independent trade unions in Iran. UNISON commits to work through the TUC to ensure that the issue of workers’ rights stay high on the agenda of the ILO.

UNISON calls for the release of all imprisoned trade unionists in Iran and for Iran to ratify the main ILO conventions, including conventions 87 and 98, and for the Iranian government to implement ILO conventions governing the right of workers to join independent trade unions in pursuit of their rights.

Yours in solidarity,

Dave Prentis
UNISON General Secretary

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Thousands of Vahed Company Workers Join Protestors

ROOZ 173
by Kaveh Ghoreishi
October 11, 2012

Representatives of over ten thousand drivers from Tehran’s metropolitan Vahed Bus Company (Sherkate Otoboosrani Vahed) gathered yesterday in front of Tehran’s Municipal building to protest discrimination in benefits between the general employees and drivers, un-uniform wages among all municipality staff, and the insignificance of the amounts of the fringe benefits that are provided. According to Iran’s government operated news agencies, the representatives of the workers who totaled about 200, also called for the dismissal of managing director of the company and an investigation of their unpaid salaries. The syndicate of the Vahed company workers is among the most active workers groups in the country. Many of its members, including its president Mansour Osanloo and Ibrahim Madadi, deputy president have spent years in prison for defending the rights of the workers of the company.

The deputy director of city transportation at Tehran’s municipality cited the devaluation of the national currency, rise in the price of foreign currencies, and price increases in food and housing to be the reason for the gathering of the workers of this company and asked the managers of the economy of the country why could workers of Vahed transportation company who enjoyed good salaries, not have a normal life.

We Shall Protest in Larger Numbers

Iran’s Labor News Agency, ILNA, confirmed the gathering of Vahed company workers and wrote that in addition to calling for more uniformed salaries among the various personnel of the municipality, the protesting drivers also protested against the insignificant fringe benefits that they received, such as food and housing benefits.

Also, according to Etehad website, which is the official independent organization of Iranian workers, the protest and demands of workers comes partly because all municipality workers including affiliates such as the fire fighting organization, have received a ten percent increase in their salaries since 2009 while this has not been extended to workers of the Vahed transport company of Tehran and its metropolitan area.

According to a posted report on Etehad, workers from Vahed transportation company have been calling for the elimination of the discrimination in salary between the various workers and staff of Tehran municipality units since 2011 through letters and petitions which have been provided to municipality and other officials. Their requests have fallen on deaf ears, the report reads. Because of this, 200 representatives from the Vahed Tehran transportation company staged a demonstration in front of Tehran’s main municipal building and the city council and have called on authorities to look into their demands.

Latest reports indicate that the gathering ended late on Tuesday after municipality officials promised to meet their requests, but the independent workers union were quoted by labor sources to have warned that unless the promises of municipality workers are translated into action, wore protests in larger numbers would follow.

Tehran Vahed Transportation Company

Since 2005 members of the Tehran Vahed Transportation Company have on a number of occasions resorted to labor strikes. The workers syndicate was initially formed some 40 years ago, before the 1979 Islamic revolution. After the revolution however it was dissolved by officials and replaced by Khane Kargar (Workers House) and the Islamic Labor Council. Seven years later, the syndicate was rebuilt by the workers of the company and joined the international federation of transportation workers.

In recent years many members of the Vahed company syndicate, including its president Osanloo, spent time in prison for his defense of worker rights and conditions.

Ibrahim Madadi, the deputy president of the syndicate is still in prison today since 2007 for security related charges. There are other labor activists such as Shahrokh Zamani and Behnam Ibrahimzadeh who are also spending time in prison.

The six year prison sentence of the treasurer of the syndicate Reza Shahabi which included a five year ban on syndicate activities was confirmed by the Revolutionary Court earlier this year.

In Iran, independent labor organizations are not allowed to operate and in addition to the members of the Vahed transportation company, many other labor activists are currently in prison either serving sentences or awaiting trials. Today government created organizations represent the workers communities in Iran. These organizations, according to government labor activists, are more concerned about political issues rather than resolving problems associated with workers.

Tehran Municipality Deputy President: Problems Caused by Targeted Subsidies

ON September 10 this year, Abdollah Mokhtari, the head of the Tehran municipality workers union responded to the gathering of Vahed company workers and told ILNA news agency, “We shall strive to increase the housing and financial benefits of the workers of Vahed company through legal channels.” He did confirm that there was a difference in the benefits that different municipality workers received. According to him, some received 10,000 Toman in housing benefits while some such as fire fighters and the park service received between 30,000 to 60,000 Toman. According to Mokhtari, no specific amounts of housing benefits have been identified in companies affiliated with the municipality, such as the Vahed transportation company.

 

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Massive clampdown on Iranian labour activists

IUF
22nd June 2012

On June 15, 60 trade union and worker rights activists were arrested by heavily armed police at a peaceful meeting of the Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations in the city of Karaj. Most were released within 24 hours, but nine remain in the custody of the intelligence services. Among those arrested and later released were Mahmoud Salehi, founder of an independent bakers union in Iran’s Kurdistan province who has served several prison terms.

There is good reason to fear for the physical and psychological integrity of those still in detention.

These new arrests follow the recent sentencing to 6 years imprisonment of Tehran transport workers’ union activist Reza Shahabi and Teachers’ Association activist Rasoul Bodaghi. These rights defenders need international solidarity and support. Click here to send a message to the Iranian authorities through our sister website Justice for Iranian Workers calling for their immediate and unconditional release.
Ron Oswald
General Secretary, IUF

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF)

8, rampe du Pont-Rouge
1213 Petit Lancy, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 793 22 33
Fax: +41 22 793 22 38
web-site: www.iuf.org

 

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Latest Iranian crackdown: action you can take

TUC
20th June 2012

Last Friday, at lunchtime, 60 Iranian trade unionists were rounded up and arrested in the city of Karaj, the fifth largest city in Iran and just 20km from the capital. Most were members of the Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organisations, including long time labour activist Mahmoud Salehi. By Saturday afternoon, most had been released, including Salehi, but the following nine remained in the custody of the intelligence services: Cyrus Fathi, Alireza Asqari, Jalil Mohammadi, Saeed Marzban, Masood Salim Pour, Maziar Mehrpour, Reyhaneh Ansari, Faramarz Fetrat Nejad and Mitra Homayouni.

They and other Iranian trade unionists deserve our solidarity and help, and Amnesty International have produced postcards which you can download, print and circulate for people to send to the Ayatollah Khamenei, focusing on prisoners of conscience Rasoul Bodaghi, Reza Shahabi (Zakaria), Behnam Ebrahimzadeh and Shahrokh Zamani. And you can find out more background in an Amnesty International background note issued last week to mark the ILO Conference, as well as at the Justice for Iranian Workers website.

 

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CODIR Calls for the Immediate Release of Detained Trade Union Activists!

16th June 2012

CODIR has learned that on Friday 15th June, sixty members of the Coordinating Committee to help Form Workers’ Organizations were arrested in Karaj, a city near Tehran. In a statement issued on 16th June, CODIR Honorary President, Alex Gordon, of Britain’s largest specialist transport union RMT, called for the release of all those arrested by the regime’s security forces. Coming exactly on the 3rd anniversary of the millions strong protest demonstrations in Tehran and other cities against the regime’s falsification of the results of the presidential elections which had been won by the opposition, the arrests are designed to frighten labour movement from joining the popular protest movement. CODIR resolved to mobilise public opinion in Europe and North America to campaign for the release of all detained trade union activists.

The following article was also published by “Justice for Iranian Workers” in this regard.

Mahmoud Salehi and 59 activists arrested

On Friday 15th June at noon, 60 members of the Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations and a number of labour activists were arrested by agents of Karaj city.

According to the latest news, Mitra Homayooni, Vafa Ghaderi, Reyhaneh Ansari, Khaled Hosseini, Mahmoud Salehi, Saeed Moghaddam, Cyrus Fathi, Ghaleb Hosseini, Mohammad Abdipour, Jalal Hosseini, Alireza Asgari, Masoud Salimpour, Abbas Andriyany, Sediq Amjadi, Fattah Soleimani, Maziar Mehrpour, Mhommad Molanai, Vahed Seyyedeh, Jalil Sharifian, Sediq Khosravi, Yusuf Ab Kharabad, Faramarz Fetrat Nejad, Jalil Mohammadi, Nezam Sadeghi, Afshin Nadimi, Hussain Pilooti, Rahman Ebrahim Zadeh, Abbas Hashem Poor are among the detainees. (If new names appear, they will be added to the list).

The detainees were transferred to Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj and until now no further news is available.

We, members of the Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations, condemn the arrest of the members and other workers activists. We demand the immediate release of all workers activist. We expect all workers activists and organizations to protest against these arrestments.

Further news will be announced later

Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ organizations

 

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Iranian Trade Union Leader calls for workers’ solidarity at the ILO

Reza Shahabi’s letter to workers participating in the International Labor Conference, June 2012
Reza Shahabi’s Defense Committee- Communique #

To all my fellow workers, participating in ILO’s annual conference,

My name is Reza Shahabi. I’m a board member of Tehran Bus Workers’ Syndicate and its secretary treasurer. Due to my trade union activities I was arrested and incarcerated on June 12, 2010. I was brutally attacked and beaten during my arrest, and severely afflicted, physically and psychologically. Subsequently I spent eleven months in solitary confinement, without my family having any information about my whereabouts during that entire period of time. Finally I’ve been sentenced to six years of imprisonment, banned for five years from any trade union activities and a fine of 7,000,000 Tomans (approximately $4000). Because of all the beatings and physical and psychological abuses I have endured, I’m suffering from severe back and neck pain, and the left side of my body is practically paralyzed. Currently I am in hospital waiting for an operation.

Dear fellow workers, have I done anything outside the accepted protocols and conventions of ILO?

The query I have from you, my dear fellow workers participating in ILO’s annual conference, is that: what role ILO and workers’ representatives participating in its conference, shall perform in such circumstances?

My fellow workers, the only time we are of any significance to Capitalist systems is when we’re producing goods and services for them, and contribute to their interests, otherwise we get incarcerated, like myself, and all benefits and protections for our families are cut off, so as to force us to give in to their demands.

My fellow workers, what crime have I committed to be incarcerated for six years and banned from any trade union activity for five years?

Are demands for wage increase and benefits according to international standards and cost of living adjustments a crime?

Is collecting membership dues from members in our syndicate a crime?

Is asking for implementation of laws protecting workers from hazardous work environment a crime?

Is demanding job classifications illegal?

Is asking for equality between women and men, and abolition of child labor a criminal act?

Is compliance with health and safety codes and educating others in Labor relations a crime?

Is aspiring to have a dignified honorable human life compatible with international norms and standards illegal?

Is going to Labor ministry and attempting to resolve labor issues through dispute settlement panels and in Court of Administrative Justice as a representative of workers, and defending their rights, deemed illegal?

Is creation of an independent, autonomous workers’ organization considered a crime?

The query I have for all of my fellow workers, participating in this annual conference of ILO, is that: have you asked this body and the representative of the Iranian government; based on what charges have workers and labor activists, such as myself or Messrs, Ali Nejati, Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, Rasol Bodaghi, Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, Shahrokh Zamani, Mohammad Jarahi, Alireza Akhavan, Fariborz Raisdana,… have been arrested and incarcerated?

And what role shall ILO and the workers’ representatives at the International Labor Conference perform in such circumstances?

In the end, I would like to thank all workers and labour activists in Iran, France and from all over the world, who have been actively supporting us and working towards my freedom and freedom of all other incarcerated workers in Iran.

Reza Shahabi

Board member and secretary treasurer of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company June 4, 2012, hospitalized at Imam Khomeini Hospital-Tehran

 

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CODIR rejoices the release of trade unionist Madadi from prison

Long overdue release of Ebrahim Madadi from imprisonment in Iran
itfglobal.org, 19 April 2012

The ITF has learnt that Ebrahim Madadi, vice-president of the ITF-affiliated Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, has been released from imprisonment.

First arrested in August 2007 and released in December 2007, Madadi was again detained in December 2008. Set free in December 2011 he was rearrested a short while later. He was accused of putting national security at risk.

Welcoming Madadi’s release, ITF general secretary David Cockroft stated: “Ebrahim has been released, as expected, at the end of a three and a half year sentence whose justice he has always challenged. I am sure that the ongoing representations to the government of Iran made by his supporters worldwide have helped ensure this latest action, which we trust will not be followed, as it has in the past, by further police harassment and imprisonment.”

The news of Madadi’s release coincides with reports this week that the union’s board member and treasurer Reza Shahabi has been sentenced to six years imprisonment. In a poor state of health, Shahabi has already been detained for 22 months.

It has been reported that the sentence includes one year for “propaganda activities against the system” and five years for “conspiracy with the intention of acting against national security”. It is also understood that he has been prohibited from carrying out any union activities for five years and has been fined seven million Tomans (more than US$4,500).

In a statement released on 16 April, ITF general secretary David Cockroft described the sentence as “outrageous”.

Shahabi has begun a hunger strike in protest over the sentence.

 

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‘Release Reza Shahabi’ Says CODIR

Reza Shahabi sentenced to six years imprisonment and torture and five years of silence
www.k-d-shahabi.blogspot.com, 14/04/2012

Reza Shahabi, after being incarcerated and persecuted for more than 22 months, has now been sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, by Judge Salavati of the Branch 15 of Tehran’s “Islamic Revolutionary Court”.

This includes a year’s prison sentence on charges of “propaganda activities against the system” and five years in prison on false charges of “conspiracy with the intention of acting against national security”. The false accusations under which Shahabi has been sentenced demonstrate the anti-labour nature of the judicial system. Reza Shahabi’s only crime is defending the rights of workers and his colleagues. Given the very serious situation, even the prison official’s coroner has prompted protests and warnings; every day of incarceration for Reza Shahabi is nothing but physical torture.

Also in this Judgment, Reza Shahabi, a worker, the Board member and Treasurer of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran Vahed Workers, has been sentenced to prohibition of activities for five years, which only means an attempt in silencing this active and noble human being.

In continuation of this anti-labor sentence, Reza Shahabi is also sentenced to pay seven million Tomans to state’s coffins. This is the sum collected from many workers (whose names are documented on the websites) and was given by Reza, as a trustee for these workers, to the family of imprisoned workers. In these circumstances where such outrageous inhuman sentences are carried out against workers and laborur activists, the Iranian government at the international bodies, including the International Labor Organization, still acts as if no workers or labour activists in Iran are incarcerated!

The Reza Shahabi’s Defense Committee, while condemning this anti-worker decree, representing its 500 members, including Reza Shahabi’s family members and workers and labour activists, calls on all workers, labour activists and local and international labour organizations and institutions to carry out a united and coordinated protest campaign against these sentences and ask them to inform this committee of their proposed action plans for a coordinated set of actions.

Reza Shahabi Defence Committee

14/04/2012

www.k-d-shahabi.blogspot.com

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UNISON: Letter to Ayatollah Khamenei concerning Adolreza Ghanbari

UNISON
London, 7 March 2012

Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar-Doust Street,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Your Excellency,

On behalf of UNISON, Britain’s largest trade union representing 1.4 million public service workers, I am writing to you with regard to Mr Abdolreza Ghanbari who is currently being held in Evin Prison under sentence of death.

Mr Ghanbari was arrested on the 27th December 2009 following demonstrations against the regime in which he did not even take part. His wife, daughter and witnesses have made it clear that Mr Ghanbari was at home during the time of the demonstrations but they have been denied the chance to present their evidence, as Mr Ghanbari was sentenced by Tehran’s revolutionary court charged with “waging war against God.” We understand that a request for pardon made to the Commission of Justice in Tehran was rejected this week meaning that the path is now clear for the state to proceed with Mr Ghanbari’s execution.

We believe that Mr Ghanbari, who is not known to have been involved in politics, has been targeted because of his former activities in the now disbanded teachers’ trade union in breach of the International Labour Organisation’s conventions on freedom of association.

I am writing to you to demand the immediate release of Mr Ghanbari and all other prisoners currently held for their trade union activities.
Yours sincerely,

Dave Prentis
General Secretary

Cc Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, Head of the Judiciary
Mr Mohammad Javad Larijani, Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, London
The Rt Hon William Hague MP, Foreign Secretary

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ITF pushes for Madadi and Shahabi release

International Transport Workers’ Federation
28 February 2012

The ITF has told Ayatollah Khamenei that the approach of the Iranian New Year provides an ideal time to release Ebrahim Madadi and Reza Shahabi.

In a letter to Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, ITF general secretary David Cockroft stated:

“You will be aware that I have had cause to write to you and your government several times, not least in order to protest against the court proceedings against Reza Shahabi and the continuing imprisonment of Ebrahim Madadi, two members of our affiliated trade union the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company.

We have been informed that, despite his ill health, Reza Shahabi was returned to Evin prison on the 14th of February after sixty-two days in hospital without any surgery, and he is expected in court on February 29th. He has been in prison since June 2010, during which time he has been denied the substantive medical treatment he requires.

Ebrahim Madadi’s term in prison is due to end in mid-April. On November 30th last year he was freed and then rearrested despite having spent three years in jail and, indeed, much of the last seven years in custody.

We do not know if his inexplicable rearrest in November was a due to a bureaucratic error or if it was an attempt to punish him – but either way it was an unacceptable infringement on his rights and liberty. Like the continuing imprisonment of the increasingly ill Reza Shahabi, it is an injustice that is crying out to be righted.

As you know we are close to the Iranian New Year, which provides a perfect opportunity to unconditionally release both men

I trust that you will act on this important matter and ensure that the police and the justice system are not used to condemn workers for legitimate trade union activities.”

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Ebrahim Madadi Re-Arrested Today

International Transport Workers’ Federation
7th December 2011

The ITUC was dismayed and incensed to hear today that Ebrahim Madadi, a courageous trade unionist and Comrade from Vahed Syndicate in Tehran, was re-arrested today after being freed only last Thursday. A move welcomed by the international trade union movement

ITUC General Secretary, Sharan Burrow, said :”this can only be interpreted as yet another crass and cynical move by the authorities to distract attention from the serious violations of trade union rights in Iran immediately prior to the ILO Regional Asia Pacific Conference which just concluded in Kyoto”.

It is absolutely shameful on the part of the regime to ‘play’ in this fashion with the lives of people and their families, for no other reason than the exercise of their fundamental human and trade union right to represent the legitimate aspirations of other workers.

ITF general secretary David Cockroft added: “We don’t yet know if this arrest is a bureacratic error or an attempt to punish Ebrahim – but either way it’s an unacceptable infringement on his rights and liberty. Like the continuing imprisonment of the increasingly ill Reza Shahabi it is an injustice that is crying out to be righted.”

The ITUC will continue to denounce the callous shenanigans of such dishonourable and discredited thugs.

Source: http://www.ituc-csi.org/ebrahim-madadi-re-arrested-today.html

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Joint press release: Imprisoned trade unionist Ebrahim Madadi is freed

International Transport Workers’ Federation
30 November 2011

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) are welcoming the release today from prison of Ebrahim Madadi, a board member of the Tehran bus drivers’ union, the Vahed Syndicate. Ebrahim had been unjustly held on false charges of endangering national security since being arrested and then rearrested in 2007 and 2008.

“He is free because trade unionists worldwide have been demanding justice” ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said. “It is also a result of pressure through the International Labour Organization (ILO) which has been critical of Iran for not living up to the international obligations they have signed onto”.

“Many serious human and trade union rights issues remain to be solved in Iran and the fundamental violations of trade union rights need to be addressed. While cautiously welcoming this important step forward, the ITUC and the ITF, on behalf of workers everywhere, call once again upon the Iranian authorities to urgently release all other trade unionists from prison.”

ITF general secretary David Cockroft commented: “This excellent news is proof that protest works. We have all fought long and hard for this release, as we did for Mansour Osanloo’s. However, the day all of those unjustly imprisoned in Iran are set free is the day we will be able to truly celebrate.

“We look forward to both Ebrahim Madadi and Mansour Osanloo taking their rightful places as leaders of the Vahed Syndicate.”

ENDS

For more information please contact

ITUC Press Department on the following numbers: +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 62 10 18
or
ITF press officer, Sam Dawson. Tel: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260. E-mail: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk

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Reza Shahabi, returned to jail, begins hunger strike

International Transport Workers’ Federation
29 November 2011

The situation of Reza Shahabi has deteriorated in the last few days. Last week protests at his being returned to jail from hospital appeared to have borne fruit: he was allowed back to hospital. But that progress has now been reversed, and he is believed to have once again been sent to Evin Prison, where as of Tuesday 22nd November he has begun a hunger strike in protest. His family have been refused access to him since 20th November, and have received no news about his state of health.

ITF general secretary David Cockroft stated: “Is this a cruel game of cat and mouse, or is it indicative of the conflicts within Iran between those backing moderation and those promoting repression? We don’t know. What we do know though is that it is well past time for Reza to be released and given treatment. His continuing detention shames Iran.”

ENDS

For more information contact ITF press officer, Sam Dawson.
Direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260.
Email: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk

International Transport Workers’ Federation – ITF:
HEAD OFFICE
ITF House, 49 – 60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DS
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7403 2733
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7375 7871
Email: mail@itf.org.uk
Web: www.itfglobal.org

 

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Union raises alarm over Shahabi’s health

International Transport Workers’ Federation
18 November 2011
Rooz

The Tehran bus drivers’ union the Vahed Syndicate, of which imprisoned Iranian trade unionist Reza Shahabi is a board member, has raised concerns about his state of health.

According to the union he has been returned to prison after being taken to hospital for an MRI scan and X rays for a neck injury. He had previously been transferred to hospital due to deteriorating health following his hunger strike last year.

ITF general secretary David Cockroft said: “Reza has now been unjustly held since his arrest in June of last year. This is clearly taking a toll on his health. It is past time for the authorities to withdraw the false charges of endangering national security used against him and let Reza – along with other unjustly detained trade unionists such as Ebrahim Madadi – go free.”

ENDS

For more information contact ITF press officer, Sam Dawson.
Direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260.
Email: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk

International Transport Workers’ Federation – ITF:
HEAD OFFICE
ITF House, 49 – 60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DS
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7403 2733
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7375 7871
Email: mail@itf.org.uk
Web: www.itfglobal.org

 

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Protests Against Firing of Workers and Closure of Workshops

October 23, 2011
Rooz

Third Week of Strikes at Mahshahr Petrochemical Complex

Despite the claims by the Majlis representative from Mahshahr that the workers strikes at the town’s petrochemical complex had ended, news reports indicate that the strikes continue. The executive secretary of the province’s Khane Kargar, a workers organization, confirmed the bleak situation when he recently said, “Statistics on the number of laid off workers in recent years are greater than new hires and we have been witness to the dismissal of worker and the closure of workshops in this province.” But Khalil Hayat, the lawmaker from the province claimed that an agreement had been reached with the workers who had ended the strike and returned to work. The Financial Times newspaper also wrote that strikes and go-slow actions by workers continued in the workers in the province.

For months anti Iranian government media have been reporting on and off strikes by the workers of the Bandar Imam petrochemical plant near the town of Mahshahr in Khuzestan province. But local media in Iran have not directly covered the strikes. The latest round of strikes at the Mahshahr petrochemical plant began on September 24 and continues till today.

According to a website belonging to the Etehadie Azad Kargaran Iran (The Free Association of Iranian Workers) in addition to the workers at Mahshahr’s plant, workers in other petrochemical units such as those at Arvand, Amir Kabir and Tondgooyan went on strike in the early hours of September 25 this year.

Protests Over Unfulfilled Promises

According to the representatives of the striking workers, the reasons for the industrial action by the workers are discriminations in benefits, late payment of wages and the issue of insurance. These issues related mostly to workers of contractors who work for the petrochemical plants.

The striking workers are presenting two key demands: elimination of the contractors and direct contracts with the workers. In fact, they say, this is what had been agreed upon and officially decreed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration in 2005.

But even with the passage of six years, the contractors continue to exist. Economists attribute this situation to the widespread unemployment across the country. When there are no jobs available, workers are forced to sign imposed contracts with contractors.

In recent days the only person who has spoken of the strike at the petrochemical plant is Khalil Hayat Moghadam, the Majlis representative, who also revealed that a number of workers had actually been arrested. “It is now months that the pays of workers at the Mahshahr petrochemical plant have not been paid and the minister of oil has promised to redress the issue and make the payments, while also addressing the unemployment issue and workers benefits. But not only have the wages of the workers not been paid, but there are attempts to create a police atmosphere by the plants guards to break the strikes,” he said.

Prior to this, the governor of Mahshahr had denied the existence of any strikes at the plant and said that there was only a workers “sit-in” and had stressed that “the production process continued and there are no strikes going on.”

News reports indicate that local authorities have till now decided to remain silent on the issue while on the other hand intelligence agents threaten and arrest labor activists. The Revolutionary Guards intelligence division of Mahshahr has so far arrested three individuals by the names of Mansour Abbasi, Mohammad-Bagher Bagheri, and Jasem Badrdani who were detained but subsequently released. All three were not returned their work badges, thus banning them from entering the petrochemical plant. Workers have said that unlike the earlier days of the strikes when security forces did not take any action, during the last three or four days they appear at the workers strikes and gatherings and watch them through a display of force.

In their second round of strikes, the Mahshahr workers have created a strike committee and declared, “We have come to the conclusion that we shall get anywhere without coordination and an organization. Even if our strikes succeed and we make gains, these accomplishments will not last if there is no organization to pursue them.”

The first round of protests came to Mahshahr’s petrochemical plant last December. The actual strike began on April 9 this year and continued for 11 days. Eventually, workers succeeded in getting the approval to some of their demands from the management. Prior to that 1500 workers at the Tabriz petrochemical plant had gone on strike which continued for 10 days. This was the first extensive workers strike at the petrochemical plants in Iran.

In one of its statements, the strike committee had called on the national and international labor groups to support it. This latest strike at Mahshahr comes after six months of talks, debates, deals and counter deals between the workers and management.

It should be noted that in the privatization process in Iran, petrochemical plants were the first to go public. The government’s purported reason for releasing these plants in the industry was to increase productivity and efficiency of the management. But research and reports by the Majlis indicate that in fact the measures were pseudo privatization acts as the shares of these companies went to the retirement funds and there has been no change in the culture inside the plants and their management.

Economic stagnation in Iran has resulted in the drop of the value of half finished industrial products to 100 billion Toman (approximately hundred million Dollars). One worker activist recently told Iran’s ILNA labor news agency that more than 50 percent of the country’s industry was facing economic stagnation. Abbas Vatanparast also told the news agency that 85 billion Toman in investment had remained unused, and added, “During the fourth economic development plan 65 percent of the active population of the country played no role in contributing to the GNP.”

While criticizing the official published figures and statistics on the rate of new employments he said, “Today, whole climate of labor and work is shut. Despite the allocation of 20 billion Toman to the ministry of labor and social welfare, the rate of employment remains negative.”

The recent labor strikes around the country have so far resulted in the arrest of more than 10 labor activists. Three international labor organizations have complained to the ILO office in Geneva over Iran’s labor policies and practices regarding the labor organizations and labor activities.

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Delegates urged to fight on for Osanloo’s colleagues

22 June 2011
Unison

Amnesty International will launch its global campaign today in solidarity with independent Iranian trade unions’ struggle for human rights.

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Another Vahed Syndicate member arrested

Media Release – INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT WORKER’S FEDERATION
11 November 2010

Homayoun Jabari, a member of the Vahed Syndicate, has been arrested in yet another attack on the bus drivers’ union. He was held on Tuesday when he accompanied the wife of Gholamreza Gholamhosseini – himself violently picked up last week – to the Intelligence Office to try and discover her husband’s whereabouts. Security agents then went to his home, took away his computer and books and warned his wife that if he didn’t cooperate with them then he’d be staying in custody ‘for a long time’.

Gholamhosseini was violently arrested last week with Saeed Torabian, publicity director of the bus workers’ union, who was later released. That incident came just a week after hopes were dashed that the union’s treasurer, Reza Shahabi, who has been detained since June, might be set free. There are now five members of the union being held in jail.

Mac Urata, Secretary of the ITF’s Inland Transport Section, described the holding of Homayoun Jabari as “a blatant and contemptible attack on the union”, and vowed that the ITF and its colleagues worldwide would continue campaigning on behalf of the union and its imprisoned members.

ENDS

For more information contact ITF press officer, Sam Dawson.
Direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260.
Email: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk

International Transport Workers’ Federation – ITF:
HEAD OFFICE
ITF House, 49 – 60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DS
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7403 2733
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7375 7871
Email: mail@itf.org.uk
Web: www.itfglobal.org

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Another attack on Vahed Syndicate members

Media Release
5 November 2010

The ITF has received news of yet another thuggish assault and detention of Vahed Syndicate members by Iranian police/security forces.

According to the ITF the attack took place on Wednesday in a Karaj internet café. Saeed Torabian, publicity director of the bus workers’ union – who has previously been arrested and then released following international protests – was with fellow trade unionist Gholamreza Gholamhosseini. Gholamhosseini was released on bail from Evin Prison two years ago, after being arrested while attending a Women’s Day event.

Shortly after their arrival six men entered and beat them up, yelling that they were thieves. They were then dragged out and taken to prison. After being interrogated, threatened and roughed up, Saeed Torabian was released on bail, but as yet nothing is known about Gholamreza Gholamhosseini – except that he is still being held.

The ITF considers these ‘arrests’ to be the latest in an ongoing campaign to break the Vahed union and notes that once again trumped up charges, threats and violence have been used to stifle normal, lawful trade union activity.

ENDS

For more information contact ITF press officer, Sam Dawson.
Direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260.
Email: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk

International Transport Workers’ Federation – ITF:
HEAD OFFICE
ITF House, 49 – 60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DS
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7403 2733
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7375 7871
Email: mail@itf.org.uk
Web: www.itfglobal.org

 

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IFJ Condemns Arrest of Journalists’ Union Leader in Iran

Media Release
04 November, 2010

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on the Iranian authorities to release Mohammadreza Moghise, a board member of the Association of Iranian Journalists (AoIJ), who was arrested on October 22 and has not been heard from since. This is the second time he has been arrested since the political unrest which followed the disputed Presidential election of June 2009.

“We are very concerned for the welfare and safety of Mohammadreza Moghise who should be given immediate access to his family and a lawyer,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “The authorities must end the targeting of independent journalists and union leaders for expressing their views.”

The AoIJ, an IFJ affiliate, says Moghise was arrested and jailed for five months last year before being released on a 30.000 Euro bail. He was again arrested last week and has made no contact with his family since then.

Moghise is one of tens of journalists who have been targeted by the clampdown on media imposed by the authorities in the wake of widespread protests following the 2009 elections. The IFJ says at least 30 journalists are behind bars and many more have fled the country fearing arrest. At the same time dozens of newspapers have been closed and the offices of the AoIJ were forcibly closed in August 2009.

“The intolerance of dissent and independent voices in Iran has led to an all-out assault on media and independent journalism by the state,” added White. “Journalists are being made to pay a heavy price because the government has lost public trust.”

For more information, please contact IFJ on + 32 2 235 22 07

The IFJ represents more than 600.000 members in 125 countries

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ITF deplores continuing imprisonment of Shahabi, Osanloo and Madadi

International Transport Workers’ Federation
29 October 2010

Commenting on the continuing imprisonment of members of the Vahed Syndicate, ITF Inland Transport Secretary Mac Urata said: “The injustice continues. There had been some hopes that the union’s treasurer, Reza Shahabi, might be released today, but they look like they will come to nothing – just like the regime’s empty promises to release Mansour Osanloo. We invite the Iranian government to prove us wrong and show that they can still do the decent thing and release these innocent workers.”

He continued: “We are reliably informed that Reza Shahabi is being heavily interrogated, despite reported health issues, and being denied legal advice and contact with his deeply worried family. His family have paid 60 million Toman (USD 60,000) in bail, but his release is still nowhere in sight.”

Reza Shahabi was arrested on 12 June this year without any charges being specified by the authorities. In August the ITF’s 42nd Congress in Mexico City unanimously adopted an emergency resolution to demand his and Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi’s immediate release.

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Union Activists in Iran – Repression Continues

Iran Labour Report
August 18, 2010

The massive crackdown on the independent labor activists continues in Iran. Several leaders and activists in the union movement remain in jails while others have been subject to summons and terminations from their jobs. A sketch of the repression of the independent union activism in today’s Iran follows.

Mansour Osaloo, the legendary leader of the Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Workers Syndicate, was taken to court on August 1 and tried under the pretext of having connections with the illegal opposition groups. The trial lasting an hour and ten minutes commenced at 9:00 a.m. at the branch one revolutionaly court in the city of Karaj. At the trial, Osaloo did not have his lawyers present and they were also uninformed about the court session.

While the Iranian Labor Minister had given a promise of release of Osaloo to ILO, the Vahed Union leader remains in jail and new cases filed against him. At the said court session, Osaloo was sentenced to a new one year term. He is currently serving a five year term in Karaj Gohardasht prison. His attorneys will file a petition against the ruling within the twenty day period allowed.

Ebrahim Maddadi, the deputy head of the Vahed Bus Workers Syndicate also remains in jail. Maddadi is serving a 3.5 year sentence along with Osaloo.

Reza Shahabi, the secretary treasurer of the Syndicate, in a brief phone conversation with his family informed them of an additional two month extension of his incarceration. Reza Shahabi was abducted on June 12 by the intelligence ministry operatives and taken to the solitary confinement in the Ward 209 of the Evin prison. He has been denied any family visits since and has only had a few brief monitored phone conversations with his family.

Saeed Torabian, the director of public relations at the syndicate, who was freed on a large bail on July 19, has been facing various pressures since his release. Saeed Torabian spent from June 9 to July 19 in prisons due to his illegal detention by the intelligence ministry officials in Iran.

On August 17, Homayoun Jaberi, an activist with the Vahed Syndicate received a one year suspended term following his arrest at the 2009 May Day celebration event in Park Laleh Tehran.

On July 22, Gholamreza Gholamhosseini, an activist with the Vahed Bus Workers Syndicate, was suspended and his wages and benefits were also put on hold. The 44 year old Gholamhosseini was arrested following the Vahed bus workers strike in 2005 and spent several weeks in prison. He was suspended for four years before being reinstated six months ago. He is married with three children.

Gholamhosseini is among many Vahed labor activists who have been facing the wrath of the regime because of their union activism. Several labor activists with the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Workers Syndicate also awaittheir reinstatement following expulsions due to their union activities.

The crackdown on the Vahed union activists is not confined to just their intimidation. The families of these activists have also been under target. While the abduction and torture of Osaloo’s daughter in law has been reported, several other Vahed union activist families have been under heavy economic pressures.

The Free Assembly of Iranian Workers reports that Sadigh Karimi, a member of the board of directors, and Foad Keikhosravi, an activist member of the union have been summoned to appaear once again at the branch one revolutionary court in the city of Sanandaj on September 22. The two activists appeared on July 20 at that court.

Seven labor activists with the Coordinating Committee to Facilitate Creation of Workers Organizations in Iran, Fattah Soleimani, Hossein Piroti, Samad Ahmadpour, Rahman Tanha, Rahman Ebrahimzadeh, Isa Ebrahimzadeh, and Abbas Hashempour were found not guilty of charges in a court hearing by the branch one of the Urumiyeh revolutionary court on August 16. They were arrested on February 29 and spent twelve days in prison.

The Coordinating Committee also has reported on the trials of two labor activists, Vafa Ghaderi and Sadigh Sobhani in the city of Sanandaj. Additionally, Khosrow Boukani, an activist in the city of Naghadeh, has been sentenced to a two year sentence and Kaveh Golmohammadi in Kamyaran has started serving his term in the city of Sanandaj.

Rasoul Bodaghi, a member of the board of directors of the Iranian Teachers Trade Association, was sentenced to six years in prison and five years denial of activities on August 3. He has been sentenced to one year in prison for “propaganda against the system” and five years for “assembly and attempt to distrub the national security”. His court session was held on July 14. Bodaghi has been in jail since September 2009. His sentence is being appealed by his attorney.

Ali Akbar Baghani and Mahmoud Beheshti Langarudi, the general secretary and the spokesperson of the Teachers Association were released earlier on July following 63 days of incarceration.Mokhtar Assadi, Mohammad Bagheri, Esmael Abdi, and Hashem Khastar are other teacher unionists who remain in prisons. Abdolreza Ghanbari a teacher unionist is jailed with the death penalty pronounced against him. This is extremely alarming since the earlier execution of Farzad Kamangar on May 9.

Behnam Ebrahimzadeh and Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, members of the Pursueing Committee for the Formation of Free Workers Organizations in Iran, remain held incommunicado. Mehdi Farahi Shandiz has been in jail since June 1, 2010. He is one of the labor activists arrested during the May Day ceremonies of 2009 in Tehran. Paying a visit to the branch 8 of the revolutionary court to collect his personal belongings, he was met with “inhumane treatment” which led to his protest. He was then taken to the notorious Kahrizak prison in south of Tehran under baseless accusations of disturbing the peace.

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Message of Solidarity to the General Assembly of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

JUSTICE FOR IRANIAN WORKERS
20 June 2010

We send plentiful greetings to our friends and colleagues participating in the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) General Assembly.

Friends, we are extremely distressed that no representative of the Iranian labour movement is present among you to demonstrate the solidarity of Iranian workers with your General Assembly, and to inform you of the day-to-day issues of today*s Iranian labour movement.

Nevertheless, know that despite the distance between us, we see ourselves by your side and wish for a most productive and victorious week for you and for the global labour movement.

Comrades and colleagues, for nearly a decade now, you have come to our aid with your strong support, and have been intimately involved in our problems and struggles. We nevertheless wish to inform you that the Iranian labour movement is enduring one of its darkest times ever.

Throughout its lifespan, the Iranian government has not only completely disregarded its commitments to international labour conventions and basic workers rights, but in light of the political situation in Iran during the past year, the government has paved the way for fiercely attacking even the most basic workers rights, and to strike against the few existing Iranian labor organizations with ever increasing intensity.

Our colleagues Mr. Saeed Torabian and Mr. Reza Shahabi were captured at home and at their workplace, in front of their families, in broad daylight and without presentation of any warrants, on completely fallacious charges. It has been two weeks that their families and colleagues have absolutely no information about their fate or condition.

Also within the past two weeks, two other labor activists, Mr. Alireza Akhavan and Mr. Behnam Ibrahim, were captured and transported to an unknown location. Messrs. Mansour Osanloo and Ibrahim Madadi have spent the last three years in prison because they organized a labour union.

Not only have they had no respite or liberty throughout these past three years, but they have also been denied medical attention while being detained in the most dangerous and deplorable prisons.

Members of the Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Factory Syndicate have not only been thrown in prison for labour related activity, but have also been fired from their jobs. The execution of Mr. Farzad Kamangar, and the other baseless detainments, sentences of prison time and whip lashing for the very few Iranian labour union activists, has created extremely troublesome conditions for them, and for any potential basic labour union activities. Not only educators themselves, but their relatives and loved ones have suffered as a result of these problems. Many of them are in prison or on their way to prison.

Friends and colleagues, this year we witnessed in the ILO*s annual meeting that Iran*s government was not only not reproached more than previous years, but actually received a *bonus* by being removed from the ILO violators list. We know very well that you make every possible effort at your disposal to see that the Iranian labour movement is not sacrificed to governmental political and economic turbulence.

We hereby recognize your current efforts in support of the Iranian labour movement with utmost gratitude, but respectfully request and expect that you continue your support with redoubled intensity and effort. We wish for you to take greater steps towards driving back the horrendous conditions imposed upon Iranian workers.

To obtain their basic rights, workers have no other recourse but the expression of class solidarity. More so than ever before, we reaffirm our reliance on international workers solidarity. We hereby shake your hand in concordance, and send our warmest regards and our greatest solidarity to you.

Iran,

Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Vahed)

Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Company

Union of Free Workers of Iran Committee for Re-Certification of the Mechanics and Steelworkers

Syndicate Association of Electrical and Steel Workers Kermanshah

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List of imprisoned trade unionists

Saeed Torabian and Reza Shahabi, leading members of a trade union which is not recognized by the authorities in Iran, have been arrested and are held at unknown locations. Their arrests is connected to the anniversary of the disputed 2009 presidential election, which fell on 12 June. The two detained men are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. There are more than currently more than fifty trade unionsts languishing in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They are all held solely on account of their peaceful trade union activities and in conditions amounting to enforced disappearance, which facilitates the use of torture or other ill-treatment. The list of names of all imprisoned trade unionists are as follows:
JUSTICE FOR IRANIAN WORKERS
June 26th, 2010

As of 24 June 2010, the following trade unionists are imprisoned.

1. Mansour Osanloo – Currently at Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj City near Tehran. Osanloo is President of the Executive Committee of the Tehran Bus Workers’ union. He is has been in prison since 12 July 2007.
2. Ebrahim Madadi – Currently at Evin Prison. He is the Vice President of the Tehran Bus Workers’ union.
3. Saeed Torabian was arrested by the security forces on 9 June 2010 and his whereabouts are currently unknown. He is the spokesperson of the Tehran Bus Workers’ union.
4. Reza Shahbi was arrested by the security forces on 12 June 2010 and his whereabouts are also unknown. He is the treasurer of the Tehran Bus Workers’ union.
5. Pejman Rahimi, a union activist in Khuzestan, southern Iran, was sentenced to one year imprisonment and 40 lashes by the Ahwaz Public Court on 17 April 2010 on charges of disrupting public order. The verdict was announced on 31 May. He was previously sentenced to 5 years in prison for supporting the workers at the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Factory and the Ahwaz Tubing Factory.
6. Mehdi Farahi Shandiz was arrested and transferred to the notorious Kahrizak prison during a visit to the Revolutionary Court to retrieve his personal belongings on 8 June 2010. He is a 50-year old teacher and a worker activist. His belongings were confiscated last year after he was detained on the anniversary of International Workers’ Day (May Day).
7. Abolfazl Abedini Nasr was sentenced to 11 years of peremptory confinement on 11 May 2010. He is a journalist and a labour and human rights activist. Abolfazl is a key person who has assisted the Haft Tapeh union in the last 3 years.
8. Mohammad Olyaiefard, a lawyer for the Haft Tapeh and Tehran Bus Workers’ Union, was arrested on 1 May 2010 and is currently in detention. He has been sentenced to one year in prison in the past.
9. Alireza Hashemi, secretary general of the Iranian Teachers’ Organization.
10. Abdolreza Ghanbari, a school teacher in Pakdasht Varamin and online professor of the Payam e Nour University, was arrested at his home in Pakdasht on 4 January 2010. He was charged with ‘Moharebeh’ (enmity towards God) for receiving emails from an armed opposition group to which he does not belong. His subsequent death sentence was confirmed by Tehran’s Appeal Court, Branch 36. In detention at the Evin Prison, Ghanbari has been interrogated for 25 days in a row under duress. In 2007, he was detained for 120 days and sentenced to a six-month suspension from teaching and exiled from Sari to Pakdasht.
11. Esmael Abdi, a school teacher member of the Iranian Teachers’ Association of Tehran, was arrested on 19 May 2010. Four officials from the Ministry of Intelligence searched his house and took his computer, notebook and some literature. They cut the wire of his landline phone and told Abdi’s partner to keep his detention a secret. Abdi remains in detention in an unknown location. According to his relatives, his arrest is the consequence of an interview he gave to foreign media on National Teachers’ Day.
12. Rasoul Bodaghi is another member of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association of Tehran who is in detention. He was transferred from the Evin Prison to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj on 10 May 2010, and was reportedly beaten very severely by two prison officers on 26 May 2010.This experience has caused a dramatic deterioration in his health, and yet there is no report of when his trial might take place.
13. Hashem Khastar is a retired teacher suffering from kidney disease who has already served more than a third of his prison sentence, yet he is still not allowed to go on leave and visit his family. This alone is against the governing rules for prisoners in Iran.

List of Jailed Iranian Journalists following the 2009 Elections and who remain in jail in June 2010

14. Ahmadi Amoee ,Bahamn: freelance journalist, first arrested on 20 June 2009 released on 18 March 2010 and arrested again on 30 May 2010
15. Eslampour, Mohammadali: Chief Editor of Navaie Vaght, arrested on 3 February 2010
16. Bastani, Masoud: Chief Editor of Jomhouriat website, arrested on 25 June 2009

17. Baghi, Emadeddin: Chief Editor of Jomhouriat newspaper, arrested on 28 December 2009

*Released on 23 June 2010, according to Amnesty International

18. Bordbar, Babak: photographer, arrested on 28 December 2009
19. Beheshti Shirazi, Alireza: Chief Editor of Kaleme Sabz newspaper, arrested on 28 December 2009
20. Behavar, Emad: freelance journalist, arrested on 10 March 2010
21. Pour Abdollah, Mohammad: freelance journalist, arrested on 13 February 2010
22. Saghafi, Alireza: freelance journalist, arrested on 1 February 2010
23. Khansari, Mahboobe: Kargozaran newspaper, arrested on 31 May 2010
24. Davari, Mohammad: Chief Editor of Sahamnews website, arrested on 8 September 2009
25. Derakhshan, Hossein: freelance journalist, arrested on 1 November 2008
26. Dormanki, Khalil: freelance journalist, arrested on 30 December 2009
27. Dehghan, Mostafa: freelance journalist, arrested on 1 January 2010
28. Rafiei Foroushani, Reza: freelancer journalist, arrested on 26June 2009
29. Ronagh Maleki, Seyed Hossein: freelancer journalist, arrested on 13 December 2009
30. Zeidabadi, Ahmad: freelancer journalist, Roozonline columnist, arrested on 13 June 2009
31. Saharkhiz, Isa: freelancer journalist with Roozonline website, arrested on 3 July 2009
32. Salimi, Omid: freelancer photographer, arrested on 14 June 2009
33. Shahidi, Hengameh: freelancer journalist, first arrested on 30 June 2009 and released 1 November 2009 and arrested again on 28 February 2010
34. Samimi, Keivan: Chief Editor of Name magazine, arrested on 13 June 2009
35. Ghasemi Kermanshahi, Kaveh: freelancer journalist, arrested on 3 February 2010
36. Karami, Mahboube: freelancer journalist, arrested on 2 March 2010
37. Godarzi, Kouhyar: freelancer journalist, arrested on 20 December 2009
38. Gahsetooni, Motjaba: freelancer journalist, arrested on 4 March 2010
39. Laripour, Niloofar: Chelcheragh magazine, arrested on 2 February 2010
40. Lavasani, Seyed Masoud: freelancer journalist, arrested on 26 September 2009
41. Mafi, Hamid: freelancer journalist, arrested on 9 February 2010
42. Mahzadeh, Javad: Yas e No newspaper, arrested on 21 October 2009
43. Matinpour, Saeed: freelancer journalist, arrested on 11 July 2009
44. Mahmoodian, Mehdi: Norooznews website, arrested on 16 September 2009
45. Malihi, Ali: Etemad newspaper, arrested on 9 February 2010
46. Mehrabi, Ehsan: Etemad Meli newspaper, arrested on 6 February 2010
47. Nazar Ahari, Shiva: freelancer journalist, arrested on 14 June 2009 released on 23 September 2009 arrested again on 20 December 2009
48. Naghi Pour, Nasor: freelancer journalist, arrested on 2 March 2010
49. Noorani Nejad, Hossein: Norooznews website, arrested on 28 August 2009
50. Nourizad, Mohammad: freelancer journalist, arrested on 20 December 2009
51. Visme, Azam: Parlemannews website, arrested on 31 May 2010
52. Mirdamadi, Mohsen: Norooz newspaper, arrested on 11 July 2009
53. Armin, Mohsen: Former member of board of the Association of Iranian Journalists, arrested on 10 May 2010

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UNISON chief demands Iranian activist Mansour Osanloo’s freedom after safety fears

08/06/2010

UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, has called for the release of leading Iranian trade union activist, Mansour Osanloo, from an isolation ward at Rajai Shar Prison, in Tehran, after fears for his safety.

Dave Prentis has written to the Ambassador of Iran, Rasoul Movahedian, demanding an end to the government’s persecution of Osanloo and for his family and reliable representatives to be allowed to visit.

There are concerns that Mansour Osanloo, the founding member of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, has been violently mistreated and denied medical care.

Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, another member of the Syndicate of Tehran, are serving five and three year sentences relating to trade union activities.

In the letter, Dave Prentis, said:

“I call on the Iranian government to immediately stop this latest persecution of Mansour Osanloo and prove the reports wrong, by allowing his family and reliable representatives to visit him and check where he is being held and his state of health.

“I would once again strongly advise the Iranian government to release Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi.

“Trade unionists from across the world are watching the situation very closely.

“We believe Iran can only benefit from the introduction of measures to guarantee respect for the basic norms of human and trade union rights.”

Iranian workers are able to form Islamic Labour Councils (ILCs), but the councils are not allowed to defend the terms and conditions of members and independent trade unions are banned.

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Union Calls for an End to Executions in Iran!

1st June 2010

HE Mr Rasoul Movahedian
Ambassador
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran
16 Prince’s Gate
London SW7 1PT

Dear Ambassador,

It is with a sense of shock and outrage that UNISON SW Regional Committee received news of the recent executions of trades unionists and peace activists in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including Farzad Kamangar and four others, on the 9th May 2010. UNISON SW is concerned about the reports indicating further impending executions in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

We strongly urge you to make representations to your Government, and the Iranian President, to halt any escalation of trade union repression and human rights abuses. We call for an end to all executions in Iran and the immediate release of all political prisoners. We would further ask you to seek assurances from the Government of the Islamic Republic that the principles of the International Labour Organisation regarding freedom of association are complied with.

It is the view of UNISON that imprisoned trade unionists in Iran must be freed and all threats of imprisonment against independent trade unionists in respect of their legitimate activities must be lifted.

We continue to be concerned about other trades unionists incarcerated in Iran’s jails, such as bus workers’ leaders, Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi. We cannot emphasise enough the damage that these recent executions have done to the reputation of Iran and your Government.

We trust that you will convey our views to your President and Government immediately.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Ducat
Regional Secretary
UNISON SW

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Iran: Harassment of The Haft Tapeh Union’s Lawyer

Brussels, 11 December 2009 (ITUC OnLine):

On 9 December, the lawyer of the Haft Tapeh Union, an affiliate of the Global Union Federation IUF, Mr. Mohammad Olyaeifard was questioned in Tehran Revolutionary Court, on charges of “propaganda against the state”, “slandering the judiciary” and “publication of lies and agitating public opinion”. His case was rescheduled for 19 December.

This is the latest in a series of attempts by the Iranian government to destroy the union, and reveals how the political authorities are prepared to use the judiciary to prevent the leaders of the union from receiving a fair trial after it sent them to prison in November. “This prosecution of the union’s lawyer is completely unacceptable. It is nothing less than harassment intended to intimidate him and other lawyers into refusing to defend union cases” said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder.

The ITUC and the IUF last week lodged a formal complaint with the ILO’s Committee on Freedom of Association, detailing Iranian government violations of the fundamental principles of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. The ITUC is already party, with the Global Union Federation ITF to another complaint against the government of Iran concerning the Vahed Bus Drivers’ Union.

The leader of this union Mansour Ossanloo has just received the final verdict in his appeal against the decision by the authorities to terminate his employment. The decision issued by Branch 21 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on 21 October 2009 confirms his dismissal.

Meanwhile, the Iranian government continues it’s all-out attack against dissenting voices. On 7 December scores of protesters were beaten and detained during peaceful student-led demonstrations. Security forces – including the feared Basij volunteer militia – used batons and tear gas to attack the demonstrators. The number of protestors arrested is unknown, but the ITUC understands that at least one trade unionist, a woman, is amongst those detained.

The ITUC represents 175 million workers in 155 countries and territories and has 311 national affiliates. http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 621 018

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Trade unions voice support for Iranian opposition

Trade unionists have led rallies around the world to express solidarity with “the many Iranian workers” who have joined demonstrations against alleged vote-rigging in Iran.

Protesters held demonstrations at Iranian embassies in Ankara, Bangkok, Brussels, Canberra, Geneva, Jakarta, London, Madrid, New Delhi, Oslo, The Hague, Tokyo, Toronto and Wellington.

Global unions The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Education International (EI), The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) called the worldwide day of action to protest against the “lack of respect for human rights” within Iran.

In a letter sent to the Supreme Leader of Iran, the unions, which together represent over 170 million workers, called for full democratic rights for all Iranians.

They specifically demanded that the clerical regime respect freedom of association and freedom of assembly.

And the unions called for a halt to all violent repression, the release of all imprisoned trade unionists, recognition of all independent workers’ organisations in Iran, respect for core labour standards and the ratification of all fundamental ILO Conventions, in particular those relating to freedom of association and collective bargaining, a halt to all anti-union repression and the reinstatement of unfairly dismissed workers.

ITUC general secretary Guy Ryder said: “We have exhausted all avenues of reasonable dialogue to persuade the Iranian government to allow basic human and trade union rights.

“Their answer has been repression and arrests. Given this failure we must protest publicly against what is happening in Iran.”

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Vahed Syndicate – Any Suppression or threat of civil liberty condemned

 

18 June Statement
Any Suppression or threat of civil liberty condemned

In line with the recognition of the labour rights, we request that June 26 Action Day – Justice for Iranian workers – to include the human rights of all Iranians who have been deprived of their rights.

In recent days, we continue witnessing the magnificent demonstration of millions of people from all ages, genders, and national and religious minorities in Iran. They request that their basic human rights, particularly the right to freedom and to choose independently and without deception be recognized. These rights are not only constitutional in most of the countries, but also have been protected against all odds.

Amid such turmoil, one witnesses threats, arrests, murders and brutal suppression that one fears only to escalate on all its aspects, resulting in more innocent bloodshed, more protests, and certainly no retreats. The Iranian society is facing a deep political-economical crisis. Million-strong silent protests, ironically loud with un-spoken words, have turned into iconic stature and are expanding from all sides. These protests demand reaction from each and every responsible individual and institution.

As previously expressed in a statement published on-line in May of this year, since Syndicate Vahed does not view any of the candidates support the activities of the workers’ organizations in Iran, it would not endorse any presidential candidate in the election. Vahed members nevertheless have the right to participate or not to participate in the elections and vote for their individually selected candidate.

Moreover, the fact remains that demands of almost an absolute majority of the Iranians go far beyond the demands of a particular group. In the past, we have emphasized that until the freedom of choice and right to organize are not recognized, talk of any social or particular right would be more of a mockery than a reality.

The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company fully supports this movement of Iranian people to build a free and independent civil society and condemns any violence and oppression.

In line with the recognition of the labour rights, the Syndicate requests that June 26 which has been called by the International Trade Unions Organization ‘Day of action’ for justice for Iranian workers to include the human rights of all Iranians who have been deprived of their rights.

With hope for freedom and equality

The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company

18 June 2009

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Workers beaten and arrested in May Day rallies in Iran

 

A report from Tehran

Every May Day thousands of workers, students and women gather in Tehran and other cities across Iran to protest against capitalism, imperialism, the economic crisis and the authoritarian theocratic regime ruling the country. Since its early years of coming to power the regime has usually deployed what it could to put an end to this tradition and stop May Day to be marked as a celebration of international workers’ solidarity. The authorities usually ban demonstrations and rallies organised by non- governmental trade unionists and worker organisations. Participants of May Day events in Iran face arrest, torture and even the threat of execution for exercising a right that is regarded as basic in most other countries of the world. This year wasn’t an exception.

May 1, 2009- The May Day rally and celebration in Tehran, which was organized by independent Iranian labour organizations (see the list below) in Laleh Park (central Tehran), on May 1st, 2009 at 5pm, was attacked by security and intelligence forces at around 5:30pm and many have been beaten and arrested. The security forces did not allow more than two thousands people who had come to the park to join the event and arrested around 70 trade union activists and organizers and shut down the event before it actually started. According to various reports, the arrested labour activists include: Ms. Maryam Mohseni, and Messrs Behrouz Khabaz, Jafar Azimzadeh,fayeq kayxosravi, Mansour Hayatqeybi, Maryam mohseni, Behzad Khabbaz, Gholamreza Khani, Fatemeh Shahnazari, Saeed Youzi, Mehdi Farahani shandiz, Laleh Mohammadi, Habib Sadeqi and Shahpour Ehsani-rad….

The security forces brutally attacked the participants at the Tehran May Day event, including women and children, by using baton charges and tear gas etc., and forced hundreds of people out of the park. At the time of preparing this report, (8pmTehran time, Friday), the park is surrounded by hundreds of security forces and those arrested have been transferred to police stations in Tehran.

May Day rally in City of Sanandaj (a Kurdish city in North- Western Iran) was also attacked by security forces and plain clothes officers and many were beaten and arrested. The police and security forces arrested five trade union activists taking part in May Day demonstrations on May 1 in Sanandaj. Ten labour activists were arrested in the West of Iran in Sanandaj. They include Sediq Karimi, Sharif Saedpanah, Majid Hamidi, Xalid Hosayni and Jyan Sobhani and were arrested for celebrating Mayday. In Tehran’s Laleh Park 70 comrades have been arrested and 30 more were arrested in Tabriz.

Trade unions had called for demonstrations in Tehran, Sanandaj, Kermanshah and several other cities in Iran to protest lack of government action to address economic problems.

You can help by sending messages demanding his release and the release of all political prisoners to the Iranian consulate whose details are below:

Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran
16 Prince’s Gate
London SW7 1PT

Tel: 00442072253000…
consulate@iran-embassy.org.uk

The May Day Organizing Committee

– The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company
– The Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company
– The Free Union of Workers in Iran
– The Founding Committee of the Syndicate of Building ‘s Painters and Decoration’s Workers
– The Center for Workers’ Rights in Iran
– The Collaborative Council of Labour Organizations and Activists
– The Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations
– The Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Free Workers’ Organizations
– The Women’s Council
– A Group of Worker Activists

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May Day Event in Tehran !

 

May Day 2009 in Tehran :
Date: Friday May 01 ,2009 at 5:00pm
Place: Kargar Street , Laleh Park – Abnama square
Statement of Iranian Workers on Occasion of May First International Workers’ Day*

Almost all existing independent labour organizations and workers’ rights committees (please see below the full statement) in Iran have issued a joint statement and invitation for a May Day event in Tehran on Friday, May 1st, 2009. These workers have already been threatened by the government authorities that their event is considered illegal. Therefore, there are already fear of more arrests and persecutions within the next few days.

May 1st is workers’ international day of solidarity, during which workers across the world mobilize to emancipate from hardships of capitalist system, and express their desire to establish a world free of oppression and exploitation.

This year we celebrate May 1st while the capitalist order is engulfed in an immense quagmire of economic crisis, and struggling very hard to preserve itself.

The unfolding of this great economic crisis, and the capitalist states’ helplessness in controlling of it and unloading of the burden of crisis onto back of workers all over the world, more than ever demonstrates the utter rottenness of this system following the collapse of the Eastern Block and any claims of “the end of history”; this crisis once again proves the necessity of establishing a new world free of capitalist inhumane relations, as the only path out of crisis for workers and civilized humanity.

Contrary to management excuses and capitalist press’ propaganda, as far as Iran is concerned, this crisis and its destructive effects, still has not cast its disastrous shadow over daily lives of workers in Iran . In our opinion most hardships and sufferings which we face on a daily basis, more than any other factor, is a result of the economic and social dominance and operations of the ruling capitalist system in Iran .

Severely low wages, mass lay-offs and expulsions, non-payment of wages for millions of workers, enforcement of temporary work contracts, control of workers’ lives by sub-contracting firms and imposing a new form of slavery through blank-signed contracts, arrest and incarceration of workers, repression of workers’ protests and organizations, carrying out of medieval sentences such as flogging workers, these miseries and violations of workers’ rights did not begin in Iran by the current global economic crisis. Such oppressive conditions have gone on for years and every year their extent and depth has increased.

We workers in confronting these extremely inhumane conditions shall not remain silent, and will not allow our lives to be destroyed any further. We are the original producers of all wealth and riches in the society, and consider it our most basic right to live in peace and comfort according to the highest standard of today’s humanity.

Having a decent human life is one of our most basic rights, and in order to fulfill this goal we shall remove all obstacles through creation of autonomous organizations independent of government and employers, and by relying on our own power of solidarity.

Therefore, today, we, workers united as one, put forth the resolution below as our minimum demands and seek their immediate implementation.

1- Guaranteed job security for all workers and abolition of temporary-contracts, blank-signed contracts and all new application forms for employment contracts.

2- In our opinion the minimum wages legislated by the Supreme Labour Council is nothing but imposition of gradual death on working class families. We adamantly demand an immediate increase in minimum wages, based on workers’ own estimates expressed through workers’ real representatives and their independent workers’ organizations.

3- The right to form independent workers’ organizations, strike, protest, assembly, and freedom of speech are all part of our inalienable rights. They should be recognized unconditionally as such.

4- Workers unpaid wages shall be immediately paid. Any non-payment of wages shall constitute a criminal act and litigated. Workers shall be compensated for any damages due to non-payment of wages.

5- The expulsion or lay-off of workers under any pretext must be stopped, and all who have been unemployed or have reached the minimum age of employment and are prepared to work, shall receive unemployment insurance benefits, – compatible with decent living standards, until the time of employment.

6- We demand full equality of women and men in all spheres of social and economic life. All discriminatory laws shall be abolished.

7- All retirees should enjoy a comfortable life free of economic worries. We strongly condemn any bias or prejudice in paying the retirees pensions and benefits.

8- We strongly support all demands of teachers, as intellectual workers, nurses and other toiling sectors of society. We consider them as are our allies, and call for the fulfillment of their demands. We demand annulment of Mr.Farzad Kamangar’s death sentence.

9- Since seasonal and construction workers are denied any and all social benefits, we fully support all their demands to obtain such benefits.

10- The capitalist system is the source of child labour. All children regardless of their parent’s social and economic standing: their gender, national, ethnic or religious background shall enjoy all educational, welfare and medical benefits.

11- We demand release of all incarcerated workers, including Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, and an end to persecution of labour activists and withdrawal of all sentences against them.

12- We fully support all freedom and equality seeking movements, such as students’ and women’s movements. Their arrests, trials and incarcerations are strongly condemned.

13- We are part of the global working class, and as such condemn any expulsion and exploitation of Afghan or other migrant workers in Iran.

14- We appreciate the international support towards workers’ struggles in Iran and express our adamant support for all protests and struggles of workers throughout the world; we consider ourselves their allies. We more than ever before emphasize on international solidarity of working class as the path to liberation from the hardships of the capitalist system.

15- May 1st shall be recognized as an official holiday and instituted in the official national calendar as such. All limitations and restrictions for the commemoration of The May Day shall be abolished.

– LONG LIVE THE FIRST OF MAY
– LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY OF WOPRKING CLASS

May 1st, 2009 (Ordibehest 11, 1388)
The May Day Organizing Committee

– The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company
– The Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company
– The Free Union of Workers in Iran
– The Founding Committee of the Syndicate of Building ‘s Painters and Decoration’s Workers
– The Centre for Workers’ Rights in Iran
– The Collaborative Council of Labour Organizations and Activists
– The Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations
– The Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Free Workers’ Organizations
– The Women’s Council
-A Group of Worker Activists

* Translated by the IASWI.

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Iran: end repression of independent trade unions

 

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Public Statement

Marking International Workers’ Day on May Day 2009, Amnesty International calls on the Iranian authorities to end the repression of trade unionists by immediately releasing those imprisoned for their trade union work; dropping charges against others currently facing trial for similar reasons, and ending other repressive measures which marginalize trade unions and their members. The organization also warns against measures aiming at prohibiting peaceful gatherings on May Day in Tehran.

In particular, Mansour Ossanlu and Ebrahim Madadi, leading members of the Syndicate of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), who are serving five and three year prison sentences respectively, in connection with their trade union activities, should be released immediately and unconditionally. Both are prisoners of conscience, imprisoned solely for their peaceful advocacy of workers’ rights. Mansour Ossanlu, like many other prisoners in Iran, has also been denied medical care while in custody, which has threatened his health.

Amnesty International is also urging the authorities to review urgently the cases of five leaders of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company (HTSCC) Trade Union, with a view to overturning their convictions and sentences. In April 2009, the five were sentenced to between four to six months’ imprisonment for “propaganda against the system” in connection with interviews they gave on May Day 2008 to foreign journalists about working conditions at the plant, with an additional six to eight months’ imprisonment suspended for five years. They are, however, not currently detained, pending appeals against their convictions and sentences.

Amnesty International also urges the Iranian authorities to allow peaceful gatherings by workers on May Day. Alireza Saghafy, a member of the Centre for Workers’ Rights in Iran, was detained for five hours on 28 April 2009, during which he was reportedly told to try to prevent a May Day rally planned for Tehran. The right to freedom of peaceful assembly is guaranteed under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a State Party.

In previous years, peaceful May Day celebrations have been broken up by the authorities and those who attended have faced prison terms and flogging. On 18 February 2009, Sussan Razani and Shiva Kheirabadi were flogged in Sanandaj Central Prison, north-west Iran, after being convicted of participating in a rally in Sanandaj on May Day 2008. On February 2008, at least three workers were flogged. They were among 11 people convicted of participating in a similar gathering on May Day 2007.

Fifty people in Saqez who attended a May Day gathering in 2004 were arrested. Most were released later the same day, but seven spent 12 days in detention before being released on bail. Two were acquitted, but the other five were sentenced to between two and five years’ imprisonment, although these convictions were later overturned. Mahmoud Salehi, one of the seven, was retried and convicted again, and spent one year in prison between April 2007 and April 2008. At his trial, the prosecutor reportedly cited his trade union activities as evidence against him, and referred to a meeting he had held with officials from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in April 2004, shortly before the May Day demonstrations.

In line with Article 21 of the ICCRP which guarantees the right to freedom of association, including the right to form and join trade unions, the Iranian authorities should also review and amend legislation and practices which ban independent trade unions and which allow the exclusion of candidates for election to workers’ bodies on discriminatory selection criteria.

Background
Independent trade unions are banned in Iran. Under Iranian labour legislation, workers are allowed to form Islamic Labour Councils (ILCs) in companies with more than 50 workers. They are not, however, permitted to set up any other labour organization. The ILCs’ remit does not include defending the terms and conditions of their members. Those standing for leadership positions in the ILCs must first be vetted and approved, and may be disqualified, by an official selection body under discriminatory selection criteria known as gozinesh.

Background
Public Document
************************************************ For more information please call Amnesty International’s press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK www.amnesty.org

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May Day 2009 and Freedom for Imprisoned Trade Unionists in Iran

Around the world, for over one hundred years, workers and their trade unions have celebrated May Day – International Labour Day. It is the day on which workers internationally show their shared commitment to justice and freedom. Since the first International May Day in 1890, it has been celebrated in public gatherings but also in jails and prisons – for there are still governments which forbid unofficial gatherings on the first of May.

Iran is one such country. For years, workers attempting public May Day demonstrations have been harassed, beaten, and jailed. For the past two years, workers and labour rights supporters seeking to organize May Day gatherings have been sentenced to public whippings. Mahmoud Salehi, leader of an independent bakers union in Iran’s Kurdistan province, served one year in prison for attempting to organize a public rally on May Day 2004.

The government-sponsored ‘Workers’ House or Islamic Labour Councils organize annual official ceremonies on the first of May, designed for workers to speak about the things officials like to hear rather than the real issues they face. But free trade unions are illegal in Iran and independent trade unionists have always been prevented from joining this ceremony.

Repression of trade unions in Iran

But it isn’t just for celebrating May Day that trade unionists are attacked in Iran. All expressions of free trade unionism face the prospect of repression.

In June 2008, five thousand workers at the Haft Tapeh Sugar Company in the southern city of Shush formed an independent trade union following a 46-day strike for the payment of 6 months’ back wages. On December 20, 5 elected leaders of their union were charged with “endangering national security” and “anti-government propaganda” in connection with the strike and the formation of the union. Following a low turnout to the February 24, 2009 election to the Islamic Labour Council at Haft Tapeh, union officers were arrested again, including Haft Tapeh union President Ali Nejati. As a result of pressure from his work mates and trade unionists globally, Nejati was freed on bail following 45 days’ detention – 33 of them in solitary confinement. On March 14, Ali Nejati and 4 other Haft Tapeh union leaders were sentenced to one year imprisonment.

Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, leaders of the Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, are currently serving five-and three and a half-year sentences, respectively, solely for their union activity. In his current prison term, Osanloo has been harshly treated and denied essential medical treatment. Just weeks before the establishment of the union in 2005, activists including Osanloo were attacked severely by company thugs and members of the government sponsored organizations. Some workers remain unfairly dismissed after supporting union actions. Teacher and trade unionist Farzad Kamangar, in detention since July 2006, was sentenced to death in February 2008 and transferred to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.

All trade union activists currently imprisoned in Iran solely for their peaceful, legitimate trade union activities must be released immediately, and charges unconditionally dropped against all those facing jail.

This year’s May Day

Inside and outside Iran, individuals and organizations have campaigned for the release of these imprisoned workers’ leaders, who are struggling for the advancement of basic trade union rights in Iran and for worker and human rights everywhere.

The government of Iran is intensifying its repression against independent trade unionists ahead of May Day 2009 and the June presidential elections.

As we near May Day 2009, EI, ITF ITUC and IUF again wish to draw international attention to our common struggle in support of fundamental labour and trade union rights in Iran. The right of workers to organize, to bargain collectively with employers and the right to strike are essential human rights as enshrined in the ILO Conventions. Workers in Iran must be free to exercise these rights that workers everywhere are entitled to. We call on the authorities to let workers in Iran freely join their sisters and brothers around the globe in celebrating this May Day, and we demand the immediate and unconditional release of, Mansour Osanloo, Ebrahim Madadi, Farzad Kamangar and all other Iranians currently imprisoned or facing imprisonment for attempting to exercise their fundamental rights as workers and trade unionists.

April 27, 2009

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) Education International (EI) International TransportWorkers’ Federation (ITF) International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

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Trade union leader arrested

Amnesty.org.uk

Trade unionist Ali Nejati was arrested on 8 March by Ministry of Intelligence officers, following a raid on his home on 28 February. He appears to have been taken to a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in the province of Khuzestan.

Amnesty considers him a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association.

Ali Nejati is one of the leaders of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company (HTSCC) Trade Union. On 20 December 2008 he was reportedly charged with “acting against national security” and “spreading propaganda against the regime”, in connection with interviews he and other trade union leaders gave to foreign journalists about working conditions at the plant.

The interviews took place during May Day protests in 2008 against the HTSCC’s repeated failure to pay its workers on time – it sometimes delayed payment for up to five months – and other violations of their employment rights.

On 20 May 2008 he was ordered to present himself for questioning at a court in the town of Shoush, Khuzestan. He was subsequently brought to trial in two court hearings on 17 and 23 February 2009, but it is not known whether a verdict has been issued.

Background information
Seven other HTSCC trade unionists were arrested and detained between 22 February and 3 March 2009, but all were subsequently released on bail by 7 March. Four of them were tried with Ali Nejati on 17 and 23 February, on similar charges.

One of them has received a sentence, the details of which are not known to Amnesty International, while the other three, like Ali Nejati, do not know if a verdict has been issued against them.

The arrests took place after HTSCC workers had refused to take part in elections on 22 February for the company’s Islamic Labour Council (ILC), a government-sponsored organization that controls and represses independent labour activities in the company.

The HTSCC Trade Union was formed on 22 October 2008, when its board members were elected, and is only the second independent union to be formed in Iran since the Islamic Revolution.

In the course of 2008, more than 1,900 HTSCC workers had called for the dissolution of the company’s ILC and for the creation of such an independent labour body. HTSCC workers had set up a trade union in 1973, but in the early 1980s the authorities banned it when the creation of free and independent labour organizations was prohibited.

The HTSCC Trade Union held elections without the permission of the Ministry of Labour, which, together with the Ministries of Industry and Intelligence, has told the HTSCC that it does not recognize the union. This lack of official status puts the union’s members at risk of prosecution.

Under Iranian labour legislation, workers are allowed to form Islamic Labour Councils (ILCs) in companies with more than 50 workers. They are not, however, permitted to set up any other labour organization.

The ILCs’ objectives, under 2001 legislation, are mainly to “propagate and spread Islamic culture, and defend the achievements of the Islamic Revolution”; set up Friday prayers; recite and pay tribute to religious slogans; “establish meetings for sermons, religious discourse and lectures, on various occasions”; and “endeavour to enrich the times of rest for the workers and their families”.

Defending the terms and conditions of their members’ employment does not fall within their remit.

Those permitted to stand for leadership positions in the ILCs are vetted and approved by an official selection body.

Trade unionist Ali Nejati was arrested on 8 March by Ministry of Intelligence officers, following a raid on his home on 28 February. He appears to have been taken to a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in the province of Khuzestan.

Amnesty considers him a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association.

Ali Nejati is one of the leaders of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company (HTSCC) Trade Union. On 20 December 2008 he was reportedly charged with “acting against national security” and “spreading propaganda against the regime”, in connection with interviews he and other trade union leaders gave to foreign journalists about working conditions at the plant.

The interviews took place during May Day protests in 2008 against the HTSCC’s repeated failure to pay its workers on time – it sometimes delayed payment for up to five months – and other violations of their employment rights.

On 20 May 2008 he was ordered to present himself for questioning at a court in the town of Shoush, Khuzestan. He was subsequently brought to trial in two court hearings on 17 and 23 February 2009, but it is not known whether a verdict has been issued.

Urge the Iranian authorities to release Ali Nejati immediately. Ask them to ensure that Ali Nejati is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated.

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IUF Uniting Food, Farm and Hotel Workers World-Wide

Stop Repression of Iranian Sugar Workers’ Union!
Posted to the IUF website 18-Feb-2009
Statement of solidarity with the workers of Iran

An independent workers union in southern Iran is challenging a legal case against them by the Revolutionary Court and they need your support, now.

In June last year, five thousand workers at the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Plantation and Industry Company in the Iranian city of Shush formed an independent trade union following a 46-day strike. Official organizations created by the government (Workers House and Islamic Labour Council) have for years utterly failed to protect the workers and their conditions. The Haft Tapeh workers have had to resort to repeated strike action to fight for their basic workplace rights, including regular payment of wages.

The strike last year began when thousands of workers from every department downed tools to protest two months without wages. A petition to the provincial labour department with thousands of signatures triggered mass arrests and repeated interventions by police, security forces and Revolutionary Guards. A mass demonstration on June 16 by workers and their families ending at an assembly which elected officers of an independent trade union. The Haft Tapeh union is now a member of the IUF.

Now the government is seeking to crush the union through potentially lengthy prison sentences for 5 elected leaders, charged with acting against “national security” in connection with last year’s strike and the formation of the union. The five leaders are Ali Nejati, President, Feridoun Nikoufard, Vice President, Mohammed Heydari Mehr, Representative for Industry Affairs, Ghorban Alipour, Secretary, and Jalil Ahmadi, Member of the Board of Directors.

The 5 elected union leaders were summoned to the Revolutionary Court on December 20, 2008 and charged with acting against national security.The IUF and unions worldwide have condemned these charges as groundless and called on the government to immediately and unconditionally drop the charges. . Other independent union leaders in Iran, including Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi of the Tehran Bus Union, have been imprisoned on the same charges..

The verdict was scheduled to be delivered on February 17 in a typically despotic and arbitrary manner by the court – the plaintiff did not even bother to appear before the judge nor present serious “evidence”. However, the determination of the union leaders and their lawyer turned what was scheduled to have been a perfunctory sentencing into a five hour debate whose only conclusion was to continue the hearing. The next session is scheduled for February 22.

The union thanks all those who have written the government over the past few weeks. However, additional pressure is urgently needed to get the authorities to unconditionally drop all charges. CLICK HERE to send a message to the Iranian state and judicial authorities, calling on them to immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against the Haft Tapeh union leaders.

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Iran one year on: Osanloo still jailed, workers still oppressed

A year to the day since his violent arrest the ITF, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Amnesty International are calling on the world not to forget jailed Iranian trade unionist Mansour Osanloo.
Through their publications, websites and memberships the three organisations are once again pledging that Osanloo will not be forgotten and demanding his release. Their call comes as a year elapses since he was snatched off a bus in Tehran on 10 July 2007 in an arrest the authorities initially denied had even taken place – and as a currently unconfirmed report says that yesterday instead of being escorted to a hospital appointment he was instead taken for arraignment at the Intelligence Court.
In a statement calling for solidarity with Osanloo and all Iranian workers the ITF, ITUC and Amnesty International also state that Osanloo’s union, the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, must be recognised as a legitimate expression of its members’ needs, and that the deliberate attempt to crush independent trade unions must cease.

10 July 2008

Statement of solidarity with the workers of Iran

Exactly a year ago today, Mansour Osanloo, President of the ITF-affiliated Vahed Syndicate – the Tehran Bus Workers’ Union – was brutally removed from a bus near his home in Tehran by unidentified security personnel. This happened only three weeks after his attendance at international union meetings organised by the ITF and the ITUC in London and Brussels.

Worldwide condemnation led by trade unions and human rights activists, together with Iranian community groups, against the Iranian government for their blatant abuse of workers’ rights was strong and immediate. This international protest grew substantially over the months to culminate in a global action day on 6 March 2008. More protests continue to this day.

On 5 June 2008, Mansour Osanloo released a statement that he had been “severely beaten, insulted and abused” during the incident. While in prison he has endured very harsh and possibly disproportionately arduous treatment along with severe psychological pressure.

This ill treatment has had a negative effect on his health. We deplore the fact that he remains in Evin Prison despite repeated appeals from his doctors that he be allowed to receive proper outside treatment for an eye condition related to a previous attack on him. We are also alarmed at a report today that he may have been diverted from a prearranged hospital appointment and instead taken to court for a further arraignment, the details of which are, at the time of writing, not known. If true, its timing underscores our concern that the authorities are determined to continue to repress the union and the independent workers’ movement in Iran while ignoring the basic human dignity Mansour Osanloo should be accorded.

Mansour Osanloo was sentenced to five years imprisonment on vaguely worded and politically motivated charges of ‘acting against national security’ and ‘propaganda against the state’, neither of which constitutes, in practice, recognisably criminal offences.

His imprisonment is related to his activities as President of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company. The sentence serves to oppress the genuine workers’ movement in Iran, where state-sanctioned organisations such as the Workers’ House and the Islamic Labour Council have failed to represent workers for many years.

Mansour Osanloo and his union continue to act peacefully and democratically. We recognise Mansour Osanloo is a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned for his conscientiously held beliefs. On this anniversary day, we once again call for the immediate and unconditional release of Mansour Osanloo.

We urge Iran’s judicial authorities to release Gholamreza Gholamhosseini. He is an executive board member of the union and was arrested on 24 June for visiting Shirodi Stadium in Tehran to join an Iranian Women’s Day event. He was sent to Evin Prison on the following day by Judge Hassan Dehghan Dehnavi, who declared that “Gholamhosseini is not charged with any crime, but should be detained for an indefinite period whilst his case is investigated”, a decision that contravenes Article 9(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states that “it shall not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody”.

We also urge the Iranian government to recognise the Vahed Syndicate as a genuine workers’ organisation and to end its repression of the union. We fear that those who have either been dismissed from their jobs or not allowed to return to work for their alleged involvement in the strike action in January 2006 are being further punished for their peaceful trade union activities and for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association. The Iranian authorities should halt this practice and not permit unfair dismissals.

The ITUC, ITF and Amnesty International welcome the tireless efforts of Vahed Syndicate members and its Executive Board in organising bus workers in Tehran. Despite the obstacles put in their way by the management and the authorities, the Vahed Syndicate’s members exemplify how trade union rights are human rights.

We express our deep concern over the acceleration of oppression against the independent workers’ movement in Iran. In addition to abductions and imprisonment of union leaders, mass arrests continue at worksites where genuine union activism is growing, as we have seen recently with the detention of 20 workers at the Taft Hapeh sugar factory. The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions reports that in April, 100 workers at the Kian Tyre factory, near Chahardangeh were attacked with electronic batons and were detained for 36 hours. Teacher trade unionists have increasingly been targeted and subject to arrests according to Education International.

We express our profound appreciation to all those individuals and organisations, both inside Iran and across the globe, who have worked continuously to win freedom for Mansour Osanloo, and equally importantly, to promote the independent workers’ movement in Iran.

We issue this statement on the first anniversary of Mansour Osanloo’s arbitrary arrest to reaffirm our unwavering support for him and for the independent Iranian trade union movement. We must all join forces to achieve our common objective: that workers in Iran be able to enjoy the basic human and trade union rights that all workers are entitled to, no matter where they live. Workers’ rights are human rights.

10 July 2008

International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)
Amnesty International ENDS

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The NDP joins the Teamsters Union and demands the release of Mansour Osanlou

Teamsters CANADA

03-06-2008

In a letter sent to the Iranian Head of State—the Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei—NDP leader Jack Layton expresses his indignation following the imprisonment of Iranian unionist Mansour Osanlou. Mr. Osanlou was arrested a few months ago while preparing a strike to protest against the working conditions of Teheran bus drivers.

The New Democrats thus share the same preoccupations and indignation as the Liberal Party of Canada, which recently raised the issue in the House of Commons.

The Teamsters Union has been taking part in efforts aimed at obtaining the release of the Iranian unionist for the past few months now.

“I personally wrote to Mr. Khamenei in this respect,” points out the president of Teamsters Canada, Robert Bouvier. “Our members are concerned by Mr. Osanlou’s sad fate and we will not give up until we have secured his release.”

Hundreds of thousands of people will take to the streets of cities in 41 countries today, March 6, 2008 , to protest against the treatment of Mansour Osanlou by the Iranian authorities.

Information: Phil Benson (613-292-9786) and Stéphane Lacroix (514-609-5101)

 

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Unions join forces in action day for imprisoned Iranian trade unionist

International Transport Workers’ Federation

27 February 2008

Hundreds of thousands of trade unionists across the world will unite in a day of action next week to call for the release of Iranian bus workers’ union leader Mansour Osanloo.

Events on 6 March will take place worldwide, including London, UK, where trade unionists and human rights activists will participate in a demonstration outside the Iranian embassy. The ITF campaign day, supported by the UK trade union movement as well as Amnesty International, will also see a red double decker bus visit London protest sites during the day.

Solidarity actions, including demonstrations, will also be held at Iranian embassies, in cities, railway stations and at border crossings in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ethiopia, Cote d’Ivoire, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mali, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand and Turkey. Other countries are planning activities.

The “free Osanloo day” is receiving particular backing from railway workers and their unions who have voted to dedicate a planned rail action day – which traditionally promotes rail safety – to campaigning on Osanloo’s behalf.

David Cockroft, ITF General Secretary, commented: “The Iranian government’s continuing mistreatment of Mansour is a running sore. He has asked only for his basic rights and has been answered with fists, truncheons and manacles – but he has not been forgotten. On 6 March we will once again prove that he has friends and supporters around the world.”

Mansour Osanloo is President of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, which has been targeted by the Iranian authorities. He is being held in Tehran’s Evin prison on trumped up charges. The ITF and International Trade Union Confederation have spearheaded the campaign to defend him and he has been declared a prisoner of conscience by Anmesty International.

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Paying with their lives to organise independently

By: Jamshid Ettehadieh

Published in: International Union Rights (IUR) the publication of the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR), Vol. 14, Issue 3, “007 In May 2005 the former president reached an agreement with the ILO to align the Labour Code with the ILO’s fundamental principles.

On 14 March 2007 the security forces in Tehran arrested more than 1000 teachers who had dared to stage a peaceful protest demonstration to demand their basic rights including higher salaries and better conditions of service. The riot police and security forces using batons violently dispersed thousands of teachers and arresting many. The brutal action was the regime’s response to two weeks of continuous protest in front of the Iranian parliament. ILNA news agency reported that plain cloth police arrested Ali Akbar Baghani, the head of Iran’s Teachers Union, while he was teaching.

The teachers’ experience is not unique or isolated. Members and activists of The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) – SWTSBC – received the heavy hand of the law enforcement agencies of the theocratic regime just for demanding their rights to organise their own independent trade union. The president of SWTSBC, Mansour Osanlou, has been arrested and beaten up on many occasions and is currently languishing in Evin prison since 10 July. His only crime is daring to campaign for the formation of independent trade union rights.

SWTSBC was formed in 1968 but was disbanded by the Islamic regime in the early 1980s as part of an anti labour drive. Instead, a Workers’ House and Islamic Labour Council were formed by the government and the company. In 2003, activists began to re-establish their independent union. The majority of the employees of the Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) support SWTSBC. In January 2006 hundreds of bus workers and their trade union leaders were arrested for staging a peaceful strike demanding better pay and recognition of their trade union. The entire leadership of SWTSBC were arrested.

International trade union organisations have repeatedly criticised the Iranian regime for its total disregard for international conventions including Conventions 87 and 98. Absence of independent trade union organisations in Iran has repeatedly attracted criticism from the ILO and international trade union organisations. In 2004 the government of Mohammad Khatami concerned about international criticisms about regime’s undemocratic practices in relation to workers organisations signalled a change of attitude. It started formal negotiation with the ILO and undertook to recognise its key conventions guaranteeing Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (Convention 87) and Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Collective Bargaining (Convention 98). During the negotiations with the ILO, spanning 2004-5, the two sides agreed that the sixth chapter of the Iranian Labour Code is in contravention of ILO conventions guaranteeing freedom of association and right to organise in the workplace, and should be amended. The 1990 labour code stipulates that ‘the workers … may establish Islamic Societies and associations’ at a workplace. The regime only tolerates the operation and activities of the Islamic Labour Councils, which consist of representatives of the workers, management and the ministry of labour. Once an ILC is organised in any workplace, then no other workers’ organisation can be established. The ILC is essentially a body for the management and government to exercise control in the workplace.

The other ‘workers’ organisation tolerated by the regime is the ‘Workers House’ which provides a channel for the government to control the workers and their demands. The activities of ILCs and the Workers House are designed in order to contain and control workers’ discontent. There have been numerous occasions when officials of ILCs and Workers House have openly cooperated with suppressive organs of the regime to oppose independent worker actions and suppress trade unionists. An official ILO delegation which visited Tehran in 2004 noted the absence of trade union freedoms in the country and in its report stated: “Islamic Labour Councils ….. could not be regarded as genuine trade unions”. The ILO delegation further reported that article 131 of the Labour Code and its appendices should be amended to prevent undemocratic and monopolistic practices in matters concerned with the workers organisations. They argued that in order for the Labour Code to be aligned with the specific provisions of ILO Conventions 87 and 98, a number of articles of the Code should to be changed. One such change recommended was amending the note No. 4 of Article 131 of the Code concerning workers organisation. The other recommendations concerned Articles 135 and 137 that implicitly give representation rights to ILCs. In May 2005 the former Iranian reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, reached an agreement with the ILO to amend the Labour Code in order to align it with the ILO’s fundamental regulations. During a visit by Juan Somavia, ILO Director General, to Tehran, the Iranian government undertook to incorporate the right to form independent trade unions in the Labour Code.

However, the change of government in June 2005 aborted the process of aligning the Labour Code with the ILO conventions. The new government has shown itself hostile to any meaningful role for trade unions and workers organisations and has declared a war against any form of effective workplace organisation. The brutal break up of the peaceful protest demonstration of teachers earlier this year and the arrest of well known trade union leaders are designed to frighten off workers. Even ILCs and the Workers Houses have been put under pressure by the government. The regime has tried to establish its own ‘Islamic Workers Associations’ with functions of reporting suspicious activities and acting as the eyes and ears of the government to guard against any form of industrial action.

But despite these difficulties, the long struggle of Iranian trade union activists for their rights has continued. A number of independent trade unions have started organising workers and continue to demand changes to the labour code. The Board for Establishment of Trade Unions, formed by experienced and well-respected trade union cadres and leaders has spearheaded the campaign for the formation and development of independent trade union organisations in the country. It has called for the recognition of the activities and functioning of trade unions and workers representatives in all industrial, agricultural and services industries in chapter 6 of the Labour Code. Furthermore it has called for important changes in article 136 of the Labour Code to reflect the principles of freedom of association (Convention 87) and the operation of collective bargaining (Convention 98). The board demands that the labour code should stipulate that the representatives of Iranian workers in ILO and all other national and international bodies should be elected by workers and free from any manipulation by the government or the management. It considers any interference in the affairs of trade unions by government or the management as contrary to ILO Convention 87 and calls for an end to all such practices.

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Osanloo sentence ‘appals world opinion’

2007.10.30

Commenting on news that Iranian trade union leader Mansour Osanloo has been sentenced to five years imprisonment ITF General Secretary David Cockroft said: “We have just heard that an injured, victimised trade unionist has been condemned to jail on charges that would be laughable if they weren’t so serious.”

“For two years Mansour Osanloo has fought back against the Iranian regime’s brutality. Now they are trying to crush him with spurious accusations of endangering national security and criticising the regime. We know – the world knows – that Mansour’s only crime in their eyes is to have asserted his right to belong to a trade union.”

He continued: “This sentence appals world opinion. Mansour has been an example to us all and to see him treated this way – beaten, arrested, rearrested, intimidated and nearly blinded – brings shame on the government of Iran. We have tried to reason with them and detected at least some sympathy for what he stands for, but that has now clearly been overruled by the hardliners.”

“The international trade union movement, including across the Islamic world, has fought all the way for Mansour and his colleagues and we will continue to do so. We will be alerting them now, along with the International Labour Organization, before planning a new wave of protests.”

He concluded: “If the government get away with this then they will hand out the same treatment to Mansour’s deputy, Ebrahim Madadi, and all of the 17,000 members of the union will be at risk.”

Mansour Osanloo, 47, is the President of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) trade union, which has been violently repressed by the Iranian authorities. Osanloo has been made a particular target for imprisonment and brutal attacks. He is currently being held in Evin prison in Tehran. See www.freeosanloo.org  for further information. A short film on the Osanloo case can be seen atwww.itfglobal.org/campaigns/osanloo-film.cfm ENDS

For more information contact ITF press officer, Sam Dawson.
Direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260.
Email: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk

International Transport Workers’ Federation – ITF:
HEAD OFFICE
ITF House, 49 – 60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DS
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7403 2733
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7375 7871
Email: mail@itf.org.uk
Web: www.itfglobal.org

 

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An Online Campaign

2007.10.18

Mansour Osanloo, the jailed leader of the bus workers’ union in Tehran, faces the possible loss of his eyesight unless he receives urgent medical attention — which the Iranian authorities are denying him.

Amnesty International has just now launched an online campaign calling on the Iranian government to allow Osanloo to receive medical attention. I urge all of you to sent off your messages today. The Iranian government must be made aware that the world is watching.

The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), which has spearheaded the international campaign in defense of Osanloo, has now produced a short film entitled “Freedom Will Come” which tells his story. It can beviewed online on YouTube, and will shortly be available as a DVD as well.

Unless he receives urgent hospital treatment, the Evin prison doctor has told Mansour Ossanlu he may lose his sight within two weeks. The prison authorities have claimed, falsely, that he has been given medical treatment.

Amnesty International – Iran: Urgent Action

When a delegation of visiting Indonesian trade unionists, and later his wife, tried to visit Mansour Ossanlu at Evin prison on 9 October, the prison authorities claimed that he had been taken to hospital for urgent medical treatment for injuries he had sustained at the hands of the security forces in May 2005. His wife was eventually able to see him on 15 October, when he told her he had received no medical treatment at all.

Prisoner of conscience Mansour Ossanlu, leader of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), was arrested on 10 July 2007. He was previously detained for eight months, from December 2005 to August 2006, and again for a month from November to December 2006 in connection with his trade union activities. He had reportedly been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in May 2007, but was believed to be free on bail at the time of his arrest.

In February 2007 he travelled to Europe to build international support for an independent trade union movement in Iran.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Independent trade unions are not permitted in Iran, and discriminatory legislation means that certain categories of people are not permitted to stand for election as workers’ representatives of government-recognised unions; government supervisory bodies select who can stand for union posts, and all public sector jobs. Trades unions in Iran are represented by a body known as Workers House, whose leaders are also subject to selection criteria imposed by the state, weakening its ability to effectively represent workers’ concerns. The Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, which resumed activities in 2004 after a 25-year ban, is still not legally recognised.

Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 22 (1) of which states: “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests.” Article 26 of Iran’s Constitution states: “The formation of parties, societies, political or professional associations…is permitted provided they do not violate the principles of independence, freedom, national unity, the criteria of Islam, or the basis of the Islamic republic. No one may be prevented from participating in the aforementioned groups, or be compelled to participate in them.” Similar guarantees are provided under International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions.

On 16 October, the International Transport Federation (ITF) labour organisation released a film entitled Freedom Will Come – the Story of Mansour Osanloo, intended for global distribution in order to galvanise the campaign to free Mansour Ossanlu and his colleague Ebrahim Madadi, and to protect the right of Iranian workers to join trade unions. The ITF plan to make the film available on its own website (see: http://www.itfglobal.org/solidarity/osanloo2.cfm) and YouTube. During International Road Transport Action Week 2007, from 15 October 2007, the ITF is calling on its member unions, and in particular bus drivers, to wear badges calling for Mansour Ossanlu to be released.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian or your own language:
– urging the authorities to ensure that Mansour Ossanlu is seen by a qualified doctor and receives urgent treatment by an eye specialist;
– reminding them that every prisoner has the right to adequate medical attention and that they are responsible for prisoners’ wellbeing;
– expressing concern that he appears to be held solely on account of his peaceful trade union activities, in which case he should be released immediately and unconditionally;
– asking why Mansour Ossanlu was rearrested on 10 July, and asking for details of any charges he is facing;
– urging the authorities to ensure that he is given immediate and regular access to his lawyers, and his family;
– reminding the authorities of their obligations under ICCPR Article 22 (1) and ILO conventions 87 and 98, which provide for the right to form and join trade unions.

APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic Street – Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:                 info@leader.ir
Salutation:        Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax:                 +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email:                 info@dadgostary-tehran.ir(In the subject line: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation:         Your Excellency

COPIES TO:
Alireza Mahjoub, Director, Workers House
Enghlab Street – Daneshgah Street
Ravan-e Mehr Crossroads,Tehran, Iran
Salutation:         Dear Sir

Director, Evin Prison
Chamran Highway
Adjacent to Azadi Hotel
Dasht Behesht Street, Tehran, Iran
Email:                 evin@tehranprisons.ir
Salutation:         Dear Sir

Head of the Parliamentary Article 90 Commission
Mohammad Reza Faker
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami
Baharestan Square, Tehran, Iran
Fax:                 +98 21 3355 6408
Salutation:         Dear Sir

and to diplomatic representatives of  Iran accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 27 November 2007.

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Iran government lies over Osanloo eye emergency

International Transport Workers’ Federation

2007.10.16

The ITF has learned that imprisoned Iranian trade unionist Mansour Osanloo is in danger of losing his sight following the latest government ploy to silence him.

Despite government promises Osanloo has not received the emergency treatment that he desperately needs to treat injuries to his eyes sustained when he was assaulted by government security forces two years ago – even though the prison doctor has admitted that if he is not treated within the next two weeks he could go blind.

Just a week ago Hanafi Rustandi, President of the Indonesian KPI union, flew to Iran on the ITF’s behalf to visit Osanloo in prison. He was told the reason he couldn’t see Osanloo was because he was receiving the urgent medical treatment he needed. Shortly afterwards the same excuse was used to block a visit to Osanloo by his wife, Parvenah.

ITF General Secretary David Cockroft described the news as “a sordid ploy by the government to isolate Mansour and punish him for having the audacity to ask for his trade union rights”.

He continued: “The fight for Mansour and his colleagues continues. Fresh on the heels of Hanafi’s visit to Iran and the ITF-ETF demonstration at its embassy in Brussels yesterday comes the release today of a short ITF film that is the latest tool in our worldwide campaigning against what is happening in Iran.”

As well as being distributed among the international trade union movement, the new film, Freedom Will Come – the Story of Mansour Osanloo, can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in-vF2LvITk and by following the link at www.itfglobal.org/solidarity/osanloo2.cfm

Mansour Osanloo, 47, is the President of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), which has been violently repressed by the Iranian authorities. Osanloo has been made a particular target for imprisonment and brutal attacks and is currently being held in Evin prison in Tehran. Ebrahim Madadi, Vice President of the union, has also been detained and is know to be in poor health and suffering from diabetes.

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Iran: Ahmadinejad to be criticised over unionists’ detention at regional summit in Bishkek

2007.08.27

Brussels, 16 August 2007: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is likely to face unexpected criticism of his government’s human rights record today, when he attends the annual summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan. National trade union organisations in a number of SCO states have renewed pressure on Iran to release two detained labour leaders, Mansour Ossanloo and Mahmoud Salehi. The initiative forms part of a worldwide trade union campaign aimed at securing freedom for the two prisoners, kicked off last week with trade unions taking action in over 30 countries worldwide. The ITUC said in Brussels today that the campaign was already showing results and vowed to keep up pressure on Iran, together with the London-based International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and their affiliated organisations throughout the world.

The Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan, which enjoys associated status with the Brussels-based ITUC, yesterday wrote to the President of Kyrgyzstan, Mr. Kurmanbek Bakiev, asking him to “make President Ahmadinejad aware of the serious concern of Kyrgyzstan workers” about the two imprisoned Iranian trade unionists and to “insist that Iran follow the rules of international law, since these rules are the basis of any international co-operation”. Meanwhile, Russia’s 28 million-strong trade union confederation FNPR (affiliated to ITUC) protested in similar terms last week to the Iranian authorities and the country’s two other ITUC affiliates, VKT and KTR, reiterated these demands on the occasion of the SCO summit. Similar trade union action has taken place in India and Pakistan. The SCO, established in June 2001, brings together Russia, China and the four Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadzhikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, which is seeking full SCO membership, takes part in the Bishkek Summit in an observer capacity, as do Mongolia, India and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the ITUC and ITF welcomed the fact that Mansour Ossanloo, detained in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, had been allowed to make a phone call to his wife last Monday and to meet his lawyers on Tuesday. According to one of his lawyers, Yussef Moulaye, his client, who is President of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company Drivers’ Union (Syndika Sherkat-e Vahed), was in good psychological and physical shape, though he still bore marks of a severe beating incurred during his arrest, on 10 July 2007. The meeting also confirmed that Ossanloo was in possession of official union correspondence at the time of his arrest. Tehran justice officials claim he was detained for distributing “anti-regime pamphlets” and maintain that his union is “illegal”.

The ITUC said however it remained very concerned at the lack of progress in the case of Mahmoud Salehi, former President of the Bakery Workers’ Association in Saqez (Iran’s Kurdistan Province) and co-founder of a Committee to Establish Workers’ Organisations. Salehi, who has been sentenced for meeting with an international trade union delegation and organising a May Day demonstration in 2004, is being refused medical care in the prison of Sanandaj, capital of Kurdistan Province. The ITUC also condemned the detention of at least seven trade union and human rights’ activists last week, when they had attempted to visit Mansour Ossanloo’s house in Tehran, as part of a solidarity event convened by the Sherkat-e Vahed trade union to coincide with the ITF-ITUC International Day of Action on Iran on 9 August.

“We will maintain pressure on Iran’s government until all our colleagues are released and Iranian trade unionists are allowed to carry out their legitimate activities without fear of threats, intimidation or arrest”, ITUC Deputy General Secretary Jaap Wienen said in Brussels today. “Our Bishkek operation is part of that campaign, and President Ahmadinejad is likely to keep hearing from us wherever he goes, until Mansour, Mahmoud and their colleagues are free and allowed to resume their trade union work unhindered “, he added.

Founded on 1 November 2006, the ITUC represents 168 million workers in 153 countries and territories and has 305 national affiliates. Website: www.ituc-csi.org For more information, please contact:

In Brussels: ITUC Press Department on +32 2 224 0204 or +32 472.426.482 (Margarita Tuch). In Moscow: +79166910826 (Andre Mrost, Director, ITUC Moscow Office)

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Interview with Iranian trade union leader Mansour Osanloo

2007.06.15

On Friday 15 June, LabourStart editor Eric Lee interviewed Iranian trade union leader Mansour Osanloo (pictured) at the global headquarters of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) in London. The interview lasts two minutes — the first minute is Osanloo speaking in Farsi followed by one minute of translation into English. To listen to the interview in MP3 format, click here.

In the interview, Osanloo calls on trade unionists around the world to support the embattled Iranian unions with needed equipment such as cameras, printers, copiers — and money.

Osanloo, the president of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, was the subject of a LabourStart campaign last year.

For more about Osanloo’s visit, check out the ITF website’s coverage.

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Trade union rights are our rights, says Iranian union leader

2007.06.14

The persecuted leader of an Iranian bus workers’ union, Mansour Osanloo, yesterday told fellow transport workers that the struggle for trade union rights in Iran would continue.

Osanloo who has been repeatedly attacked and arrested for his trade union involvement, was speaking at the ITF’s three-day annual Road Transport Section meeting in London, UK. There had been fears that he would be detained in Tehran and prevented from making the trip to the UK.

During the meeting, Osanloo described how members of the ITF-affiliated bus workers’ union, Sandikaye Kargarane Sherkate Vahed (Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company), were suffering at the hands of their employers and the Iranian government. He told delegates that members of the union had been arrested more than 10 times; their family members, including young children had also been beaten, arrested and subjected to inhumane treatment.

However, support from the ITF and trade unions around the world was crucial. “Perhaps our government may not recognise us yet but it’s important that the ITF and trade unions around the world recognise us. We are proud to have your support.” Referring to the murdered Guatemalan dockers’ union leader, he said: “We are continuing this fight for people like Pedro Zamora. We are fighting on behalf of workers in countries like Colombia and Iraq, who are living in a difficult situation.

“Our slogan this year is that independent trade unionism is our right. This is based on what is in the Iranian constitution, which recognises trade union rights,” he stated.

ITF General Secretary David Cockroft reiterated the ITF’s support for the union and said: “We would like to see the principles of independent trade unionism applied universally. We see no reason why Iran should be an exception.”

Osanloo will also be speaking about the plight of the bus workers at the International Trade Union Confederation’s general council meeting in Belgium next week.

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May Day in Tehran

2007.05.27

Despite the regime’s opposition, Iranian workers were able to hold a limited commemoration of May Day this year in Tehran. The “House of Labour”, the regime controlled workers’ centre, attempted to ensure that the May Day event was sanitised and within the accepted norms laid down by the regime. The “House of Labour” does not have the support of the vast majority of the workers who continue to struggle to establish independent trades unions and workers associations. The “House of Labour”, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour headed by Mohammad Jahromi, accepted that the May Day event should be confined to a sports stadium.

On the way to the designated venue however, participants formed into a march chanting slogans demanding improved living standards and wages. The marching workers were cheered on by the bystanders. Most of those on the march were unable to enter the stadium and were forced to disperse. Those inside were chanting the slogan “resign…resign Jahromi”, demanding the resignation of the Minister of Labour.

At the end of the May Day gathering, the workers issued a statement declaring: “1st May commemorates workers struggles against the injustice of the capitalist system and their yearning for freedom and human rights. On this day, workers all over the world warn the capitalist system that it must fairly take into account the contribution of labour in distributing the created wealth and living standards. Otherwise, they [capitalists] must await the consequences, and this is a warning that all governments and capitalists must take seriously.”

In their statement, the workers urged the resolution of a range of problems including demands that the regime address, “the establishment of independent trade unions, massive unemployment, wage inequalities and promotion of equal employment opportunities for women.”

The Iranian government is facing a growing economic crisis. Despite Ahmadinejad’s populist promises the regime has been unable to deliver any real improvements. In fact, indicators show a worsening of living standards for all sections of Iranians workers. The reaction of Ahmadinejad’s government is to suppress any protest. This has included the violent attack by the security forces against the demonstrating teachers on 2nd May, in front of the parliament building.

The regime claims to protect Iran’s national interest but the reality is that it’s international policies continue to provide US imperialism with pretexts to threaten Iran. At the same time the government is steadfast in opposing any attempts to organise the growing labour movement. It is ironic that the main thrust of the regime’s economic programme is based on privatisation and deregulation of the labour market in line with neo-liberal policies advocated by the US.

The labour movement in Iran faces many difficulties. However, it is continuing to grow into an effective social force within the popular movement struggling against the ruling dictatorship.

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Interview with Mansur Osanlou

2007.05.13

Mansur Osanlou heads the executive committee of the Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (sherkat-e vahed) union. In December 2005 he was arrested and in the following January other members of the executive of the Union and some family members were arrested, beaten and imprisoned after their unofficial union called a strike for the right to independent trade unions. He was only released in August after national and international pressure, but was rearrested later in December 2006. He is now freed on bail and awaiting his trial charged with “acting against national security and disturbing public order”. Below we publish a recent interview with Mansur Osanlou specially edited for publication by CODIR.

Q: Thank you for agreeing to the interview. Your union has indicated that while the official poverty level in Iran is an income of 4,000,000 rials per month (approximately £ 220), the official minimum wage for the current year is set at 1,830,000 rials (approximately £100) per month. How do workers address this situation?

Osanlou: Workers are forced to take on two or three jobs, do overtime, their wives have to work, and their children are forced to leave school to work. Because of the appalling costs of housing they have had to move out to the suburbs and townships on the outskirts of Tehran, some up to 100 km away. Many are renting in remote places.

Q: Your union has also suggested that while inflation is officially put at 15% the unofficial rate is nearer to 50%. You also point out that rents in larger towns have increased by 40% and the price of land and housing has grown by 50%. How do these issues impact on the current struggles and the self-organisation of workers?

Osanlou: This means that they have less time for struggle and trade union activity. But having tasted the outcome of united union activity, which resulted in increased wages in the union by at least 30%, they will not easily abandon the road they have discovered.

Q: There were reports of thousands of labour protests and demands in Iran last year (1385 in the Iranian calendar, which ended on March 21), most of which were for wage arrears (from 2 months to 2 years) and the right to work. Why do you think that in a rich country like Iran the wages of hundreds of thousands of workers are unpaid and jobs are continuously under threat?

Osanlou: There are many obstacles to manufacturing and the fall in the living standards of workers is caused by the bureaucratic and anti-state organisation and the totally uncontrolled foreign imports, both smuggled and non-smuggled. The authorities respond to issues only if a demand is made from the floor of society organised as a force around that particular issue. For example take the efforts by our union to realise the rights and entitlements of the workers. The presence of representatives of the union at each level of the struggle gradually forced the hand of managers and those in charge to move, on certain issues, towards complying with the law. Emphasising and insisting on legal principles and rights gradually had some effect on certain sections of the government’s executive branch and the judiciary.

Q: You have suggested that major sections of manufacturing in Iran, including cotton weaving, shoes, saddlery, tyre manufacture etc have been driven to bankruptcy and even closure through unregulated imports and smuggling of foreign goods. According to your union, imported goods amounted to $46 billion US dollars last year. Why do you think there is no support for domestic manufacturing, while many of these industries are both profitable and create jobs?

Osanlou: The tools of political power are used to acquire billions in unsupervised profit through huge commissions and percentages. In the absence of trade unions at workplace level and such national organisations as federations of trade unions, then capital will easily gravitate towards the easy and quick profits of merchant capital, foreign imports and acting as an international middleman. The real decision making in Iran takes place outside the framework of parliament and the administration, smoothing the road to importing foreign goods. Existing legislation is ultimately perverted to favour merchant-middlemen capital. Unfettered imports stifle manufacturing industry.

Q: Why has your defence of workers’ rights or their right to create independent unions cost you the label of “acting against national security and disturbing public order”, an absurd “crime” for which they are now prosecuting you?

Osanlou: Accusations such as propaganda against the ruling system, and endangering internal security are now so meaningless and repetitive. They have been thrown ad nauseam at any social or political activist, women, students, journalists, writers, reporters, university professors, and any citizen who has something to say. These allegations have become truly threadbare and lost their dignity and real meaning. My entire trial was no different to the interrogation sessions in prison and there was not one single document to support these accusations. The issue was more insinuation and ideological grilling.

Q: In your first court session the prosecution tabled a dossier of 1200 pages against you. You witnessed the mood in the first court session and have obviously followed the development of that dossier. Do you think that the dossier, the atmosphere of the court and ultimately the final verdict of the court against you could be without political and security bias?

Osanlou: The political standpoint reflects a particular macro-economic view. These persons feel threatened by labour unions and are forced to respond. They concoct such dossiers by bringing psychological pressure, imprisonment, solitary confinement, threats, and intimidation. Trade union activists are pressured to abandon their trades union and social struggles by the use of fear and intimidation.

Hundreds of my fellow workers have borne witness to this and have been coerced into giving undertakings not to continue with union activity in exchange for being released from prison being allowed back to work. I myself have experienced enormous pressures and have faced all kinds of interrogations to scare me off trades union activity and to stop seeing friends and fellow workers of 20 years standing. In my second arrest from November 8 till December 20, 2006 the only thing they demanded of me was to resign my post as head of the executive committee of the union.

Q: What kind of pressure was used to try and persuade you to give up your union activities?

Osanlou: I was in solitary confinement for 11 nights. After my arrest and in the car of the security people I received dozens of fist blows on my head, face and body. They squeezed my neck with a handkerchief until I thought I would suffocate. A person named Asna Ashari, who was a captain in the security apparatus in the anti-narcotic section (I recognised him from a identity card I had seen a year previously), was in charge of these operations against me. They tore my coat and pulled it over my head. They kept pounding me over the head with fists that had large agate rings saying, ‘pack your bags and leave this place’. All of this was intended to create fear and trepidation for me and my family so that I would resign from the union!

Q: What does your union expect from trade unions in other countries, international labour organisations and progressive lawyers?

Osanlou: Just as capital is global, the struggle to safeguard the rights of workers is also global. International labour organisations and progressive lawyers can give an account of cases of human rights abuse and the trampling of our workers rights in such international institutions as the ILO and the UN and the world council for human rights. They can write to the Iranian administration and demand the application of international and human rights regulations to Iranian workers. They could demand that the case of Iran should be brought up in the ILO and Iranian officials be required to explain the repression, expulsion and imprisonment and illegal trial of trade union members. As a member the of UN or ILO Iran must obey the principles of the UN declaration on Human Rights, the international labour protocols especially the protocol 87 and 98 and the two charters of the UN and the right to trade unions. They can contact the Iranian embassy everywhere and declare their support for trade unionists in Iran.

Q: How else can one organise international support and solidarity for labour movements in peripheral countries, including workers in Iran?

Osanlou: Particular support for workers in peripheral countries should take place because if wages are low there, capital will move its manufacturing to peripheral countries and the workers in Europe, North America, Japan and Australia will face lay offs and unemployment. You can support them by pressuring the governments of these countries, and by helping train the workers of peripheral countries in legal and trade union matters, and by legal and financial assistance to the newly created unions like ours.

Q: Thank you Mansur Osanlou.

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Hundreds of Teachers Arrested in Tehran

2007.04.03

Esmail Sadeghi

ROOZ

Following a gathering in front of the Majlis [“Parliament”] building in Tehran, security forces arrested hundreds of teachers, among them leaders of the teachers’ union.

According to eyewitness accounts, after the teachers’ meeting with Majlis representatives ended with no results, it was apparent that the Majlis and the government had decided to confront the teachers. The presence of Revolutionary Guards commanders and security officers confirmed this point of view.

Early in the morning on Wednesday, anti-riot and regular police forces were stationed at the Baharestan Square and surrounding streets. A large number of them had occupied the northern corner of the Majlis building.

Meanwhile, unaware of the police buildup, scores of teachers headed towards the Baharestan Square. However, they were not allowed to gather in front of the Majlis or even stand on the sidewalk. As teachers started to walk on the northern part of the square, security forces began assaulting them.

According to a Rooz reporter, with every attack a number of teachers were arrested and moved into police trucks. After the trucks filled up, the arrested teachers were moved into an abandoned school building. Anyone who stopped even for a moment on the sidewalk was arrested. When it ran out of space, the police used regular buses to move the detained teachers. Some of the teachers, who were protesting their arrest, were beaten up by security forces, had their clothing torn off and were dragged into the vehicles.

Security forces were controlling a large area of Tehran’s downtown. They were suspicious of people that looked like teachers, and arrested them if they stopped or talked.

There was also visible police buildup in front of the Ministry of Education’s building. Some of the teachers, who had gathered in front of the ministry at 1 p.m., were beaten up and detained at the Marmar Hotel across the street.

Reporters who entered the ministry at 2 p.m. to interview Farshidi, the minister, were surprised to see the security buildup at the building. Farshidi, however, denied reports of teachers’ gathering and arrest. After being repeatedly asked about it by reporters, Farshidi said, “I don’t know about any arrests, because I have enough courage to mention it.”

Among those arrested yesterday are Ali Akbar Baghani, secretary general of the Teachers’ Union (Kanoon-e Snefi-e Moaleman), Mahmoud Besheti Langeroudi, the union’s spokesperson, and Alireza Hashemi, Secretary General of the Iranian Teachers’ Association (Sazeman-e Moaleman).

According to a Rooz reporter, female teachers were released later on Wednesday, but have to appear in court on Monday. It has been said that seven union leaders have been transferred to the Evin prison, but other teachers are being kept at various locations across Tehran. Estimates put the number of the arrested at several hundred. According to a union activist, more than a hundred teachers have not yet been released, and will have to appear in court on Monday.

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Teachers to Stage A General Strike?

25 Jan 2007

Kaveh Khalagh

ROOZ

A group of Iranian teachers will gather in front of the Majlis (Irans Parliament) building today to protest Ahmadinejad Administrations efforts to recall a wage raise bill from the Majlis. Rooz Online spoke to Ali Akbar Baghani, president of Iran Teachers Association regarding this. Baghani warns that teachers will stage a general strike if the administration recalls the bill.

Rooz (R): It seems very likely that the administration will recall the bill.
Ali Akbar Baghani (Baghani): If it recalls the bill we will go on strike. The Minister of Oil said that he would shut down the pipelines; we say that we would shut down our classes, until our wages reach the level of oil workers. Teachers from all over the country are ready to come to Tehran, and we are ready to go on a general strike if the government does not address our concerns.

R: What did the teachers receive from the presidents promise to ‘distribute the oil wealth?
Baghani: We didnt even smell the wealth, let alone see any of it. Our income has gone down during this period. Even the teachers who supported the administration no longer do. Teachers get paid 2,780 thousand rials (about 320 U.S. dollars) a month, which is the lowest salary amount among all government agencies. We even get the lowest bonuses, not enough to buy a few pounds of pistachios. If you want to adjust for inflation, this year we should have been paid 17 million riyals (about 1,950 U.S. dollars) in bonuses alone.

R: The average salary for a teacher is 2,780 thousand rials (about 320 USD). But the poverty line is calculated at 5,430 thousand rials (about 625 USD). How do you live like that?
Baghani: Most teachers have other jobs in addition to teaching. Our minister is a populist. He doesnt have any managerial experience. He is a regular engineer, retired, tired, and without a deep understanding of the philosophy behind education and culture. Actually, 80 percent of those working in the educational administration have no experience in this field. They have politicized the educational system. Instead of an expert group, a political group is controlling the educational system.

R: You are protesting in front of the Majlis. How is your relationship with Majlis deputies?
Baghani: We will defend the stance of Majlis deputies. Mr. Haji Babai, Noei Aghdam, Haghshenas and others support the bill. In any rate, their future is tied to the upcoming elections.

Rooz: So the Majlis is more supportive of your demands?
Baghani: In this particular instance, yes. Majlis deputies are more concerned with our demands because of the next elections, and also because of the efforts they spent on writing this bill. Majlis deputies are wiser than people in the administration. Officials in the administration are good for running a school, not a country. But, because of their experience in the legislature, many Majlis deputies understand the issues better.

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IRAN – Further Information on UA 08/06 (MDE 13/002/2006, 9 January 2006) and follow-up (MDE 13/094/2006, 17 August 2006) – Arbitrary arrest/ possible prisoner of conscience/ medical concern – Mansour Ossanlu (m), Head of the Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed)

AI Index: MDE 13/129/2006 (Public)

29 November 2006

Mansour Ossanlu, the Head of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (the Union), was re-arrested on 19 November. He is detained in Evin prison, and has reportedly not had access to his lawyer. He is reportedly not receiving medical treatment for a serious eye complaint.

On 19 November, Mansour Ossanlu was arrested outside his home by members of the security forces, who were reportedly in plain clothes. His place of detention was initially unknown. Prior to his arrest he had received a court summons ordering him to attend Branch Four of the Special Court for Government Employees on 20 November.

On 26 November, Mansour Ossanlu appeared at Branch 14 of the Revolutionary Court for initial investigations by the Prosecutor. No specific charges are said to have been mentioned in the court. Mansour Ossanlu’s lawyer was reportedly not present during the court session.

The Minister of Justice and spokesperson for the Judiciary stated a few days after Mansour Ossanlu’s arrest that he had been re-arrested because he had failed to hand himself over to the prison authorities when an arrest order and summons was issued for him. However, his legal representatives have said that Mansour Ossanlu did not receive an arrest order or summons to return to prison: he had only received an order to attend court on a date after his arrest, 20 November.

Mansour Ossanlu is detained in section 209 of Evin prison. His family have been able to visit him once, and his wife was also able to speak to him when she attended the court session on 20 November. Mansour Ossanlu is suffering from a serious eye complaint. His eye had been operated on a few days prior to his arrest, and was still bandaged when he was arrested. He is unable to see properly, and is believed to not have had access to medical treatment inside prison.

Mansour Ossanlu was among 12 officials from the Union who were arrested by police at their homes on 22 December 2005, apparently in connection with their peaceful trade union activities. He was released on 9 August 2006 after payment of bail amounting to 150,000,000 Toumans (approximately US$163,000). He was said to be awaiting trial on charges, the exact nature of which were not known, but which may include “propaganda against the system” through leaflets and interviews with foreign anti-government radio stations, and “acting to disturb internal state security” by establishing links with hostile opposition groups and foreign countries. If he is detained solely in connection with his peaceful exercise of his internationally recognized right to form and join trade unions or to freedom of expression, he is a prisoner of conscience, and should be released immediately and unconditionally.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
– asking why Mansour Ossanlu was re-arrested on 19 November, and asking to be informed of the details of any charges that he is facing;
– calling for Mansour Ossanlu to have immediate and regular access to his lawyers, and continued and regular access to his family;
– expressing concern that Mansour Ossanlu is reportedly not receiving the medical treatment he requires for a serious eye complaint, and calling for him to be given immediate access to any necessary medical treatment;
– expressing concern that he may be held solely on account of his peaceful trade union activities, in which case he should be released immediately and unconditionally;
– reminding the authorities of their obligations under the ICCPR, Article 22 (1) of which provides for the right to form and join trade unions.

APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir — istiftaa@wilayah.org
Fax: +98 251 774 2228 (mark “FAO the Office of His Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei”)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Intelligence
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: iranprobe@iranprobe.com
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
via website: www.president.ir/email

and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 10 January 2007.

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Another Crackdown of Workers Protests

19 Sep 2006

Vahid Sabetian

ROOZ

Just two weeks after the workers staged protests at the DieselOil automobile manufacturing plant that included workers going on hunger strikes, tens of thousands of workers at the Alborz carpet workshops in the northern town of Babolsar held a demonstration which led to clashes with law enforcement personnel. These workers have not been paid their monthly wages for some nine months.

According to ILNA labor news agency, 300 workers from the textile plant had decided to hold a demonstration in front of their plant to demonstrate their protest against the non-payment of their wages with their families and march on to Babolsar Governor’s headquarters. They were stopped by the law enforcement forces and the incident led to clashes and arrest of some of the participants.

According to ILNA, last winter there were reports about the closure of this large textile plant. Since then, the employment status of some 300 workers from the plant remains unclear, and despite repeated promises by officials, nothing effective has been done to resolve the problems of the workers and the plant.

At the same time, in protest to current labor laws and the conditions of workers, Islamic Workers Associations of industrial plants in the town of Saveh have sent a letter to President Ahmadinejad complaining about the performance of the current Minister of Labor stressing that the policies of minister Jahromi have jeopardized workers jobs and weakened labor organizations raising the possibility of their complete elimination.

According to the letter, which has been published by ILNA, workers plead with the President in an attempt to convince him that workers conditions, injustice and cruelty have severely hurt workers. “Do not allow workers to feel ashamed in front of their spouses and children”, the letter reads. “Is this not an Islamic government, one belonging to the deprived and oppressed? Has Minister Jahromi been appointed and confirmed by the Majlis (Iran’s Parliament) to destroy workers or to provide his services to them and bring about justice, equality and job security?, the letter continues.

Since President Ahmadinejad’s government took over the executive branch of government last year, it has engaged in violent and brutal suppression of workers sit-ins and protests. Last years demonstrations by the Tehran bus company is an example where the protestors were met with brutal police attacks, leading to arrests of the activists.

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ICFTU Appeal for the Iranian Bus Company Workers

31/7/2006

INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS
INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT WORKERS FEDERATION

Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadjinejad,
President of the Republic
The Presidency,
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 649 58 80
TUR/SH 18 July 2006

Dear Mr. President,
Arrest of members of the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed)

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) protest in the strongest possible terms at the arrest of eight members of the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) on Saturday 15 July and demand their immediate release. This is just the latest in a series of arrests of members of the Sherkat-e Vahed. I have already had to write to you on several occasions to protest at the harassment of this legitimate trade union organisation and other serious violations of workers’ rights in Iran. The arrests took place after the Vahed workers organised a peaceful rally in front of the Ministry of Labour to demand the recognition of their union. The date marked the anniversary of similar rallies last year. The union informs us the Ministry of Labour invited the negotiating team into the building. The four members of the negotiating team, Ebrahim Madadi, Syd Davood Razavi, Ebrahim Nowrozi Gohari, and Yagoub Salimi, were arrested by security forces as they were leaving the building. A further four members were arrested outside the Ministry: Naser Golami, Syd Reza Nemati Pour, Ata Baba Khani and Manochehr Mahdavi Tabar.

The bus company workers’ attempts to organise an independent trade union and seek official recognition of that union have met with systematic repression since the beginning of 2005. That repression, by employers and security forces, has often been brutal, including vicious attacks as well as arrests, including mass arrests, and dismissals. Some of those arrested in this latest incident have faced arrest and detention before, notably Ebrahim Madadi, the Deputy Chairperson of the union’s Executive Committee, Syd Davood Razavi and Yagoub Salimi of the negotiating team, and Naser Golami, another member of the union’s Executive Committee. Meanwhile the union’s leader Mansour Osanloo, has remained in detention at the Evin prison since his arrest in December 2005, despite repeated assurances from your government that every effort was being made to secure his release. He has had only very limited access to his lawyer, and his health is now a matter of serious concern.

must remind you once again that as a member of the International Labour Organisation, the Islamic Republic of Iran is under a strict obligation to respect the principles of freedom of association and collective bargaining. The constant repression of this union and the systematic harassment of its leaders and members is in clear violation of those principles.

The Sherkat-e Vahed is a legitimate trade union representing a clear majority of the bus company’s employees. It has widespread international support, as demonstrated by the worldwide protests that took place on 15 February 2006 on the International Day of Trade Union Action on Iran. Sherkat-e Vahed is also an affiliate of the International Federation of Transport Workers.

The ICFTU and the ITF call on you to issue the appropriate instructions to your country’s judicial and security authorities to immediately release the eight Vahed workers detained on 15 July and to immediately release Mansour Osanloo, Chairperson of the Sherkat-e Vahed Executive Committee. We would also urge you to use your good offices to ensure the official recognition of Sherkat-e Vahed and the reinstatement of the 180 members dismissed since February 2006, with compensation for unpaid wages.

Yours sincerely,
Guy Ryder
General Secretary
ICFTU
David Cockroft
General Secretary
ITF
Copies to:
– Ministry of Labour, Directorate-General of International Affairs
– Ministry of Foreign Affairs
– Mr. Juan Somavia, Director General, International Labour Office, Geneva
– Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva
– Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Brussels

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ICFTU ONLINE…
Global unions launch UN complaint over Iranian repression

25/7/2006

Brussels 25 July 2006 (ICFTU OnLine): Global union the ITF and international union body the ICFTU today made a formal complaint against Iran to the ILO (International Labour Organization) following the continued use of terror tactics against one of the ITF’s member unions there.

The union bodies today submitted a dossier detailing continuing repression against the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) that is not just contrary to all norms of justice and human rights but is in direct contravention of the very principles to which the Islamic Republic of Iran signed up when it joined the ILO.

Since it was set up as an independent trade union in 2005 the Syndicate, which is affiliated to the ITF, has been subjected to an ongoing campaign of harassment, arrests and physical attacks. These include the continuing detention of the union’s President Mansoor Osanloo

Guy Ryder, General Secretary of the ICFTU, commented: “The Iranian government is mistaken if it believes that a continued campaign of terrorising the Sherkat-e Vahed workers will stifle either their resolve to fight for the fundamental right to belong to a union of their choice, or the international trade union movement’s resolve to support them in that fight. We will continue raising the plight of these workers with all the relevant authorities and applying pressure wherever possible to convince the Iranian government to respect workers’ rights.”

Mac Urata, Secretary of the ITF’s Inland Transport Section, said: “The request by thousands of workers at the bus company that they be allowed the basic right to represent themselves has been answered by boots, batons and beatings. This union has become a beacon both inside Iran and beyond. Maybe that’s why the government and its puppet ‘Workers’ House’ organisations are so determined to stamp it out. Only they’re forgetting that the eyes of workers around the world are now on them, and we intend to keep exposing their terror tactics until Mansoor Osanloo is released and workers are allowed the freedom of assembly that Iran, through its very membership of the ILO, is sworn to uphold.”

ITF/ICFTU complaint to the ILO

For more information
see also www.itfglobal.org/news-online

A number of protest letters have been addressed to the Iranian authorities.
ENDS

Press contact details: For more information please contact Sam Dawson at the ITF (see box, page 1) or the ICFTU Press Department on tel: +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 621 018, email: press@icftu.org

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Iran’s Labour Syndicate: “We Reject any War Against Our Country”

The interview by the “Young World” publication in Germany with Ebrahim Madadi, Vice President of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (“Sherkat-e Vahed”).

We reject any resorting to war against our country!
YW: Approximately 8,000 of the total of 16,000 employees of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company are members of the corporation’s Labour syndicate, which the Iranian government has not yet recognized. In December and January, the Labour syndicate organized large transportation strikes. Why were such strikes called and what is the current status of the syndicate?

E.M.N.: From the beginning of the syndicate’s activities in 2004, the security forces have monitored us. Elements, belonging to the “Islamic Labour Councils” and the “House of Labour”, who were also supported by the police, have many times attacked our syndicate. The Vahed Corporation Board of Directors did not consider our demands, including the one for raising wages. In turn, we published information bulletins on the right to strike and strike movements in other countries.

On December 22, many of the syndicate’s board of directors’ members, including its its President, Mansour Osanlou, were arrested and incarcerated. To free those arrested and announce its demands, the syndicate declared a strike on December 24. This action halted mass transit in Tehran. On the same day, Tehran’s mayor, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaaf, seized control of the Vahed Corporation Board of Directors. He promised to meet all of our demands. In fact, all those imprisoned were released except for Osanlou. On January 28, the syndicate called another strike. This time, hundreds of members and families of syndicate activists were arrested and held in prison for two weeks. Currently, 180 employees accused of participating in the strike, have been laid off. Their wages have been cut off and they have received no support. The prosecutor’s office has issued a ruling to close the syndicate’s doors. We are all under heavy surveillance.

YW: How is the situation of the workers in Iran?

E.M.N.: Iranian workers have lost 45% of their purchasing power over the last 27 years. Currently, the minimum wage in Iran is half of the living wage. Workers concentrate around big cities in areas deprived of basic health and sanitation services and minimum standard. Millions of Iranian workers live without the minimum legal protection and adequate Labour law.

YW: Is Mansour Osanlou still incarcerated?

E.M.N.: Yes, he still is. His attorneys have not yet managed to visit him. He is suffering from eye, skin, heart and lung ailments. His family’s efforts to provide him with medical care outside of prison have all been in vain. He has been accused of propaganda against the regime and subversive actions against the country’s national security.

YW: Is there international solidarity with the struggle of Tehran’s mass transit bus drivers?

E.M.N.: We have received many written statements of supports from various Labour unions, such as those in Germany. Many protest letters have also been sent to the Iranian president. In May, we decided to join “The International Transport Federation”, ITF, because of its support for us.

YW: The pro-capitalist forces have also officially declared their solidarity with the struggles of the Vahed Corporation drivers. Among these forces are some right-wing American senators. Their motivation coincides with the drum beating in support of war against Iran. How could the Vahed Corporation workers accept the support of such false friends?

E.M.N.: Our syndicate does not consider as friend and ally anyone who promotes or prepares for war. We emphatically reject anyone and any force resorting to war, and we warn workers to prevent war. War and bloodshed have never benefited workers.

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International Transport Workers’ Federation: Tehran Bus Dispute

Background The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (“Sherkat-e Vahed”) was formed in 1968 but was disbanded by the authorities in the early 1980s. Instead, a Workers’ House and Islamic Labour Council were formed by the government and the company. In 2003, activists began to re-establish their independent union.
Chronology
March – June 2005
At least 17 activists are dismissed from the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, including Mansour Osanloo.

9 May, 13 May, 1 June
Members of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (“Sherkat-e Vahed”) are attacked by the Workers’ House, Labour Council, company’s guards and the security force. A number of members are injured. Mansour Osanloo, in particular, is severely injured in the attack that took place on 9 May and requires hospital treatment, after which he is taken into custody for questioning.

10 May
The ICFTU sends its first protest letter on behalf of the Tehran bus drivers.

3 June
The General Assembly adopts the union constitution and elects its leadership bodies despite the blockades of roads and violent interventions by the security force, the company and the Workers’ House. 8,000 of the 17,000 workers employed by the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company take part in the election.

29 July
The ICFTU sends its second protest letter to the Iranian government.

7 September
Seven leaders and members of the union are arrested. They are charged with public order offences after which they are released on bail. They were arrested during a protest against unpaid wages, during which bus drivers in Tehran left their lights on while driving passengers around the city.

9 September
The ICFTU sends its third protest letter to the Iranian government.

22 December
The agents of the Intelligence Ministry arrest 14 trade unionists including its President, Mansour Osanloo.

25 December
3,000 workers of Sherkat-e Vahed walk out of the job in protest. 17 more unionists are arrested.

26 December
The ICFTU sends its fourth protest letter to the Iranian government.

27 December
All detainees except Mansour Osanloo are released. Meanwhile, all the trade unionists’ bank accounts are frozen and wage payments are blocked.

31 December
Dr Ghalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, promises the trade union members that he will do everything in his power to free Mansour Osanloo and to resolve the other problems.

1 January 2006
150 workers from all the ten Bus Districts of Tehran assemble outside the Revolution Court on Mo Street, from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Mansour Osanloo.

2 January 2006
At least 5,000 members of the union gather at Azadi Stadium Complex in Tehran demanding the immediate release of Mansour Osanloo. The Mayor of Tehran, who attended the gathering, is confronted with angry trade unionists.

6 January 2006
The ICFTU sends its fifth letter of protest. The ITF sends its letter of protest – both letters condemn “the inescapable conclusion that a new pattern of repression against free and independent trade union activists is emerging in Iran”.

7 January 2006
The union requests the bus drivers in Tehran to leave their lights on in protest while driving passengers around the city. A new strike date is set as 29 January 2006.

19 January 2006
The ITF Urban Transport Committee held in Paris unanimously adopts a resolution, demanding the immediate release of Mansour Osanloo.

*From late December, trade unions including those in Yemen, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Kuwait, Canada, USA, Great Britain, Austria, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand have sent their protest letters to the Iranian government.

24 January 2006
The Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs tables an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons expressing its concern and urging the British Government to press the Iranian government to respect trade union rights and International Labour Organization conventions.

26 January 2006
8 members of the union’s executive board are summoned by the court and are not released. In an interview, the mayor of Tehran, a former top military official of Iran, who had made some promises to the syndicate, now calls the syndicate illegal and vows to stop the strike. The government and its intelligent and security forces, as well as the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, are using all kinds of intimidating and repressive tactics to prevent the strike. These include bringing new buses and drivers as strike breakers, distributing flyers in Tehran, accusing strikers as subversive and saboteurs and disseminating misinformation in the streets of Tehran that the strike will not take place.

28 January 2006
In the morning, bus drivers are beaten and forced to drive buses in Tehran. According to the sources from Tehran, about 100 union members have been arrested since 27 January in Tehran. Despite facing heavy repression by police and other armed forces, the strike has already begun in some areas in Tehran. Some 1300 members of the union have been arrested. Hundreds of drivers and their wives and even children have been transferred to the Evin Prison where the jail and judiciary officials are interrogating them. To crush the strike, the security forces used tear gas, batons and the threat to shoot the strikers. In each area where 600 to 700 workers were expected to report to work about 1500 security forces were present. The Police has raided the homes of the syndicate members and the majority of the members of the board of the union are now in custody.

29 January 2006
More than 700 members of the union and a number of supporters are still in custody. Some 30 arrested workers have been seriously injured and required immediate medical attention. Some had to be transferred to the hospital. The jailed workers in Evin prison have decided to go on hunger strike.

30 January 2006
The ICFTU sends its sixth protest letter to the Iranian government.

1 February 2006
A group of family members and spouses of the jailed union workers gather outside the Majles (parliament). They are confronted by a large contingent of security force but some 100 members successfully proceed their demand for the immediate release of the imprisoned workers. The families vow to gather in front of the Islamic Revolution Court on 4 February.

In the meantime, the union issues its complaint letter to the International Labour Organization. Apart from the immediate release of the imprisoned unionists, recognition of the union and their collective bargaining rights, the union is demanding that the released workers be returned to work without any intimidation by the company to sign a statement of penitence in order to keep their job.

2 February 2006
Amnesty International calls for the immediate release of the detained bus workers. Canadian Labor Congress (CLS) organises a protest rally in front of the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa. Trade unions including those in Japan, Australia, Luxembourg, Norway, Kenya, Great Britain send their protest letters.read statement

4 February 2006
Members of the Iranian community in Britain hold a protest rally at the Iranian embassy in London. Representatives of TUC, GMB and ITF join the action. Argentinian train drivers’ union sends its protest letter. Read the article here

7 February 2006
According to the union’s spokesperson, about 200 workers are now released. However, the company is refusing to reinstate them. In the meantime, on 6 February, the security force arrests another member of the union’s executive board whilst he is visiting his mother.

8 February 2006
Global Unions designate 15 February as their international action day to protest the violation of trade union rights against Teheran bus workers and their trade union.

Another member of the union’s Executive Board is arrested in the southern part of Teheran. Only on the previous day, he made a narrow escape from the security force. He was almost detained at a job centre in Eastern Teheran where he was helping the bus workers that the company is refusing to reinstate. The authorities seem to be determined to arrest all members of the Executive Board and union’s key activists.

12 February 2006
The majority of the detained workers are now released. Some 70 – 80 unionists are still in Evin Prison. None of the union’s Executive Board members are freed. The company continues to refuse reinstating those who were arrested.

13 February 2006
Three members of the union’s Executive Board are now released. 15 remain in custody. In the meantime, another bus driver is arrested. Some 100 workers stage protest in front of the Labour Ministry in Teheran for two consecutive days. ICFTU Online is released. ITF’s Coordinating Committee for UK and Ireland sends out its statement concerning 15 February to the affilates.

14 February 2006
Transport workers’ unions including those in Australia, Canada, Korea, Russia and Turkey send their protest letter to the Iranian government. Buzz Hargrove, CAW cites; “the many arrests, whatever the exact number, are a completely disproportionate response to legitimate industrial action”. Global Union Federations such as ICEM, IUF and UNI join the global protest.

15 February 2006 – Action Day Report 1
India: A delegation from the Transport & Dock Workers Union delivered protest letters at the Iranian Consulate General.

Japan: Members of the JRU trade union visited the Iranian Embassy in Tokyo and asked the minister, Mohammad Ali Sarmadi Rad, to release imprisoned union members. The JRU reports that: “He told us the detained union members will soon be released, and the government allows the demonstration of workers in front of the Parliament held today. We told him to respect workers’ rights in Iran.”

Australia and New Zealand: A letter of protest was delivered to the Iranian President by the National/General Secretaries of the Maritime Union of Australia; Australian Rail, Tram and Bus Industry Union; Transport Workers Union of Australia; Maritime Union of New Zealand; and Rail & Maritime Transport Union (New Zealand). Middle East: The ITF’s represenative for the Middle East reports protests and actions by road transport unions in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, as well as by the petrochemical union in Jordan, the rail workers’ trade union in Tunisia, and the maritime workers’ union in Tunisia. In Iraq the GFIW ( General Federation of Iraqi Workers ) have delivered a letter of protest and are demonstrating in front of the Iranian Embassy in Bagdhad.

15 February – Action Day Report 2 Austria: Members of Railway Workers’ Union, GdE� and Municipal Workers’ Union, GdG, held a solidarity meeting in a bus depot with the Iranian community group in Vienna. FNCTTFEL, Luxembourg also sent its representative. The national labour centre, �GB will feature the issue.

Great Britain: More than 100 people participated in a protest rally outside the Iranian Embassy in London. Trade union representatives from ASLEF, GMB, RMT, UNISON and ITF took part in the action with the Iranian community groups. Excellent media coverage.

16 February – Action Day Report 3 Seven more members of the Executive Board are now released. Eight are still detained.

Thailand: Coordinated by the ITF Thai Committee, 50 members of BMTA-SWU, TRAN-U, LU-ETA, SRUT and AOT-SWU organised a demonstration and a march to the Iranian Embassy in Bangkok. The unionists were received by the Third Secretary, Aliakbar Nazari. Prior to the Action Day, the Committee sent a protest letter to the Iranian Government.

Canada: More than 100 labour activists took part in the rally in front of the Iranian Embassy. Representatives of the CLC, Canadian Postal Workers’ Union, New Democrat Party and Centre for Research on Globalization as well as members of four Canadian and Iranian organisations were present.

USATeamsters Union and Amalgamated Transit Union joined the protest rally in Washington DC. Some 100 participants chanted “free Mansour Osanloo now!”

Australia: Australian Unions and representatives from the Iranian community protested in front of the Iranian Embassy. Speakers from the MUA, RTBU, TWU, CFMEU and CSPU called upon the Iranian Ambassador to send the unions’ message of protest. The Ambassador, however, did not receive the delegation.

17 February – Action Day Report 4 The remaining 70-80 detainees are now all released except the following members: Mansour Osanloo, Ebrahim Madadi, Mansour Hayat Ghaibi, Yusseff Moradi, Yagoub Salimi, Ali Zat Hosseini, Mohammad Ebrahim Zat Gohari.

New Zealand: The representative of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions met with Ambassador Kambiz Sheikh-Hamani on 17 February. The NZCTU reports that “the Ambassador undertook to convey the Council’s protest letter to Tehran. He was hopeful that the remaining unionists will be released very soon. He also mentioned that the issue in dispute (the demand that the bus company be under the jurisdiction of the better funded municipality rathern than the City Council) has been resolved in the favour of the workers”.

Switzerland: The representatives of the ICFTU, PSI and UNI met with the Iranian Ambassador in Geneva on 15 February, demanding an immediate release of all the detained workers.

Norway: The Transport Workers’ Union, together with the national labour centre, LO, demonstrated in front of the Iranian Embassy in Oslo on the Action Day. More than 110 unionists took part in the rally.

Philippines: A delegation of ITF unions visited the Iranian Embassy in Manila to submit their lettet of protest. Their request for a meeting with the Ambassador was declined.

Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Seamen’s Association held an emergency union meeting in Chittagong on 15 February to support the worldwide protest. A protest letter was sent on the previous day.

22 February 2006
There are six members of the union’s Executive Board still in prison. The company continues to refuse reinstating the union activists. The number counts more than a few hundred and their financial hardship is growing.

23 February 2006
On 22 February, some 150 bus workers hold a protest rally outside the Ministry of Labour, demanding their reinstatement. On 21 February, the judge for the first time allows the families of three detainees to meet them at Evin Prison.

The Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) reported on 11 February that a “Committee to Defend Workers’ Trade Organisations in Iran” has released a statement demanding the unconditional release of all bus workers in Tehran. The Committee is comprised of 14 “traditional” unions (see below*). The statement cites that “independent” or “unofficial” trade union organisations continue to be oppressed in Iran and are led on a road to subservience and gradual death. The statement stresses that “these bus workers are protesting to achieve their basic rights and achievement of decent wages above the pverty line. Those who do not recognize such lawful rights of independent trade unions are treating workers unjustly and unfairly.”

*Driver Training Organisation of Iran, Organisation of Inter City Bus Drivers of Iran, Trade Organisation of Inter City Bus Drivers of Kerman, Driving School Teachers’ Trade Organisations of Tehran, Mashad, Arak, Shahrekord, Esphahan, Free Newspaper Reporters’ Trade Organisation of Tehran, Painters’ Trade Organisation of Tehran, Trade Organisation of the Employees of Khatamolanbiya Hospital, Driving School Teachers’ Trade Organisation of Khoramabad, Islamic Labor Council of Tehranshimi Company, Trade Organisation of Mehrad Hospital Employees.

The statement has been sent to the Minister of Justice, Iranian President, Head of the Iranian Parliament, members of the Labour and Social Affairs Caucus of Parliament, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Mayor of Tehran, and all news agencies and Iranian newspapers.

24 February 2006
Justice Minister Jamal Karimi-Rad admits on 22 February that six men are being held for “illegal acts” but fails to specify the charges. The authorities and the official press initially have been silent about the case. On February 6, Iran’s reformist party, the Participation Front, lodged a protest.

27 February 2006
The English version of the union’s statement “On the Support and Solidarity of Workers Internationally” is released. It thanks all those who took part in the global Action Day on 15 February. The statement reveals the authority’s announcement that the detainees would only be released if they sign a pledge to stop participating in union activities. Apparently, the authority has also said that it is not “wise at this time to allow the formation of trade unions in the country, and anyone deciding to participate in the union activities would be considered the opponent of the Islamic Republic System and thus will be prosecuted”. The union is seeking further international pressure on the Iranian government. The original statement in Farsi was released on the day after the global protest.

4 March 2006
Car plant workers at Khodro in Tehran put down their tools in protest for poor remuneration.

7 March 2006
The union’s spokesperson, Golam Reza Mirzaie is arrested three days ago in Tehran.

8 March 2006
Representatives from the ICFTU and CLC lobby Angelika Beer, MEP in Brussels.

14 March 2006
A list of 46 workers whose contracts have been terminated has been published by the state-owned bus company Sherkat e Vahed. The list includes five members of the union’s executive who are still in prison. The company has stated that the orders came from the regime’s intelligence authorities.

On 13 March, around 120 workers once again gathered outside various government offices and the bus company headquarters in protest at the continued barring of around 1,000 bus workers from work who have been without pay for the past six weeks. The workers were told that a decision will be made by 18 March.

The full list of 46 workers whose contracts have been terminated can be viewed here >>

15 March 2006
Exactly one month after the international Action Day in solidarity with the Tehran bus workers, Global Unions send a joint letter of protest to the Iranian Government once again. It condemns the continued arrest of the union leadership and the notice of dismissal to 46 Tehran bus workers that the company announced the previous day. Click here to read the letter >>

The ITF/FES road transport workers’ seminar held in Cairo on 12-14 March 2006 adopts a resolution in support of the Tehran bus workers. Unions from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and Yemen send their protest to the government of Iran.

18 March 2006
Ebrahim Madadi, the union’s Vice-President and a board member Yaghoub Salimi are released.

19 March 2006
The remaining imprisoned activists with the exception of Mansour Osanloo and Afshin Bahrami, an auto worker who was arrested for supporting the bus strike, are released.

20 March 2006
On the Iranian New Year’s Day, Mansour Hayat Ghaibi has reportedly been re-arrested, less than 24 hours after he had been released from prison.

10 April 2006
Mansour Hayat Ghaibi is released.

27 April 2006
The ITF Executive Board meeting unanimously accepts the application for affiliation from the Tehran Bus Workers’ Union.

1 May
1,000 police and security forces surround the 250 bus workers who gather at the Tehran Bus Company for a May Day rally and arrest 13 members including the union’s Vice-President.

2 May
The ICFTU sends its protest letter to the President of Iran.

6 May
According to a public statement issued on 5 May 2006, imprisonment sentences given to the Saqez workers for celebrating the May Day in 2004 have been quashed.

Reliable sources from Iran indicate that all 13 members of the Tehran Bus Union arrested for participating in the May Day rally five days earlier have now been released. Mansour Osanloo remains in prison.

6 June
The Saqez workers (whose sentences were quashed in May) have been summoned to a hearing to renew and explain the charges of “collusion to act against the internal and external security of the country”. The workers are expected to appear at the court hearing on 17-18 June 2006.

According to reports, the primary court has also refused to return the title deeds of the properties that were deposited by these activists and their supporters as bail.

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The letter to ILO from the Bus workers trade unions of Tehran

To Mr. Jean-Daniel Leroy, Director
International Labour Organization,
Paris office,
France

The strike we publicly called for Saturday January the 28th of 2006 was suppressed with an unprecedented brutality by the security and intelligence forces of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The picketing drivers and staff were beaten, threatened, intimidated and forced to return to work by the security agents. Women and children of the members of the Board of Directors of the Union were beaten and assaulted and pulled out of their homes and taken hostage in order to force their husbands to surrender to security authorities. A great many of the Board members along with thousands of workers and staff of Tehran and Suburbs Public Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) were arrested and transferred to the infamous Evin Prison and the other prisons of the Ministry of Intelligence. Many Union activists were fired and their return to work is now conditional upon a written consent to remorse regarding their trade union activities.

Mr. Jean-Daniel Leroy,

[The Directors] of Sherkat-e Vahed Union have been elected in an open assembly. The Union embraces about 8,000 of 17,000 employees of Tehran and Suburbs Public Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) and a great majority of workers and staff considers the Union its legal representative that fights for their labour rights.
Our strike was called with three demands: 1) The release of Mr. Mansour Osanlou, Chief of Board of Directors [of Union] who has been under arrest since December 22, 2005; 2) An official recognition of Union by the government; and 3) meeting the demands of the workers concerning their work conditions and living standards through collective bargaining. The Iranian government has signed ILO’s conventions related to the freedom of organizing unions and the right to strike, and is bound to abide by these conventions. However, the course of events in the recent months, and particularly in the last week, showed that the Iranian government not only has turned its back to its obligations but also has suppressed, in the harshest possible manner, our legitimate right to have a union, to strike and to negotiate a collective agreement to improve the living standards of workers and staff of Shekat-e Vahed.

Dear Mr. Leroy,

We urge you to formally file a complaint on our behalf with ILO and oblige the Iranian government to abide by the conventions it has committed to.
We demand the release of Mr. Osanlou, the members of the Union Board of Directors and thousands of the workers of Sherkat-e Vahed who are currently incarcerated.
We also demand that our Union be officially recognized, that the Board of Directors of Tehran and Suburbs Public Bus Company dutifully engage in a collective bargaining to improve the miserable living standards of the workers and the staff of Sherkat-e Vahed, and that all the fired employees return to work without having to refrain from involving in union activities. Looking forward to your action,
With regards,

Board of Directors of Tehran and Suburbs Public Bus Union

Public Relations
February 1, 2006

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Middle East: Deadly Violence in Iraq and Unrelenting Repression in Iran

ICFTU OnLine:
095/070606

Brussels, 7 June 2006 (ICFTU OnLine):

In Iran, any attempt to protest against dismissals or wage arrears, or to embark on the most minor form of independent trade unionism, remains extremely dangerous. The numerous protests throughout 2005 were inevitably met with brutal repression. Workers at the automobile plant, Iran Khodro – the largest auto producer in the Middle East (51 per cent controlled by Renault) – went on strike in protest at their precarious conditions. On 12 April, the company’s security officers arrested and bashed worker, Parviz Salarvand, for merely expressing sympathy with the strikers. He later “disappeared” and then reappeared as a prisoner at the Evin jail in Teheran, a renowned torture centre. He was finally released following an international campaign. The ICFTU’s Annual Survey Trade Union Rights Violations in 2005 reported many cases of violence against strikers. For example, Farshid Beheshti Zad of the “Kurdistan Textile” factory, was arrested and severely beaten and 500 strikers from the Fumanat textile factory were attacked with clubs by police. The collective action supported en masse at the Teheran bus company was also met with extreme violence. One of the leaders, Mansour Osanloo, was injured when an attempt was made to cut his throat. He was later arrested. After a sham trial, the seven trade union activists imprisoned in May 2004, received scandalously harsh sentences of up to five years in prison.

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