Report by PMOI/MEK
Iran, November 18, 2018 – Employees of the Haft Tappeh sugar mill company in Shush, southwest Iran, are continuing their strike and protests on Sunday for the 14th consecutive day. This movement is gaining momentum despite measures by authorities dispatching anti-riot units to prevent any such gatherings.
The protesting workers entered the city of Shush and rallied outside the mayor’s office to voice their demands.
Workers of Haft Tappeh continue their strike
The workers were chanting:
“Neither prison nor threats are no longer effective”
“No fear, we’re all together”
November 18
Shush, southwest #Iran
Haft Tappeh sugar mill employees on the 14th day of their strike.
Rally has reached the city governor's office today despite security measures by regime authorities.
Chants:
"Neither prison, nor threats are no longer effective"#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/kTzlMXsoC0— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 18, 2018
Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi voiced her support for the protesting workers.
Workers of the Steel Factory of #Ahvaz and Sugarcane Factory of Haft Tappeh thus demonstrated their resolve to achieve their rights, and declared their detestation of the entire clerical regime and particularly of Rouhani’s charlatanism. #IranProtests #Iran#FreeIran2018
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) November 18, 2018
In Ahvaz, employees of the National Steel Group also rallied on Sunday outside the provincial governor’s office.
“The provincial governor & mayor are hand in hand with this mafia”
November 18
Ahvaz, southwest #Iran
National Steel Group employees launched the 9th consecutive day of their strike, saying the provincial governor & city mayor are hand in hand with the mafia.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/h93gFOFFEU— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 18, 2018
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Employees of the Haft Tappeh sugar mill in Shush, southwest Iran, continued their strike by holding a gathering in early morning hours of Saturday. More than 1,000 employees rallied in the city’s main square, joined by their families and children.
A child of a Haft Tappeh employee holds a sign says promises can’t fill a hungry child’s stomach
Sources and reports indicate more people are joining the crowd and various storeowners in Shush are also joining the Haft Tappeh employees’ ranks. The protesting employees and their family members are chanting:
Haft Tappeh employees rallying in Shush – Saturday, Nov 17
“We don’t want incompetent officials”
Fearing these protests spreading and turning into even larger rallies, Iranian regime officials are dispatching oppressive forces and anti-riot units from Ahvaz, capital of Khuzestan Province, to the city of Shush.
Following Friday’s protests, Authorities were attempting to prevent Saturday’s rally yet the brave protesters in Shush proved their efforts futile. The large crowd of Haft Tappeh employees, along with their families, are courageously continuing their protests and steadfast in opposing privatization plans and demanding their delayed paychecks.
Jafar Azimzadeh, Director of the Free Workers Union called on all locals in Shush, domestic and international labor unions and organizations, and employees of the Oil Company in Khuzestan to rise in support of the protesting Haft Tappeh workers.
Employees of the Haft Tappeh sugar mill in Shush, southwest Iran, continued their strike on Friday for the 12th consecutive day. They resorted to a new and bold measure by disrupting the regime’s Friday prayer farce.
The workers were seen chanting:
“We have all come in support of the workers.”
These protesting workers continued their rally inside the city of Shush and many of the locals were witness to the large gathering as many protesting workers were expressing their anger at regime officials. The protesters also raised a symbolic casket, portraying the Haft Tappeh sugar mill company being nothing but a dead corpse.
The Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) issued a statement on these ongoing protests.
The brave workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Mill interrupted state Friday prayers in the city of Shush on the twelfth day of their strike
Frustrated workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Industrial Complex continued their strike for the twelfth day on Friday, November 16, with a rally in front of the governorate of Shush and demonstrations in the streets of the city. They chanted: "Do not be afraid, do not be afraid, we are all together", "Lest we accept humiliation". In protesting against the destruction of this economic magnet of the country by the clerical regime, in a symbolic action, workers carried the coffin of the Haft Tappeh sugar cane and chanted: "Today is a day of mourning". The workers who are from different parts of the mill then gathered at the venue of the Friday prayers show of the regime, and by turning their back to the speaker of the ceremony, and by chanting "Facing the homeland, back to the enemy", "the worker dies, he does not accept humiliation", "Death to the oppressor; Peace be upon the Worker" interrupted these hypocritical and deceptive ceremonies.
The Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Industrial Complex has about 4,000 official permanent and on contract workers. The new round of workers strike is taking place in protest against the non-payment of months of salary, insurance claims and other arrears, and the livelihood conditions of all the workers. Workers call for the establishment of independent labor councils and the determination of the status of this large economic complex of the country. The regime's authorities and plundering employer refuse to deal with the legitimate demands of workers by giving hollow promises.
Saluting the strikers, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, said: "The workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Mill, with the slogan ‘Neither threats, nor imprisonment, has no longer any effect’, have risen up against the oppression on the workers, and with the slogan ‘We are hungry’, call on every noble human being for the uprising against the clerical plunderer regime." She urged the international human rights organizations and trade and labor unions around the world to support the striking workers in Iran.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
November 17, 2018
