Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, June 3, 2021—With each passing day, the Iranian society is facing wider dimensions of poverty and more people will soon be living under the absolute poverty line.
The declining real income in households will face more Iranians with difficulties in paying for basic necessities. Iran’s increasing unemployment will make things worse.
People from different walks of life continue to protest this situation.
On June 3, workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-Industry farms in Khuzestan province, southwest Iran, held a protest rally in front of the company’s management office for the third consecutive day, demanding their right to irrigation water, job security, and delayed paychecks.
According to one worker, sugarcane and other crops grown on Haft Tappeh farms need water for planting and even before harvest, but they suffer from dehydration.
The protesting workers demand the company to rehire dismissed workers, a halt in expelling workers, and the full payment of delayed paychecks.
Protest by oil workers
On Tuesday, June 1, oil industry workers held a rally in different cities including Asaluyeh, Abadan, Ahvaz, Mahshahr, Gachsaran, Tehran, Bandar Dailam, Khark, and Lavan Island. These workers are demanding higher wages because their current salaries don’t cover their most basic needs. The oil workers are demanding a fair increase in their salaries under article 10 of the oil ministry law Persian new year which started in March 2021.
Due to the difficult working conditions in oil industry, especially in the operational areas, as well as the unbridled growth of inflation and the cost of living, the increase in salaries does not in any way meet the needs of the of the oil industry employees.
The protesters are calling for wage increases, the elimination of middlemen contractors, the resolution of contract workers’ situation, the implementation of job classification laws, the provision of climate benefits and changes in workers' contracts, and the equalization of wages.
Railroad workers in Iran
On Wednesday, a group of workers of RSTC railroad company gathered in Tehran on behalf of their other colleagues in different cities and protested their poor living and working condition and officials’ ignorance of their problems.
One of the protesters says that after seven months, there is still no change in the workers’ situation. He added that their insurance premium and delayed paychecks are still in limbo status.
Implementing job classification laws, social security and supplementary insurance, payment of job benefits and work clothes and shoes are among the other demands of the railway workers.
