Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, August 19, 2020—The 18th day of the strike of workers in Iran’s oil and petrochemical industries and power plants continued on Tuesday, August 18.
The protesting workers did not return to work and continue to insist on their demands, which were announced since August 1, when the strike began.
The workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane company continue their strike
Protests by workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane company
On Wednesday, August 19, workers of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company continued their protest rally in front of the governorate in the city of Shush, Khuzestan province, southwest Iran. The strike has continued for 66 days.
The most important issues raised in the workers’ demands during this strike are as follows:
- Immediate payment of delayed paychecks and renewal of their insurance booklets
- Immediate return to work for fired colleagues
- Immediate arrest of Omid Assadbeigi (CEO of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-Industrial Complex) and life imprisonment for this corrupt individual
- Immediate dismissal of corrupt employers from Haft Tappeh
- Immediate return of embezzled wealth to the workers
- Ending the careers of already retired managers
Protests by workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane company
Protests by workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane company
One of the workers said: “Unfortunately, the media publishes the statement of Omid Assadbeigi (CEO of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-Industrial Complex). If they paid us tomorrow, the media will report quickly, but the 65-day effort of these workers (referring to their strike) has no media coverage.”
“The next complaint to Omid Assadbeigi is a historical question,” the worker said. “It has always been recorded in history how a king came to the throne. We know how you came to the throne, Assadbeigi. Did Assad Beigi reach the throne through orders from [Iranian regime President Hassan] Rouhani and [First Vice President Eshagh] Jahangiri?
“We, all the workers, will be here until the end of the year if you do not pay our wages. We are all here! To the judiciary, we are all here…”
Continued protests by the workers of HEPCO industrial equipment manufacturer
Seventeenth day of protests by workers of HEPCO
Workers of the HEPCO company in the city of Arak, central Iran, held a protest rally for the 17th consecutive day at the company premises.
HEPOC workers are protesting the CEO’s failure to meet workers’ demands and the status of the company’s shareholders being unsettled.
Another demand of HEPCO workers is to hold the company’s senior officials accountable to their one-year report card. The company CEO has not shown up for work for 53 days. It is worth mentioning that despite the deceptive promises by the regime’s Social Security Organization to pay the HEPCO employees’ delayed paychecks have not been paid yet.
Protests by workers of Saveh Profile Company
On Tuesday, workers of the Saveh Profile Company gathered in front of the regime’s Labor Department in the city Saveh, located southwest of Tehran, and demanded their delayed paychecks.
Protests by tolls station employees of Qazvin
More than 50 tolls station employees of Qazvin, a city in northwest Iran, have been unemployed for five months and no one listens to their demands.
“The workers cannot use unemployment insurance and it has been cancelled,” the protesting workers’ representative said.
They also protested the uncertain employment status of 135 of their colleagues. These workers have been laid off after the tolls were replaced with electronic devices.
Protests by tolls station employees of Qazvin
On Monday, retirees of the Iran Tobacco Company held a protest rally demanding their delayed pensions. This gathering was held a few days after the corruption cases of the company’s CEO were revealed.
On Monday, a number of unemployed youths held a protest gathering in front of a hospital in the city of Chamran in Khuzestan province. “Given that the majority of the city’s educated youth are unemployed and struggling to make ends meet, officials are recruiting retired workers from other parts of the country at this hospital, regardless of the issue,” they said.
Protests by contract workers of the Rural Telecommunications Company
On Tuesday, contract workers of the Rural Telecommunications Company gathered in front of the Majlis (parliament) building in Tehran protesting officials’ refusal to announce the employment policy, delays in their paychecks, and their welfare benefits not being equal to company employees.
Workers of Shastoon municipality have not received their wages for eight months
On Monday, a group of service workers of the Shastoon Municipality in Sistan & Baluchistan province, southeast Iran, held a rally in front of the City Council and the Governor’s Office demanding their paychecks that have been delayed for eight months and protesting the officials’ incompetence.
“We work from 5 am to 1:30 pm and then we work overtime, and yet we have not been paid since January,” said a municipal worker.
“Our insurance premiums have not been paid since June and the medical services are provided at very high costs,” he added.
Protest rally by workers of the Shastoon Municipality
