Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, October 12, 2020—As Iran’s economy continues to decline and the value of the rial continues to plunge, ongoing protests in different cities highlight the people’s frustration with the regime’s role in turning their lives into misery. On Sunday, October 11, a group of retirees held a protest rally in front of the Tehran retirement center. The regime’s financial policies are mounting the pressure on these pensioners, who depend on government payments to support their families.
On Sunday, municipal workers in the city of Arvand Kenar, southwest Iran, held a gathering in front of this city’s municipality building, protesting their paychecks being delayed for the past several months. Delayed salaries have become an all too familiar scene across Iran and a common cause of many labor protests.
Municipal workers protest in the city of Aravnd Kenar, southwest Iran
In Ahvaz, southwest iran, health care workers and nurses held a rally at the University of Medical Sciences on Sunday, protesting their delayed paychecks.
Protests by health care workers in Ahvaz, Khuzestan province
Locals In the village of Banan-e Bala near Zarand County, Kerman Province (central Iran), held their protest rally for the second consecutive day on Saturday, October 10, in front of the Khomrud coal mine.
The protesters say the activity of a government-created mine in the area has caused the wells of the village to dry up.
Protest by residents of Banan village, Zarand, Kerman province
On Saturday, October 10, pre-school teachers held a rally in front of the regime’s Department of Education in Ahvaz, demanding a change to their employment status and protesting previous promises made by the members of parliament and the regime's Ministry of Education.
It is worth noting that two years have passed since the promises of the Ministry of Education and former members of the regime’s parliament, but the employment status of hundreds of preschool teachers in Khuzestan province are still in limbo.
Pre-school teachers’ gathering in the city of Ahvaz, southwest Iran
On Saturday, October 10, workers of the HEPCO construction company in the city of Arak, central Iran, held a gathering to protest the transfer of Hydro Atlas, a HEPCO subsidiary, to the private sector.
It is worth noting that 1.7% of the shares of Hydro Atlas Company have been transferred to the Privatization Organization without the knowledge of the shareholders.
The Heavy Equipment Production Company (HEPCO) used to be one of the first and biggest manufacturers of construction in Iran and the Middle East. Like many other vital resources of Iran, HEPCO has become subject to the plundering and mismanagement that characterizes the Iranian regime in its entirety. After decades of being run by corrupt officials, HEPCO, once a symbol of Iran’s industrial flourishment, is barely a shadow of its former self, a bankrupt industrial complex that has become the point of contention between workers and the government.
On Saturday, a group of workers from the Sistan Plain Irrigation Project gathered in front of the Agricultural Jihad building in the city of Zabol, protesting their months-delayed wages.
The contract protesting workers, are demanding their eight-month unpaid wages. In addition to that, they have not yet received their bonuses for the previous Persian calendar year.
“With this dreadful financial situation and such rampant inflation, unpaid salaries have left the us facing exhausting economic difficulties and we will continue our strike until all of our demands are met,” one of the protesting workers said.
Protests by workers in Sistan
On October 10, workers of Tehran's orphanages held a rally protesting their livelihood situation and their job status remaining in limbo, and the negligence of the Tehran General Department of Welfare in addressing their problems.
One of the protesting workers said more than 70 female contract workers of the orphanages have not received their paychecks for more than six months, and their demands have not been heard by the relevant authorities.
