Reported by PMOI/MEK
Iran, Nov. 17, 2018 – 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.
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:
“We don’t want incompetent officials”
November 17
Shush, southwest #Iran
Employees of the local Haft Tappeh sugar mill are continuing their strike, protesting privatization plans for the company and demanding their delayed paychecks.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/pRIvKjE1pa— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 17, 2018
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.
Haft Tappeh employees rallying in Shush – Saturday, Nov 17
A child of a Haft Tappeh employee holds a sign reading: “A hungry child could care less about a promise”
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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.
November 16
Shush, southwest #Iran
Employees of the local sugar mill protesting delayed paychecks & disrupting the regime's Friday prayers.They're chanting:
"We have all come in support of workers."#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/Pwq4WiLZz0— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 16, 2018
The workers were rallying across the city and chanting:
“No fear, we’re all together”
“Seyed Razi shame on you, let go of our city”
November 16
Shush, southwest #Iran
Employees of the local sugar mill are marching & protesting delayed paychecks.They're chanting:
"No fear, we're all together"#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/KQx45jTAJx— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 16, 2018
“Today is a day of grievance”
The workers then entered a mosque where the local mullah – representing Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – was delivering his weekly remarks during the Friday prayer farce held in each city, town, and village.
November 16
Shush, southwest #Iran
Employees of the local sugar mill are marching & protesting delayed paychecks.One protesting worker says:
"Tomorrow, we'll all be coming & rallying here. Women & children should also come and schools should close."#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/2Enb3dtUWY— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 16, 2018
The workers then rallied in the city and their representative said the workers would be rallying again on Saturday along with their family members.
“Tomorrow all schools will be closed and we, with our wives and children, along with their backpacks and books, we will all be gathering right here,” he said as the crowd responded with applauds and appreciation.
Hail to the workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Factory who have risen against oppression with chants of, “Threats, jail, are no longer effective.” Crying out, “We are hungry,” they call on every free human being to rise up against the mullahs’ corrupt regime.#IranProtests #Iran
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) November 15, 2018
Iranian opposition President Maryam Rajavi sent a message showing her support for the Haft Tappeh sugar mail employees.
The Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) issued a statement on these ongoing protests.
On Saturday, November 10, heavy truck drivers and truckers continued their strike in different cities throughout the country for the tenth day of the new round. Earlier in the months of June, August and September, they were striking because of the severe living conditions, low freight rates, the high cost of spare parts, severe insurance conditions, and so on. October strike lasted 21 days.
In the fourth round of their strike, in addition to their previous demands, drivers called for the release of their colleagues who were arrested during the third round of strikes. The regime was struggling to prevent the strikethrough all kinds of pressures and threats.
Haft Tapeh sugar cane workers continued their strike for the sixth day in a row in protest of non-payment of their claims inside the company. Some of them took their protest into the city to make the voices of their innocence and their desires heard.
Workers of the Ahvaz National Steel Group also protested on Saturday, gathering in front of the governor's office in the city. They chanted: No nation has seen this much injustice; Hossein Hossein, is their slogan, theft is their pride; what did behind the scene hands have done with the factory?
Workers of Line 6 project of Tehran urban trains also protested against the non-payment of their salaries in front of the headquarters of the company.
Parts of the bazaar and shopkeepers in Tehran's 15 Khordad street protested against the high cost and lack of goods and customers and refused to open their shops.
Deprived farmers of cities and villages around Isfahan such as Ghahderijan. Varzaneh, Najaf Abad, Khorasgan, and others continued their demonstrations and sit-ins in protest of the deprivation of their right to water and their difficult living conditions. They were chanting: "Lest we are humiliated!"; "The Zayandeh Roud water is our inalienable right."
Mullah Alam-ul-Hoda, a member of the Assembly of Experts of the regime and representative of Khamenei in Mashhad on Friday, November 9, confessed: "Over 40% inflation caused by the recession brought the economy into a ruin. … This is the situation of our workers who have become unemployed, with families they are left without food, and the miners who work in the worst case situation, they work in the mine, underground and they do not pay their daily wages."
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, hailed the determination of the truck drivers, the deprived farmers of Isfahan, the oppressed hard-working workers of Haft Tapeh sugarcane factory and Ahvaz steel, and other strikers across the country, and called on fellow citizens, especially the youth, to support them and said: “Poverty, inflation, unemployment, and corruption were brought to our country by the religious fascism, and will continue as long as this medieval regime is in power.”