In a new wave of strikes and protests, workers of the Iran National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz are reiterating their demands.
Thursday marked the third day of this new strike. Protesters were chanting “Workers will die but won’t live in disgrace,” expressing their rejection of the harsh living and working conditions they face.
These demonstrations come against the backdrop of a series of strikes and protests that began on February 13, when several workers from the Iran National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz were barred from entering the factory, in an arbitrary move that reflects the conflict between the workers’ demands and the company management, owned by Bank Melli.
The workers’ demands include a call for ownership change, a review of the job classification plan, addressing the lack and defects in some of its aspects, as well as equalizing wages with similar steel companies. Workers had previously organized a strike in January for a week to express these demands.
Simultaneously, the protesters criticize the “enslavement” of workers by regional, banking, and corporate officials in Khuzestan province, describing the management’s hesitation in responding to their demands as “insulting.”
A report by the state-run Mehr News Agency admits that the wage level in Iran is low compared to the world. The wage of workers in Iran barely reaches 160 to 170 dollars for 192 hours of work per month, while it ranges between 23 to 26 euros per hour in European and American countries.
This comes at a time when the minimum cost of living in Tehran has exceeded 300 million rials (approximately $527), and in Iran as a whole, it has reached 220 million rials (approximately $386).
Reports indicate that the number of labor and trade union protests in Iran is on the rise, involving issues such as delayed wage payments, privatization, worker layoffs, non-implementation of the job classification plan, and low wage levels.
These demonstrations and strikes reflect the workers’ outcry against exploitation and the missing social justice, in their quest for a dignified life that befits their hard work and efforts.
At the same time, other sectors of Iran’s society are holding rallies in protest to economic woes. Pensioners, retired government employees, retirees from the steel and telecommunications industries, creditors of state-backed, nurses, farmers, are all protesting their poor living conditions and low wages.
Meanwhile, a batch of recently leaked documents show that Majlis officials are being paid astronomical wages that are 40 times higher than the salary of a teacher or government employee. Rampant corruption in the government, along with social injustice and repressive policies of the regime are preparing the grounds for what can be the next nationwide uprising.
