Workers of Iran National Steel Industrial Group went on strike for the third successive day on Monday after the company banned the entry of 21 workers to the company and refrained from implementing job classification rules. The workers took control of the factory’s entrance as authorities have refrained from responding to their demands.
December 25—Ahvaz, southwest #Iran
Workers of Iran National Steel Industrial Group on strike for the third day after the company banned the entry of 21 workers to the company and refrained from implementing job classification rules.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/1KnPFDabq4— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) December 25, 2023
The workers are demanding company authorities to revoke the restrictions on entry to the suspended workers and the return to the work of former fired colleagues. The workers are also demanding the equalization of wages with those of neighboring steel companies, the complete and immediate implementation of the job classification laws, the removal of the corrupt CEO and the dispossession of the state-run Bank-e Melli (National Bank) and the participation of workers in corporate management.
In videos from today’s gathering, the workers of INSIG in Ahvaz are heard chanting slogans such as “we will not give in to disgrace” and “We are not afraid of threats and prison.”
The conditions of workers in Iran are constantly declining. While strikes were ongoing in Ahvaz, reports were published of two petrochemical workers in Chovar, Ilam province, tried to commit suicide due to declining livelihood conditions.
According to local sources, these two workers hung themselves in the front court of the factory after the company declared the layoff of a group of workers. They were quickly saved and sent to the hospital. In the past two years, at least four workers at the Chovar plant have committed suicide due to their poor working and living conditions.
December 25—Tehran, #Iran
The merchants of the gold bazaar on strike#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/A3Y9NlIxik— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) December 25, 2023
At the same time as the strike of the employees of the National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz, the goldsmiths market was also on strike in several cities, and a number of nurses also held a protest rally in Tehran.
Nurses are protesting poor working conditions, low pay, the lack of implementation of tariff laws, and forced extra work hours at very low pay. Nurses have been protesting for several months but the regime continues to ignore their demands and answers them with repressive measures.
December 25—Tehran, #Iran
Nurses at Mahdiyeh hospital, Beheshti University, rally in protest to poor wages, lack of implementation of tariff laws, and forced extra work#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/hi3w3LsS85— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) December 25, 2023
In addition, government retirees and retirees of the Telecommunications Company of Iran resumed protest rallies in several cities, including Tehran, Ahvaz, Rasht, Isfahan, Ilam, Qazvin, Kermanshah, Tabriz, Kerman, Kermanshah, and Sanandaj.
The retirees are demanding the regime to increase their pensions according to the costs of living. According to the regime’s own laws pension funds are obliged to make sure retirees, who have given entrusted these organizations with their life savings, have a decent life during their retirement. But regime authorities refrain from implementing their own laws.
December 25—Kermanshah, western #Iran
Retirees and pensioners of the Telecommunications Company of Iran rally to protest low pensions and poor living conditions.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/xXAhxq2LyV— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) December 25, 2023
Meanwhile, there are multiple reports that indicate the pension funds are going bankrupt because the regime is extracting money from them for its own nefarious deeds, including funding terrorism and its repressive apparatus.
The TCI in particular is run by a former security official from the State Security Forces, and the main shareholder is also an individual who has close ties with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). Their priorities are serving the regime’s so-called security needs instead of seeing to the needs of their customers and employees.
