HRANA Recap: This Week’s Protests in Iran

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, a number of protests took place this week in Iran, many of which were continuations of ongoing movements.  Read our recap below for details, photos, and videos from the demonstrations.

Saturday, March 5

A number of workers at the Abadan Petrochemical Complex went on strike and gathered at their workplace in protest against the incorrect implementation of the Job Classification Plan whereby wages and benefits are determined by some conditions such as the nature of work and work experience. One of the workers said: ” As CEO had promised, the plan should have been implemented and the payment should have been done until now, which have not yet occurred.”

About 200 taxi drivers gathered before the governorate building in Dorud City. They asked to increase taxi fare and to deter the work of drivers using taxi apps.

The members of union of Water and Sewerage Department in Eslamshahr (Tehran Province) held protests before Justice Building to ask for their demands.

A number of students of the University of Tehran gathered before the university’s central building to protest against what they called “the lack of transparency about the reopening of the University of Tehran”.

Sunday, March 6

A number of local fishermen of Jask County held protests before the governorate building. They said that overfishing by trawlers has damaged their business.

The green space maintenance workers of the Oil and Gas Exploration company of Gachsaran held protests before the National Iranian South Oilfields Company to protest a lack of job security and poor living conditions. They rolled out an empty tablecloth as a sign of their poor livelihoods.

A group of heavy transport workers of the Chadormalu Mining and Industrial Company gathered before the Judiciary Public Relations Office. These workers have not received 12 months of wages.

Firefighters in Karaj City gathered to protest against poor living conditions and other issues.

A group of workers of the Municipality of Shush city protested before the governorate and municipality buildings to ask for their wage demands. One of the workers said: “Why should we pay for the budget deficit of the Municipality? When we complain, then they threaten us to fire. We expect the City Council stands with workers.”

The sweepers of the Municipality of Kut Abdollah gathered before the governorate building in Karun’s governorate building to protest against frequent delays in payments. One of them said: “Every time we have protest to get our wages. The year is ending but we have not yet received our delayed wages. We ask the municipality and the province authorities how can we survive in this situation”.

A group of retirees and pensioners of the Social Security Organization held protests in Rasht, Ardabil, Shushtar, Kerman, Ahvaz, Arak, Kermanshah, Qazvin and Tabriz cities. They asked to raise pensions to catch up with increasing living costs in accordance with Article 96 of the Social Security Act.

A group of workers of the Municipality of Tabriz City gathered before the City Council to protest against the decrease at the end of year bonuses.

A group of pensioners of the Fulad pension fund gathered before the office of this fund in Isfahan to ask their pension-related demands.

The retired workers of Homa Airline gathered before the pension fund of this company to protest against assigning this fund to the national fund of Civil Servants Pension Organization.

The workers recruited by a contractor working with Bushehr Petrochemical Company went on strike at their workplace to ask for receiving two months delay in payments.

Monday, March 7

For the second consecutive day, the sweepers of the Municipality of Kut Abdollah gathered before first the municipality and then the governorate building of Karun City to ask for their wage demands. They said it is four months that they have not received any wages.

The retirees of Tehran’s Electric Power Distribution Company gathered before the Power management Company building to ask for fairness and equal pension and benefits for the pensioners of this company like other pensioners of the Ministry of Energy.

A number of workers of Iran Road Maintenance & Transportation Organization in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province gathered before the governorate building of this province to protest against unpaid wages and benefits.

In Jask County, a number of local fishermen held protests before the Admiral Department. They said that overfishing by trawlers has damaged their business. Yesterday also, they gathered before Jask’s governorate building and Imam of Friday Prayer’s office of this city. According to these protestors, overfishing by trawlers has damaged their business.

The personnel of the Production and Operation Company of the Power Plant of Andimeshk Karkheh Dam went on strike and gathered on company premises. They protested against prioritizing non-local workers in recruitment.

For the second consecutive day, the workers recruited by a contractor working for Bushehr Petrochemical Company went on strike to ask for delayed wages. Reportedly, yesterday, after the worker’s strike, the contractor was forced to pay one month of delayed wages.

Tuesday, March 8

The working and retired personnel of telecommunication companies of various cities such as Tehran, Ahvaz, Isfahan, Shiraz, Qom, Tabriz, Mashhad, Shahrkord, Zanjan, Arak, Kohrramabad, Sari and Ardabil gathered before company building. They protested against a failure to comply with regulations enacted in 2011 and a delay in receiving non-cash rations and medical allowances.

The pensioners of Homa Airline fund pension held protests before the parliament in Tehran. They disagree with assigning this fund to the national fun of Civil Servants Pension Organization. One of the retirees said: “More than 13 thousand the retirees disagree with this assignment. Nonetheless, Parliament ignored them and approved this assignment”.

A number of teachers in Khuzestan Province gathered before the Revolutionary Court of Ahvaz to protest against the summons and possibly indictment of two teacher union activists, Ali Koroshat and Farangis Nasim-Pour by the court.

The victims of financial fraud of a cryptocurrency network known as “King Money”, run by the Baadraan Gostaran Company, gathered before the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade in Mashhad and Tehran cities. They asked for the prosecution of this company for fraudulent acts.

A group of the workers of the municipality of Shush City gathered before the building of this municipality to demands their delayed payments.

A number of school service workers gathered before Parliament to demand closing disparities in their wages with other employees of the Ministry of Education.

A group of personnel of the Power Plan Neka gathered before the governorate building of Mazandaran Province to protest against a decrease in wages and other livelihood issues.

A group of truck drivers of Lamerd City gathered before the governorate building to protest against a failure to recharge fuel ration cards.

For the third consecutive day, workers of the Municipality of Kut Abdollah went on strike in protest of a three month delay in payments, failure to receive end of year bonuses and incomplete payment of insurance contributions by the employer.

Wednesday, March 9

In Qazvin City, in protest against the indictment of three members of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association, a group of teachers gathered before the city’s Public and Revolutionary Court where the interrogation session was held.

The workers of the Industrial Mould Production Company, SAIPA, went on strike and gathered before the company’s office building. The workers protested against low wages.

A group of student interns of the University of Medical Sciences held protests before Rasul Akram Hospital in Tehran City. Last Monday and Tuesday, they gathered on hospital premises. These protestors asked for payments and wage raised.

For the fourth consecutive day, the workers of the Municipality of Kut Abdollah gathered before the governorate building of Khuzestan City. They asked for two months of unpaid wages and other benefits.

For the second consecutive day, a number of workers of Iran Kaveh Saipa Company went on strike. Reportedly, the workers wanted to gather outside at the company premises but the company managers did not let them get out of the building.

Thursday, March 10

On Thursday and the day before, a group of personnel of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad held protests before this Ministry building in Qom, Shahrekord, Kermanshah and before the management building of this Ministry in Javanrud, Shahin-Shahr, Meymeh, Tiran & Karvan, and Lordegan. Also, some personnel gathered before their Parliament member’s office in Kani-Bazar, Shahrekord and Ben & Saman. They protested a failure to enact a plan to raise wages, poor living conditions and low wages lagging behind inflation.

A group of citizens and environmentalists gathered at the natural resort, Sorin, in Baneh County to protest against extensive illegal felling of oak trees. In recent days, hundreds of oak trees in this area have been felled illegally.

HRANA Recap: This Week’s Protests in Iran

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, a number of protests took place this week in Iran, many of which were continuations of ongoing movements.  Read our recap below for details, photos, and videos from the demonstrations.

Saturday, February 19

In response to a call by the Coordination Council of Iranian Teacher’s Trade Association, retired and working teachers and educators in dozens of cities across the country held protests before the Ministry of Education (and Parliament in Tehran). During these protests, at least 7 people were arrested. The teacher’s demands include the implementation of an already-enacted plan whereby teacher’s incomes will be increased depending on rank to up to 80% of the salaries of faculty members, official employment of teachers with temporary job contracts, fulfilling severance pay for the year, improving living conditions of contracted teachers, enforcing Article 30 of Iran’s Constitution, free education, improving the quality of education, paying student’s insurance and creating a limit of 16 students per class.

Along with teachers, a number of injured veterans of the Iran-Iraq War assembled before Parliament in Tehran to protest against poor living conditions.

A group of personnel of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare assembled before their office in Tehran to protest against a cut in some part of their benefits. More than one million tomans from their income has been reduced.

A group of the bus drivers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company gathered before the entrance of the bus terminal to protest against low wages and poor conditions of the vehicles. They rolled out an empty tablecloth on the sidewalk as a sign of their hard conditions and poor livelihoods.

A group of applicants who passed the Recruitment Exam of the Ministry of Education and are still waiting for recruitment held protests before the Ministry of Education in Tehran.

A number of retired workers of the Sugarcane Agro-Industry Company Haft-Tappeh held protests on company premises to ask for their demands.

Sunday, February 20

A number of the injured veterans of the Iran-Iraq War held protests before the Court of Administrative Justice in Tehran. They asked that their poor living conditions be addressed.

About 70 service workers working on Line 4 of the Tehran Metro assembled before the Tehran Metro Company building to protest against delays in payment. Reportedly, more than two months of their wages have not been paid.

Retirees and pensioners of the Social Security Organization assembled before the organization’s office of this organization in Bojnurd, Rasht and Arak cities and before the governorate building in Tabriz. Their demands include levelling up wages, addressing issues regarding supplementary insurance and improving their living conditions.

For the second consecutive day, workers of the Coal Mine Company Alborze-Sharghi Damghan assembled on mine premises. They asked to change their contracts with the company, chanting “the contractor [says] shame on you! Leave the complex!”

A group of retirees and pensioners of Fulad’s pension fund assembled before the fund’s office to ask for their demands.

A group of workers working as Parks and Gardens Maintenance for the municipality of Karaj gathered before the city council to ask for their demands.

A number of teachers who were dispatched to work abroad gathered before the Planning and Budget Organization in Tehran to ask for their delayed payments. According to one of these teachers, 1 to 25 thousand euros of their wages from 2005 to 2016 have not yet been paid.

A number of teachers in Kish City assembled before the Kish Free Zone Organization to ask for their demands, including the implementation of the Educator Ranking Plan.

Monday, February 21

A group of workers working in Green Maintenance Services for the Municipality of Kut Abdollah protested in front of the Governorate building in Ahvaz City. They asked for the payment of three months of delayed wages.

A group of locomotive drivers in Razavi Khorasan Province gathered with their families before the train station of Mashhad City to protest a lack of safety at work and technical supervising, and using out of date locomotives and other devices which increase workload and pressure on the workers.

A number of nurses and healthcare staff held protests before the Ministry of Health in Tehran.

The workers of the Coal Mine Company Alborze-Sharghi Damghan gathered before company offices in Shahroud City. They had held protests in recent days on coal mine premises. Workers said that so far none of the authorities have responded to their demands.

Dozens of personnel of the Gilan Telecommunication Company assembled before company headquarters in Rasht City. They protested against the conditions of their contracts, flaws in the implementation of the Job Classification Plan and supplementary insurance issues.

A group of municipal workers in Zone 3 of Khorramabad City assembled before the Lorestan governorate building. They asked for six months of delayed payments, benefits and employer insurance contribution.

Tuesday, February 22

In response to a call by the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, retired and working teachers and educators held protests in more than 76 cities across the country. These protests were held before Parliament in Tehran and the Ministry of Education in other cities. During these protests, several educators and teacher’s union activists were arrested.

Personnel of the Agricultural Insurance Fund held protests before the office of the fund in Tehran. One of the protestors said: “We are the personnel of an insurance company, but we ourselves are not insured. We are working under these poor living conditions for long years. The wages are unfairly low and managers determine the income arbitrarily.”

For the second consecutive day, a group of personnel of the Gilan Telecommunication Company assembled before the company headquarters in Rasht City to protest against the conditions of their contracts, flaws in the implementation of the Job Classification Plan and supplementary insurance issues.

In protest against a failure to respond to their demands, a group of locomotive drivers in Razavi Khorasan Province gathered before the train station of Mashhad City.

A number of firefighters protested before the municipality of Tehran. They said that despite having a hard job, they don’t earn enough to afford their livelihood.

A group of workers of the municipality of Yasuj City held protests before the governorate building of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province. One of the protestors said: “It is about five months that the municipality has not paid our wages. Also, we have not yet received the end of year bonuses and other benefits from last year. We filed a complaint to the Office of the Ministry of Labour and the municipality has been condemned to pay 15 million in compensation. Nonetheless, they refuse to pay it.”

A group of teachers who passed the Ministry of Education Recruitment Exam, yet have not been recruited by the Ministry, held protests before the Ministry building.

A group of personnel of Eat Azerbaijan Telecommunication Company went on strike and assembled before the company headquarters. They protested against delays in wages and bonuses.

Wednesday, February 24

A number of contracted teachers held protests before the Ministry of Education in Tehran by rolling out an empty tablecloth as a sign of their poor living conditions. These teachers said that in 2009, a plan was enacted by Parliament that allows the Ministry of Education to directly recruit contracted teachers who had passed some courses. However, due to a high number of contracted teachers, the Ministry was not able to recruit all 100,000 teachers. Therefore, teachers were divided into three groups to be recruited in three phases. These teachers claim that such prioritization was not based on merit. Those who were recommended and endorsed by acquaintances in the Ministry were being recruited, while the teachers in the third phase never got their contracts.

A group of workers who are working for state-owned enterprises gathered before Parliament in Tehran to protest against low wages and benefits. According to these protestors, a 10 percent increase in basic income, rather than the whole income, cannot catch up with ever-increasing living costs.

Workers of the Municipality of Rasht City assembled before the governorate building. They asked to increase wages and year-end bonuses.

A number of stakeholders of the Homa Pension Fund gathered before Parliament in Tehran to protest against an enacted bill whereby the fund is assigned to the Civil Servants Pension Organization.

A group of citizens who lost their money in a cryptocurrency network known as “King Money”, run by the Baadraan Gostaran Company, gathered before the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade in Mashhad and Tehran cities. They asked for the prosecution of this company for fraudulent acts.

For the second consecutive day, personnel of the East Azerbaijan Telecommunication Company held protests on company premises in Tabriz City. They protested against compulsory retirement and delays in payments.

A group of teachers who passed the Ministry of Education recruitment exam protested before the Ministry of Education. Despite promises, the Ministry has refused to recruit them.

Thursday, February 24

A group of contracted teachers gathered before Parliament. About 88,000 teachers work with temporary contracts. According to the law, they should have been recruited by mid-February.

A group of shareholders of the stock market held protests before Parliament to protest against the incompetence of parliament members and the government in economic management.

Workers of the Abadan Petrochemical Company went on strike in protest against unpaid wages.