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 12

A group of teachers whose earnings are based on tuition fees went on strike and protested before the building of the Ministry of Education in Tehran. They chanted that they have enough of empty promises and will not go to class until their demands are met. The protestors said that their monthly wage is only 2 million tomans (approx. 80 dollars).

A number of retired workers of the Sugarcane Agro-Industry Company Haft-Tappeh assembled before the company headquarter to ask for their unpaid severances.

Retirees of the national company Isfahan Oil Industry assembled before the company pension office. They had made a list of their demands and handed it over to the Oil Minister’s office.

A group of workers of the cement factory, Sepahan, gathered and marched at their workplace to protest against low wages and poor living conditions.

A group of supervising agricultural engineers held protests before the governorate building of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province. Reportedly, a similar protest was held by agricultural engineers in Kerman Province. They protested against unfair employment contracts and a lack of job security.

All over the country, about five thousand supervising engineers are working for private companies and with temporary contracts hoping to be employed by the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad.

Several members of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association gathered in a park in Tehran to protest the conviction and the arrest of teacher union activists.

Monday, February 14

The pensioner and retirees of the Social Security Organization gathered before the Parliament building in Tehran and the Social Security building in Rasht, Arak, Shushtar, Tabriz, Kermanshah, Khorramabad, Ahvaz, Sanandaj and Mashhad cities. They asked to raise pensions above the poverty line, to implement an enacted plan to close wage disparities, to address issues regarding supplementary insurance, last year’s bonuses and other demands.

A number of citizens who pre-purchased a vehicle from the Rigan Khodro Company, but who have not received their cars, held protests before the company offices in Tehran Province.

In Tabriz City, a number of street vendors held protests against the removal of their stuff by the municipality.

A group of pensioners of the Fulad Company pension fund held protests before the fund’s office in Isfahan City. Pensioners of the Fulad Company gather and protest every Sunday in various cities until their demands are met.

For the second consecutive day, a group of workers of the cement factory Sepahan protested at their workplace against low wages and demaned that their fired coworkers be returned to work.

A number of academics of the University of Medical Sciences of Yasuj protested on campus against the Planning and Budget Organization’s plan whereby an income ceiling for faculty members is set and the taxes will be raised without consideration for working conditions in remote areas.

The workers of the Iran National Steel Industrial Group assembled before the governorate building of Khuzestan Province to ask for their wage demands.

Monday, February 14

For the second consecutive day, workers of the Iran National Steel Industrial Group held protests before the governorate building of Khuzestan Province in Ahvaz City.

One of the workers said: “We have had these issues since 2016. For about two years, we have been on the streets to raise our voices to authorities. After two years, we returned to work, but since then just a few demands have been fulfilled. None of the managers who have taken over could deliver a satisfactory  performance.”

A number of workers of the Ahvaz Pipe Rolling Company held protests before the governorate building of Khuzestan Province. They protested against unjustifiable layoffs. Last month more than 50 workers who have been working for 4 to 15 years were laid off without justifiable reason. Some of them returned to work, however, about 35 workers are still out of work.

A number of ranchers in Ardestan County, located in Isfahan Province, assembled to protest against shortages in forage and livestock production inputs and ever-increasing prices.

A group of member of housing cooperation of Tehran Municipality Zone 2 assembled before the Tehran City Council Building to protest against a failure to address their issues.

A group of ranchers and nomads from Yazd Province gathered and protested before a slaughterhouse in Yazd City. Also, some ranchers and nomads in Yazd, Isfahan and Razavi Khorasan provinces announced that they have gone on strike and will refuse to deliver their livestock to the slaughterhouses.

A number of the workers of the Tire Company Kian Tire assembled before the factory in Tehran City to ask for their wage demands.

Tuesday, February 15

A group of citizens who lost their money in a cryptocurrency network known as “King Money” due to fraudulent financial acts gathered before the building of the Football Federation of Iran. They protested against the vice-chairman of the women’s football federation, Shohreh Mousavi, who is also the founder and manager of this cryptocurrency network. They hold Mousavi responsible for these fraudulent acts.

A number of stock market shareholders gathered before the Planning and Budget Organization in Tehran to protest high-interest rates and high tax levied on stock market companies.