Continuation of Protests and Strikes by Workers and Nurses in Several Cities of Iran

On Wednesday, for the sixth consecutive day, labor strikes and protests in Iran continued with the workers of the ODC company in Isfahan going on strike and nurses gathering in Shiraz and Qazvin. According to reports from Iran on Wednesday, the employees of the 'ODC' company in Isfahan stopped working in protest of their living conditions. A similar strike was also conducted by contract workers at the Sirjan Development Project Company. Based on reports from channels affiliated with labor and professional organizations, the number of centers witnessing strikes by project workers has exceeded 90 units. These strikes, which have even occurred in the city of 'Ramila' in Iraq by hundreds of Iranian project workers, have received support from independent labor and professional organizations. Zartosht Ahmadinejad Raghb, a political prisoner imprisoned in Evin and a firefighter who has been unemployed for five years due to the intervention of security agencies, expressed support for the widespread labor strikes in a message that reached Voice of America on Wednesday. In this message, Ahmadinejad Raghb stated: 'I hope these strikes and the solidarity and empathy will be nationwide and lead to the dismissal of the ineffective management and the overthrow of tyranny.' Additionally, a number of nurses protested against the pricing policies in the healthcare sector in the cities of Qazvin and Shiraz. On Tuesday, employees of the 'Well Services' (Schlumberger) company, which has been operating since 2016 to develop secondary reservoirs in Ahvaz, gathered in protest of 'delayed payment of wages for several months.' The Supreme Labor Council announced a 27% increase in the monthly wages of workers for the new year at the end of Esfand. According to this decree, the minimum monthly wage was declared to be less than 5 million and 400 thousand tomans. According to this decree, the minimum monthly wage for workers subject to labor law, married with children, is about 8 million tomans. This is while the same council estimated the livelihood basket for a three-person household to be over 13 million tomans. This decree has faced many protests. Independent labor and professional activists have deemed this decree as against workers and have demanded a wage of 18 to 20 million tomans for the current year. They consider 'the streets' and engaging in nationwide strikes as the solution to the problems of workers and wage earners in Iran. Protests and livelihood strikes began in the early hours of the year 1402 and have continued in various cities across Iran. Prince Reza Pahlavi stated on Wednesday that the labor strikes are one of the results of the 'Mahsa Revolution.'