Continued Protests by Oil Workers and Summoning of Nurses in Alborz Province

As protests by oil workers continue, several protesting nurses in Alborz Province have been summoned by government authorities. On Tuesday, September 20, workers from various contractor companies at the South Pars gas fields held a gathering during the sixth week of their protests over labor and livelihood issues. The protesting workers are demanding the "complete elimination of contractor companies, the right to assemble and protest, and the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of their colleagues," including "Hojjat Rezaei from South Pars and Yaser Ahmadinejad from the National Drilling Company." Additionally, the protesters are calling for the "implementation of previous agreements," including "entitlement leave and payment for camp fees (costs for the interruption of welfare facilities) that have been unilaterally altered by some officials, proper implementation of the job classification plan, and a fair payment system comparable to official and contractual workers following previous agreements with the Ministry of Oil, implementation of job classification for non-owner drivers of rental vehicles, organizing traffic, and creating job security for them." The protesting workers are also demanding "non-discriminatory implementation of 14 days of work followed by 14 days of rest for administrative and support staff, and a complete reform of the unjust wage resolution of the Supreme Labor Council," stating: "Our strikes as project workers will continue to pursue our demands." The protesting third-party workers say that "the elimination of contractors is a nationwide demand of us oil workers" and "especially working in scorching summer conditions, poor food quality, and the level of hygiene in work and living environments is a shared pain for all of us workers." Workers across various regions of Iran have repeatedly protested and gone on strike in recent years over their livelihood conditions. These protests are mainly related to the non-payment of wages on time, insurance rights, low wages, layoffs, and the continuation of privatization policies. Regarding the summoning of protesting nurses in Alborz Province, according to ILNA news agency, several protesting nurses have been summoned to the administrative violations unit. The summoned individuals have been accused of "violating laws" and "inciting others to sabotage and underperform." According to this report, the nurses consider their professional protests to be their "legal right" and have accused the medical university of attempting to take away this legal right by summoning the protesters. The nurses have emphasized that the demands of the country's healthcare staff are legal and based on justice. Nurses have repeatedly protested their working conditions in recent years, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. These protests have intensified in recent weeks, with nurses in dozens of public hospitals across more than 20 cities going on strike or gathering. They state that the income disparity between groups working in Iran's healthcare system and acceptable global standards must be minimized. Amid the continued unresponsiveness of health ministry officials to the nurses' demands, the Secretary-General of the Nurses' House, Mohammad Sharifi-Moghadam, reported on September 15 that about 200 nurses are leaving Iran monthly and described the current working conditions for nurses as a "serious threat" to Iran's health security.