Eight Workers of National Steel Group Released

The Free Workers Union of Iran reported that eight workers of the National Steel Group of Iran were released on Tuesday, March 6, after six days of detention, on a bail of 50 million tomans. Nine protesting workers from the National Steel Group were arrested last Thursday by the order of the prosecutor's office in Ahvaz, with one of them released on Saturday. Farhad Akbariyan, Morteza Akbariyan, Meysam Ali Ghanavati, Amin Momenpour, Hossein Nissi, Bagher Delfi, Taghi Hassan Zadeh, Hadi Afravi, and Mehdi Adel Zadeh are the nine workers who were detained. The Free Workers Union of Iran stated in a released statement that the detention of these workers is a form of 'kidnapping' by the employer and law enforcement officials in Ahvaz to 'force the workers of this large industrial complex to work without receiving their overdue wages.' Meanwhile, the Workers' Rights Defenders Association, the Syndicate of Electrical and Metal Workers of Kermanshah, the Committee for the Pursuit of Workers' Organizations in Iran, and the International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran condemned these arrests and called for the release of the detained workers. Four thousand workers of the National Steel Group have been on strike for two weeks, demanding their wages for the months of December and January, clarity on the payment of wages for March, and their year-end bonuses. Ahmad Shajirati, the Deputy Director of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare in Khuzestan Province, described the workers' demands as 'just' and stated that they 'have no work to do due to the lack of financial resources and raw materials for production.' However, Farhad Afsharnia, the head of the Khuzestan judiciary, stated on Sunday, March 4, that the gathering of these workers was 'illegal' and threatened that 'our patience has limits, and if their gathering continues, we will have to deal with others as well.' In recent years, hundreds of workers have been arrested due to their labor protests. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, in a speech on February 5, without addressing the problems and demands of the workers, accused 'enemies' of attempting to create 'recession and stagnation among workers or forcing workers into this situation.' Typically, Ayatollah Khamenei and officials of the Islamic Republic use the term 'enemy' for the United States, Israel, and recently Saudi Arabia. Representatives of workers and employers boycotted a meeting of the Supreme Labor Council in protest against clause 'Z' of the seventh note of the next year's budget bill, which led to the cancellation of the meeting. Ahmad Mashirian, the Deputy Minister of Labor, stated: 'This protest is a natural right of workers as they are sensitive to the property of workers. However, wage meetings must also be held.' In clause 'Z' of the seventh note of the next year's budget bill, which was recently approved by representatives, it is predicted that the income from the deduction of workers' insurance premiums, under the title of social security health insurance, will be deposited into the treasury of the country. In protest against the approval of this clause of the budget bill, hundreds of workers and retirees of the Social Security Organization gathered in front of the Guardian Council on Wednesday, February 21. More than 41 million people, accounting for 52% of Iran's population, are covered by the Social Security Organization's insurance or receive pensions and allowances from this organization. Previously, the Research Center of the Parliament warned about the possibility of bankruptcy of the Social Security Organization in the next decade, stating that the crisis of this bankruptcy is so severe that the government will not have the ability to intervene. The Social Security Investment Company, Shasta, is one of the largest investment entities in Iran, operating in trade, commerce, and production. However, 'inefficient investments' by Shasta and other issues related to this company's investments have been cited as reasons for the financial problems of the Social Security Organization.