Exclusive; Free Workers Union of Iran: Workers' Rights Violations Have Reached Catastrophic Dimensions

The Free Workers Union of Iran, in a letter to the "International Section of Trade Unions Worldwide," urged them to consider cases of "widespread repression of workers, teachers, retirees, and all groups of laborers and independent organizations" as a continuation of the "violent and blatant violation of workers' human rights in Iran." In this context, Foad Kikhisravi, a board member of the Free Workers Union of Iran, told Voice of America: "The depth of the violation of workers' rights and the repression of labor movement activists has taken on very catastrophic dimensions." The Free Workers Union of Iran demanded serious action against the officials of the Islamic Republic in international organizations, including the International Labour Organization (ILO). They stated that "the membership of the Islamic Republic in the board of the International Labour Organization is unacceptable to Iranian workers" and added: "The government must be held internationally accountable for the repression of Iranian workers." The letter emphasized that "the International Labour Organization should no longer recognize the Islamic Republic's delegation, under the guise of labor representatives, and should invite independent and genuine labor activists from Iran to be the true voice of Iranian workers in global forums." The union also expressed expectations for global labor unions to pressure the Iranian government to immediately and unconditionally release imprisoned workers, teachers, and social and political activists. The letter stated that the "systematic repression and its continuous nature" by the Islamic Republic has imposed an "extremely slave-like and inhumane condition on the living and working situation of workers, and does not tolerate any level of labor activity and demands from workers, teachers, retirees, and other working-class segments of society, resorting to accusations and security cases to suppress, arrest, and imprison workers, teachers, retirees, and supporters of the working class." Foad Kikhisravi believes that "international organizations, including the ILO and some confederations and labor unions in various countries, despite following the situation of workers at the international level, do not have a clear picture of the situation of workers in Iran, which can be well understood from the reports of these organizations." He referred to this year's ILO report, which "published the names of countries that violate workers' rights or ILO conventions, and surprisingly, Iran's name was not mentioned." This board member of the Free Workers Union of Iran pointed out the reasons for this situation to Voice of America, stating: "Because the government has never allowed the establishment of independent labor organizations and free activity for labor movement activists, comprehensive, documented, and independent statistics, information, and reports from the few independent labor organizations have not reached labor unions in other countries and international organizations." He added: "The Islamic Republic sends members of the House of Workers and Islamic Labor Councils, who are government appointees, to international meetings and organizations under the name of labor representatives, who always present an unrealistic picture of the situation of workers in Iran." Foad Kikhisravi believes that "sending reports from independent labor organizations and activists in Iran and exposing the violations of workers' rights and the widespread and violent repression of labor activists by the government to labor unions worldwide can both provide a real picture of the conditions of workers in Iran to them and can also be an effort to expose the government and apply pressure on it in global forums." The Free Workers Union of Iran also mentioned the security and judicial actions against several of its members, including Nasrin Javad, a 66-year-old retired worker, who, despite multiple illnesses and frequent medication and the opinions of specialists from the state hospital stating her inability to endure imprisonment, remains in prison without medical leave. The union pointed out that in recent years, Jafar Azimzadeh, Shapur Ehsani Rad, Parvin Mohammadi, Mozaffar Saleh Nia, Sharif Saeedpanah, Shith Amani, Haidar Ghorbani, Nahid Khodajoo, Farhad Sheikhi, Javanmir Moradi, Sadiq Karimi, Khalid Savari, Hossein Ghaderi, Jamil Mohammadi, Foad Kikhisravi, Tayeb Malayi, Hadi Soleimani, Mehdi Fakhri, Khalil Karimi, and many others among its current and former members have been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned for labor activities. The letter emphasizes that "the scope of attacks and repression of workers in Iran is not limited to the Free Workers Union of Iran but extends far beyond that, affecting all labor organizations and teachers as well as workers in various production and service centers and their supporters." The Free Workers Union of Iran added: "During the strike of project workers in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries in Ordibehesht 1402, many activists of this strike were arrested, and there is still no accurate information about their fate." Foad Kikhisravi stated: "In recent days, 100,000 Iranian workers have gone on strike." The Free Workers Union of Iran also mentioned a number of imprisoned workers, teachers, and labor activists, including Ismail Abdi, Rasoul Badaghi, Aziz Ghasemzadeh, Jafar Ebrahimi, Asghar Amirzadegan, Fatemeh Tadrisi, Zeinab Hamrang Seyed Bagloo, Farzaneh Nazaranpour, Nahid Shirpich, Anoush Adeli, Mahmoud Sedighipour, Mehdi Fathi, Mahmoud Malaki, Hashem Khastaar, and many others. The letter lists several other names, including Javad Laleh Mohammadi, Reza Shahabi, Davood Razavi, Hassan Saidi, Arash Jouhari, Abbas Daris, Keyvan Mohtadi, Anisha Asadollahi, Mehran Raouf, Nahid Taghavi, Sarvnaz Ahmadi, Narges Mansouri, Kamyar Fakour, Ali Al-Isaq, Sepideh Ghalean, Rafigh Salimi, and Zartosht Ahmadiraghb. The Free Workers Union of Iran also stated that many other workers, teachers, and labor activists have been arrested in recent months and years and are now temporarily free on bail. According to this labor organization, these activists have either been sentenced to prison or have open judicial cases against them, and at any moment, there is a possibility of their prison sentences being executed, such as Sara Siyahpour, Masoud Farhikhteh, Atakeh Rajabi, Erfan Khazad, Amir Chamani, Maryam Vahidi, Kamran Sakhteman, Amir Abbas Azarmvand, Asal Mohammadi, Hirad Pirbadaghi, Iskandar (Souran) Lotfi, Masoud Nikkhah, Mohammad Habibi, Mohammad Iran-Nejad, Peyman Farhangian, Reyhaneh Ansari Nejad, Nahid Khodajoo, Tahereh Naqi'i, Farhad Sheikhi, Shahban Mohammadi, Mokhtar Asadi, Maziar Seyednejad, Armin Sharifeh, Mozaffar Saleh Nia, Valih Zamani, Rouhollah (Rada) Mardani, and Osman Ismaili. Meanwhile, the International Education Federation tweeted a request to the Iranian authorities to ensure that Jafar Ebrahimi, a well-known activist of the teachers' movement, receives appropriate medical care. This federation also emphasized the necessity of medical leave for Mr. Ebrahimi from Evin prison, considering his deteriorating health condition. Previously, the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Unions had issued a statement about the critical condition of Jafar Ebrahimi due to severe gastrointestinal problems resulting from a lack of specialized medical attention. This council emphasized that the medication prescribed by the prison specialist is "conditional on consumption in isolated conditions, which is not possible in prison." In this regard, an acquaintance of Jafar Ebrahimi, an inspector of the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Unions who is imprisoned in Evin, told Voice of America that the continued negligence of Evin prison officials and the judiciary regarding his deteriorating health condition is seen as "a form of harassment against him and his family."