Exile and Harassment of Nurses Following Professional Protests by the Ministry of Health's 'Disciplinary Committee'

Nurses in Mazandaran province reported that their colleagues have been summoned to the 'Disciplinary Committee' following professional protests in recent weeks for 'participating in illegal gatherings.' In these summonses, protesting nurses must 'submit their defenses to the Disciplinary Committee within ten days.' According to ILNA news agency, 'Mohammad Sharifi Moghaddam,' the Secretary-General of the Nurses' House, stated that the increase in professional pressures against nurses is nationwide, mentioning that 'about 60 nurses have been summoned in Kerman, and several in Kermanshah,' emphasizing that 'in various parts of the country, nurses have been summoned and threatened due to protests.' The Secretary-General of the Nurses' House added regarding the various pressures from the 'Disciplinary Committee' based in the Ministry of Health on protesting nurses: 'A contract nurse whose contract is three months, six months, or at most one year will not have their contract renewed if they speak out; official nurses are also under pressure.' He stated that 'these pressures start with a verbal warning and continue to written warnings and entries in their files, salary deductions, demotions, exile, and ultimately dismissal,' providing examples from different regions of the country, such as 'in Kashan, nurses faced demotions; in Kermanshah, a head nurse was removed from their position.' Sharifi Moghaddam discussed the shortage of nursing staff and the mandatory overtime for nurses 'with an hourly wage of 20,000 tomans that is paid after six months,' adding: 'Nurses are not allowed to say they do not want mandatory overtime or that they object to this illegal behavior.' He cited an example from the situation of nurses in Kermanshah in Esfand 1402, stating that they 'had not received their bonuses for twelve months, pursued various follow-ups, and when they did not get results, they protested; after the protest, several of these nurses were summoned to the Disciplinary Committee.' This union official described the function and nature of the 'Disciplinary Committee' as 'an internal body to exert pressure on nurses' and emphasized that 'the Disciplinary Committee is not a judicial system; usually, the human resources manager of the university and the hospital manager, along with a legal expert or a law graduate, sit on the committee and accuse nurses, resulting in punishments based on these accusations.' He explained how nurses are punished by the Disciplinary Committee, stating that 'for example, in Kermanshah, a nurse was exiled. At a lower level, hospital and department managers harass protesting nurses, change their work shifts, relocate them, or summon them to security.' Sharifi Moghaddam, detailing the professional and legal demands of nurses, emphasized: 'Nurses do not say why you do not pay us 100 million tomans a month; they say what you have implemented in the name of pricing is not legal and fair; they say mandatory overtime is against the productivity improvement law that limits the hours nurses can be present in the hospital. These are the demands of nurses; they are not strange or unusual.' Previously, ILNA reported on Saturday, the first of Ordibehesht, that nurses in hospitals in various cities of Iran have launched campaigns protesting 'mandatory overtime.' According to ILNA, some of the protests against mandatory overtime included complaints from some nurses in Mashhad to the Administrative Justice Court. Additionally, about 200 nurses at Shahid Rajaei Hospital in Shiraz filled out requests to 'not have mandatory overtime' in protest against 'excessive shifts and the very low amount of mandatory overtime.' The newspaper 'Donya-e-Eqtesad' published in Tehran reported at the beginning of Aban last year, quoting Abbas Abadi, the Deputy Minister of Nursing at the Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education, stating that there is a shortage of 'about 70,000 nursing staff in all sectors.' Nurses and healthcare workers in Iran have repeatedly held protests in recent years and months regarding their job conditions and issues in various cities across Iran. The Persian section of Voice of America has covered the problems faced by healthcare staff, especially nurses, and the challenges that have intensified the migration crisis in this sector.