Government Employees Protest Against 'Disparity and Inequity' in Salaries Between Central and Provincial Offices

Some employees of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Islamic Republic have announced to the media that the 'promises' made by senior government officials 'have largely not been fulfilled' and that they must go to the Islamic Consultative Assembly to pursue their demands. Jamshid Jan-Nisar Dehkardi, a representative of the agricultural employees in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, told ILNA news agency that concerns are primarily related to two issues: 'payment discrimination and imbalance in the administrative organization,' and that much of this imbalance and discrimination exists 'among the agencies themselves.' He added that the source of this imbalance and discrimination is largely due to the implementation of the 'Civil Service Management Law,' which is a law 'full of gaps and deficiencies.' The temporary Civil Service Management Law, approved in October 2007, is considered one of the most controversial laws regarding employees and staff of government and public institutions, with serious supporters and opponents. This law was later made 'permanent' in March 2019. The Civil Service Management Law consists of 128 articles and 106 notes and was approved on October 8, 1997, in a joint commission meeting of the Islamic Consultative Assembly according to Article 85 of the Constitution. After the Assembly agreed to its experimental implementation for five years, it was approved by the Guardian Council on October 18, 2007. The last amendments to this law were made in 2011. Fatemeh Moski-Zadeh, another representative of the agricultural employees in Bushehr province, also told ILNA that there are many problems in the 'administrative and personnel' area regarding 'employee rulings.' She stated that many of the issues raised in the ministry 'are practically not addressed,' adding, 'We are forced to file complaints with the Administrative Justice Court regarding many insurance, retirement, and legal issues of employees.' Moski-Zadeh further stated that it was recently claimed that the salaries of employees in the Ministry of Agriculture had increased by '50 percent,' which was false, and that the actual increase was '35 percent,' which was also distributed 'unfairly' among the sectors. These government employees believe that the highest increase was allocated to the 'headquarters' and the lowest to the 'provinces,' and that for some lower-level staff in the counties, no amount was added regarding this 35 percent increase. Jan-Nisar Dehkardi accused the Deputy of Human Resources of the Ministry of Agriculture of 'talk therapy,' saying, 'He thinks that because there is no problem with payment levels at the ministry headquarters, there are no problems in other areas and provinces.' He stated that the Ministry of Agriculture has 5,000 'minimum wage' personnel who receive 7 million tomans, saying, 'We had given the ministry and the Human Resources Deputy until December 5 to take necessary actions for discussions with the parliament and government,' and 'at the end of this opportunity, the ministry employees will enter the field of demanding, and at that time we cannot invite our colleagues to silence.' According to these labor activists, 32,000 out of 63,000 personnel in the Ministry of Agriculture are official staff, while the rest are 'contractual, temporary, and company' employees. In recent months, livelihood protests have increasingly spread to government offices, indicating the depth of the Islamic Republic's problems in providing the minimum needs of its employees. This comes as we witness daily protests from other sectors, including workers, retirees, and teachers.