Government Officials Announce Wage Meeting on Tuesday; Workers' Representative: We Are Uninformed

While the Minister of Labor announced the holding of wage meetings this week, and government media including the 'Tasnim' news agency reported that this meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, a workers' representative stated, 'We have no news about the meetings to determine the livelihood basket.' Although Tasnim's report emphasized that the agenda, sent in a letter to members of the Supreme Labor Council, includes 'the report of the wage committee' and 'other matters,' it is still unclear whether the discussion of the wage for 2024 will be on the agenda. Given that there are only two weeks left until the end of the year, the Ministry of Labor's delay in addressing and reviewing the wage for 2024 is surprising for the workers' representatives. Mohsen Bagheri, a workers' representative on the Supreme Labor Council, reacted to the Minister of Labor's claims, saying that if the Minister says meetings have been held to determine the livelihood basket, these meetings must have taken place between the government and employer groups, and if that is the case, the workers' representatives have been sidelined, and we have no information about it. In this context, Ali-Asghar Ahaniha, a representative of employers on the Supreme Labor Council, stated that the wage committee's duty is not to determine the livelihood basket rate, and the rate should be published by official authorities. The Minister of Labor also mentioned in an interview with the 'ILNA' news agency regarding the delay in determining the livelihood basket rate that 'meetings to determine the minimum livelihood basket have started in recent weeks and will soon reach a conclusion.' These two statements have been criticized by workers, who believe that these meetings have been held between government and employer groups, sidelining the workers' representatives to make decisions about workers' livelihoods behind closed doors. Critics and some experts argue that these issues become significant when we consider that yesterday, on Saturday, March 3, Davood Manzoor, the head of the Planning Organization and deputy of Ebrahim Raisi, announced that the government has considerations regarding the increase in workers' and employees' wages, which will be determined based on the issue of 'expected inflation.' Mohsen Bagheri also referred to these matters, believing that the government, in collusion with the employer group, is seeking to suppress wages and is standing against workers. It was supposed that in the previous meeting of the Supreme Labor Council, held on Monday, February 19, 2024, the report of the wage committee regarding the possibility of implementing regional wages would be discussed, but according to labor activists, even this issue was not raised in that meeting. Last year, the government delayed holding meetings to determine the minimum wage, pushing the matter to the last hours of the year, ultimately imposing its desired increase on workers. Workers believe this trend will continue this year, and in the end, at the last hours of the year, the government will force workers to accept a 20% wage increase. The wage of workers is under the pressure of inflation; a member of the Supreme Labor Council stated that the livelihood basket rate is more than '23 million and 500 thousand tomans.' Despite the government's insistence on determining regional wages, wages will be set using the previous method. Four labor organizations and groups stated that the monthly wage of workers next year should be 45 million tomans. Criticism of 'regional wages' continues; a union activist stated that the government is trying to reduce workers' purchasing power. Protests against the government's approach; two members of the Supreme Labor Council stated that regional wages will weaken workers. Half of Iranians live below the absolute poverty line; the deputy of Raisi stated that wage growth should be in line with the economic conditions of the country. The government has begun murmuring against Article 41 of the Labor Law; the deputy of Raisi stated that there are limitations for increasing workers' wages.