Government's Hand in Determining Minimum Wage Exposed: 20% Proposal and Widespread Protests

After prolonged speculation regarding the government's stance on setting the minimum wage, the Minister of Labor of the Islamic Republic finally announced the official position of the government, proposing that the minimum wage be set at 2% higher than the increase in salaries for government employees. According to a report by the state-run news agency Tasnim, Solat Mortazavi stated in a meeting on Saturday night, March 26, that 'whatever the government has determined for employees, plus 2% for the difficulty of work, should be considered for workers' wages with the same working hours; this is exactly the law.' It is noteworthy that according to the budget law for the year 1403, the minimum salary and continuous benefits for employees will increase by 20%, and with this proposal from the Minister of Labor, the effective increase will be 20%, with 2% considered for work difficulty, although it has not been disclosed whether this 2% is general or added based on different categories. Tasnim also reported that the minister accused workers of making illegal demands, and these statements were met with a strong reaction from the workers' representative. Accordingly, Ayat Asadi, a worker member of the High Council of Labor, told the Minister of Labor that the type and conditions of work and the way payments are made to workers differ from those of government employees, and the additional payments and benefits received by employees cannot be compared to those of workers. Consequently, workers' representatives have opposed this level of wage increase. Concurrently with the meetings to determine the minimum wage, a campaign for a minimum wage demand of 15 million tomans for the year 1403, initiated by Alireza Mirghafari, a member of the High Council of Labor, has registered over 70,000 signatures. According to the campaign's website, part of the text of the 'demand for a minimum wage of 15 million tomans for the year 1403' states: 'The aim of this campaign is to protest against the current process of determining the minimum wage, which ignores the household livelihood basket, leading to a disastrous minimum wage of 5 million and 308 thousand tomans in 1402.' Negotiations in the wage meetings are ongoing with side actions from both parties, and the government has recently tried to create an environment to impose its views on the labor community. In this context, the Ministry of Health, in line with the government's efforts to prevent an increase of more than 20% in wages, has reduced the amount of daily calories required for workers in the food basket to lower the livelihood basket figure. The head of the Wage Committee of the Coordination Council of Islamic Labor Councils of Tehran Province, however, reacted to this action by the Ministry of Health, stating to the ILNA news agency that the livelihood basket rate for Tehran, based on the prices of Bahman and for a four-person household with 3,000 calories, was calculated at 32 million and 850 thousand tomans. Majid Rahmati also announced that the calculated basket includes 12 essential items, education, recreation, housing costs, and other basic life necessities, and thus the livelihood basket rate at the national level is also 26 million and 550 thousand tomans. Davood Manzoor, head of the Planning Organization and deputy to Ebrahim Raisi, announced on March 12 that the government has considerations regarding the increase in wages for workers and employees, which are determined based on 'expected inflation.' It is worth mentioning that while inflation has stabilized above 40% in recent years, most independent economic experts estimate the inflation rate for the coming year to be above 50%. The campaign for a minimum wage of 15 million tomans, with about 70,000 signatures, has seen retirees, workers, and protesting drivers hold at least four gatherings. The High Council of Labor has failed for the third time to determine the minimum wage for workers. Protests by workers and nurses regarding occupational and livelihood issues have occurred in several cities in Iran. The competition between the poverty line and people's livelihoods; an economist states that 70% of Iranians are either below the poverty line or at risk of falling. Reports indicate the murder of three disabled children in various regions of Iran; the father of the child killer was released two days after his arrest. Ongoing inconclusive wage determination committee meetings behind closed doors; publication of a 'survey' on wage increases in favor of the government. A member of the wage committee stated that the government is trying to remove some items from the workers' livelihood basket.