Government's Inability to Reduce Inflation; Labor Activists Demand Wage Increases

A number of labor activists, amid the continued rise in living costs and food items this year, have called for an increase in workers' wages and the convening of the Supreme Labor Council. The Secretary of the Labor House of Lorestan on Thursday, August 5, emphasized the government's inability to reduce the inflation rate, describing the living conditions of workers and retirees as 'difficult.' Hassan Mousivand criticized the insufficiency of workers' wages for their families' daily expenses, stating that 'workers are facing difficulties in purchasing their most basic needs.' He urged the Minister of Labor to convene the Supreme Labor Council to address the restoration of workers' wages. This request had previously faced opposition from officials in Ebrahim Raisi's government. Currently, the minimum monthly wage for workers covered by labor law, who are married and have children, is about 8 million tomans. Meanwhile, the Statistical Center of Iran reported the annual inflation rate for food and beverages in July of this year to be around 67 percent. Nevertheless, some members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, including Gholamreza Noori Ghazaljeh, have cited the actual inflation rate as 120 percent. Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Labor House of Qazvin on Tuesday, August 3, mentioned the rising prices of meat and chicken as examples of the economic pressures on workers. According to ILNA news agency, Eidaali Karimi pointed out that the price of meat exceeds 500,000 tomans per kilogram and chicken exceeds 100,000 tomans per kilogram, stating that purchasing three kilograms of meat and five kilograms of chicken amounts to a quarter of a worker's monthly salary. He also noted that the increase in rent has been 'over 100 percent' and added, 'Even with two or three shifts of work, a worker cannot sustain their living.' The Executive Secretary of the Labor House of Qazvin also called on the Minister of Labor to take prompt action to restore wages. Previously, Ali Khodaei, a representative of workers in the Supreme Labor Council, had deemed the 27 percent wage increase determined to be disproportionate to the annual inflation rate of 48 percent. Contrary to these statistics and statements regarding the sharp rise in prices and inflation rates, Soulat Mortazavi, Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, in July of this year, described the payment of subsidies as the government's assistance to compensate for rising inflation in response to the demand for wage increases. On the other hand, an economics professor in Iran on Thursday described the living conditions as 'catastrophic,' stating, 'The working community and a significant portion of employees are living below the poverty line.' Hossein Raghfar, in an interview with Mehr News Agency, estimated the poverty line in Iran to be close to 28 million tomans and attributed the current 'catastrophic' living conditions to the failure to fulfill 'the legal commitments of the government and the ruling system.' This economics professor stated that governments have increased the currency price daily to cover their budget deficits, thus making people poorer. In recent months, workers and retirees have repeatedly gone on strike and held protests against the economic situation. The price hike has reached bakeries; bread suddenly became expensive. The strike of a thousand contract workers at Chadormalu mine in Yazd entered its second day. Protests by social security retirees regarding living conditions: wages should be above the poverty line. Migration has reached workers; 'There are jobs, but no workers.' A member of parliament stated: the waiting time to buy a house for an Iranian wage earner is over 90 years.