Iranian Pensioners' Council: The Ministry of Labor is Spending Its Time Picking Workers' Pockets

The remarks of the Deputy Minister of Labor Relations at the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare regarding the necessity of changes to unemployment insurance law have drawn criticism from several labor and professional organizations. In this context, the Iranian Pensioners' Council accused the ministry of spending "most of its time and energy" on "plotting to pick the pockets of employed and retired workers." Ali-Hossein Ra'iti-Fard, the Deputy Minister of Labor Relations, stated on September 5 that the "long payment of unemployment benefits" causes "a loss of motivation for workers to return to the labor market" and mentioned that the government's proposal is to "reduce the duration of unemployment benefit payments to the workforce." According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, the government is obliged to create mechanisms through public resources and community participation to provide assistance to unemployed workers when necessary, allowing them to access unemployment benefits to find suitable work and return to employment. In this regard, Article 7 of the unemployment insurance law, which only includes "those subject to social security law," states that "the total duration of benefit payments, from the time of receiving unemployment benefits, whether during a trial or permanent period, is a maximum of 36 months for singles and a maximum of 50 months for married individuals or dependents based on overall insurance payment history. According to ILNA news agency, Ali-Hossein Ra'iti-Fard, who previously headed the Islamic Republic's Labor Basij Organization, stated: "In the new proposal, we have expanded the coverage and also considered reducing the duration of benefit recipients' stay." This government official pointed out that the ministry's "proposal" is to "change the unemployment benefit payment schedule" and added: "We proposed that the benefits for singles with over 240 months of insurance payments be a maximum of 24 months, and for married individuals, a maximum of 30 months." He claimed without providing statistics that with the current unemployment benefits, "unemployed workers no longer have the motivation to return to the labor market." ILNA reported: Given this, the government intends to reduce the duration of unemployment benefits for suddenly unemployed individuals by 50% without regard to the job and livelihood conditions of workers who are caught in severe difficulties. The news agency wrote regarding Ali-Hossein Ra'iti-Fard's argument that this is an "assertion that no clear evidence is provided to prove" and added: "How can a worker who is offered a suitable job opportunity in line with their expertise and skills, which can adequately cover their living expenses, not want to return to the labor market and prefer to continue receiving a meager unemployment benefit?" ILNA quoted Ali, an unemployed worker in Qazvin, saying: "If the work has insurance and a suitable salary, why wouldn't I go? How much is the unemployment benefit anyway?" Zahra, a female head of household who became an unemployment benefit recipient after a tailoring shop in western Tehran closed, said: "No one wants to live off unemployment benefits, but when I have been unemployed for ten years and my rent is due, what should I do?" She pointed out: "Jobs for women over 40 are not easily found; in this situation, do they want to take away this meager unemployment money from us?" Ehsan Sohrabi, a labor activist, described the government's unilateral attempt to change the unemployment insurance law as unfair and said: "Those gentlemen who have never tasted unemployment want to take away the natural rights of workers." He added: "No worker wants to lose their job and benefit from 55% of their wages. According to this labor activist, "Workers are caught in a livelihood crisis, and the approved wages do not meet their needs. Does unemployment benefit tempt them not to work?" He emphasized: "One can only consider reducing the duration of unemployment benefit payments when other infrastructures are in place, for example, when job opportunities are available, and the benefit recipient owns a home." The Iranian Pensioners' Council also wrote on its Telegram channel: "Despite the constant spread of poverty and public misery and the unbearable living conditions of workers, every day, they plot against wage earners subject to labor law." This union added: "They cannot tolerate even the meager and humiliating unemployment insurance that is granted to the dismissed worker after passing through difficult administrative conditions and want to reduce the duration of receiving it." The Iranian Pensioners' Council also criticized the Deputy Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare's remarks about "tripartite participation in paying insurance premiums and securing resources." Ali-Hossein Ra'iti-Fard stated that "currently, only the employer pays 3% of the unemployment insurance benefits, and we proposed that 1% be added by the government or the worker to this benefit to resolve the fund's imbalance." The Iranian Pensioners' Council announced that "in all areas, we have not seen a more anti-worker government than this," indicating that "not only are they reducing the duration of the meager unemployment benefits, but they also intend to deduct 1% from the worker in addition to the 3% employer's share." In the council's Telegram channel, it was stated that "bringing the name of the government or the worker together for 1% is intended to deceive, and the target is the worker, not the government. If the government had the intention to pay money, it would settle its thousands of billions of tomans debt to the social security fund." This union also accused the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare of spending "most of its time and energy" on "plotting to pick the pockets of employed and retired workers." Raisi mentioned "economic prosperity" and "approaching the peak" in a press conference; Raisi does not accept the realities. Reaction to the Minister of Labor's claims; ILNA news agency: The minister is lying; Ham-Mihan newspaper: The statistics are fabricated. An unemployed worker from the Abadan refinery committed suicide due to "poverty and lack of money." 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