Labor and Teacher Organizations Support the 100,000 Signatures Campaign

Several labor organizations and teacher unions in Iran have issued statements expressing their support for the "100,000 Signatures Campaign," which aims for the "release of imprisoned teachers and an end to the legal harassment against them in courts and disciplinary boards." This campaign, initiated by the Coordination Council of Teachers' Unions, comes amid increasing security and judicial pressures on teachers and their activists, and so far nearly 14,000 individuals have signed its statement. The campaign's statement also includes two additional demands: "lifting security charges against union activists and conducting trials, in accordance with Article 168 of the Constitution, publicly and with the presence of a jury." The support from labor organizations includes a joint statement from the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers' Syndicate, the Retirees' Union, and the Coordination Committee for Helping to Establish Labor Organizations, titled "Common Pain, Common Cure," which sharply criticizes the policies of the Islamic Republic, stating: "The struggle for the freedom of political and ideological prisoners and all men and women who have been arrested, tortured, and sentenced to long prison terms for their activities in professional and union organizations, or who are languishing in dungeons without charge, is one of the important areas of struggle." They emphasized the special importance of the "struggle for the freedom of imprisoned teachers," which "deserves full and unconditional support." These organizations also stressed the "necessity of coordination and cooperation among progressive forces in various sectors" and called for "universal support for common and general demands or support for the legitimate specific demands of each sector of workers, teachers, women, students, intellectuals, peasants, and other urban and rural underprivileged groups." They highlighted the need for "creating joint action bodies through cooperation among workers' unions, teachers, retirees, women, students, and others, and the necessity of practical and direct support, not symbolic or representative, for the movements and actions decided by these bodies." The Iranian Teachers' Organization, in its statement supporting the 100,000 Signatures Campaign, criticized the "harsh judicial and security measures, including the issuance of long prison sentences, legal harassment in revolutionary courts and disciplinary boards, and the issuance of expulsion, buyout, forced retirement, and dismissal orders for many teachers pursuing their union demands." This union, which is close to reformists, stated that these actions "have caused widespread discontent and protests among educators" and noted that the demands and actions of teachers have been "pursuing legal claims through peaceful and non-violent means." The Iranian Teachers' Organization added that these means include "restoring salaries in line with inflation, equalizing pensions, pursuing overdue claims, protesting negligence, and critiquing unscientific and unprofessional bills and regulations in the field of education, and activism in accordance with Articles 26 and 27 of the Constitution, the right to free education, and the demand for political and civil freedoms." This organization emphasized that "any legal action for demanding rights is the right of all members of society, including teachers." Previously, a large number of teachers' unions and also Ismail Abdi, who is imprisoned in Evin, have expressed their support for this campaign. The Coordination Council of Teachers' Unions previously noted the "peaceful demand-making and rightful claims" of teachers over the past two decades, which have been conducted "within the framework of Articles 26 and 27 of the Constitution," stating that "in every instance, the response of government officials to the demands of educators has been confrontational and has used repression as a tool." The statement mentioned that "in cases where teachers' demands were approved by the parliament and government, they were often responded to inadequately, but "there have always been some honorable, aware, caring, brave, and self-sacrificing colleagues who have faced legal harassment and punishment, and sometimes heavy sentences of expulsion and imprisonment." The 100,000 Signatures Campaign statement referenced the widespread protests by teachers regarding the ranking issue in dozens of cities across Iran, noting that security and judicial responses have been "much harsher and more widespread." The statement pointed to the "issuance of long prison sentences" in various provinces and legal harassment in courts and disciplinary boards, as well as expulsion, buyout, forced retirement, and dismissal orders for hundreds of teachers across Iran. Currently, several teachers and teacher activists are imprisoned or detained on security charges, including Ismail Abdi, Rasoul Badaghi, Jafar Ebrahimi, Mehdi Fathi, Hashem Khashtar, Hossein Ramadanpour, Omid Shahmohammadi, and Anoush Adeli. Other imprisoned teachers and activists include Mahmoud Sedighi-Pour, Aziz Ghasemzadeh, Mahmoud Malaki, Javad Lal-Mohammadi, Zeinab Hamrang, Maryam Jalal Hosseini, Nahid Shirpish, and Asghar Amirzadegan. In this context, the six-year prison sentence of Sara Siyahpour, a teacher and member of the Tehran Teachers' Union, has been upheld in the appeals court. The Minister of Education has stated that there needs to be consideration for teachers' activities in cyberspace. The challenges of "grading papers" in Iran's educational system have led to threatening text messages being sent to protesting teachers. The release of Akbar Tabari and the continued imprisonment of Ismail Abdi have prompted cultural organizations to protest the dual approach. Members of the "Grant Est" council have expressed support for a French teacher imprisoned in Iran. The Teachers' Union has criticized the appointment of Morad Sahraei as a "mockery" of teachers and students.