Labor Minister of Raisi's Government Denies Law; Solat Mortazavi: The Law Does Not State Workers' Wages Must Be Equal to Inflation

The Minister of Labor in Ebrahim Raisi's government, who is under criticism from labor activists for opposing wage increases for workers based on inflation rates, recently stated: "The law does not say that workers' wages must be equal to inflation." Solat Mortazavi, Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare of the thirteenth government, said on April 10 to the ILNA news agency: "The law in Article 41 states that workers' wages must be determined with regard to inflation, it does not say they must be equal to inflation. We have divided inflation into several parts: first, last year's inflation; second, point-to-point inflation; and third, the inflation predicted for the year 1403. We took the average of these, which was close to 35 percent, and that figure was approved for the wage increase for workers in 1403." These remarks come as many workers, pensioners, and retirees have emphasized in a 'campaign' addressed to members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly that Solat Mortazavi, the Minister of Labor, with two years of determining the minimum wage for workers, has shown no concern for improving their crushed livelihoods, contrary to the explicit criteria of labor law in Article 41. According to two notes of Article 41 of the labor law, the minimum wage for workers should be determined based on the inflation rate and the cost of living for a household. However, labor activists and organizations emphasize that the second note in determining the minimum wage for workers is not considered by the government and employers. The government of Ebrahim Raisi and employer representatives approved a 35 percent wage increase for workers in 1403 in the last hours of the year 1402 without the presence of labor representatives, setting the minimum income for married workers with two children at about 11 million tomans, while labor activists and independent labor organizations stress that the cost of living in Iranian cities has exceeded 30 million tomans. On the agenda: Government decisions on minimum wage contradict the slogan of the year. The 'Labor Law Reform' bill for determining wages is presented to the government in the parliament. Protests continue in Iran; employees of the continental company on Lavan Island gathered. The campaign to impeach the Minister of Labor has gathered 57,000 signatures. The continuation of workers' protests regarding the wage increase; the likelihood of parliament's involvement to 'resolve the dispute' has strengthened.