Labor Protests Against the Seventh Development Plan; Reza Shahabi: They Have Unveiled 'Modern Slavery'

A number of workers from the Doroud Cement Factory in Lorestan province gathered on Tuesday, June 13, in protest against the 'anti-labor clauses' of the Seventh Development Plan bill. Three days prior, workers from the Hepco factory in Arak had also protested against this plan. In this context, Reza Shahabi, a jailed member of the board of directors of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Workers' Syndicate, stated in a statement: 'The government has openly unveiled modern slavery and, in a sense, forced labor camps.' According to ILNA news agency, the protesting cement workers in Doroud said: 'We believe that if these provisions are approved by the representatives of the parliament, a large part of the legal rights of workers will be targeted.' They added: 'For years, we have worked under the hardest conditions, hoping for a better future and the peace of our families, and have paid our insurance premiums, but unexpectedly, the government intends to increase the retirement age.' The Doroud cement workers urged parliament representatives not to approve this 'legally contradictory bill' and to compel the government to amend and revise it so that 'the working community can achieve peace.' Previously, Hepco factory workers in Arak had gathered on Saturday, June 10, demanding the removal of 'anti-labor clauses of the Seventh Development Plan, particularly Articles 66 and 67 of this plan.' The protesters referred to 'the increase in retirement age and the tightening of early retirement conditions for workers,' which they deemed 'unjust.' One worker stated: 'The government should not play with the fate of millions of workers' and emphasized: 'The increase in retirement age and the anti-labor clauses of the Seventh Plan are against the collective interests of workers and must be removed.' This worker urged parliament representatives not to consent to the approval of such destructive reforms. Several independent labor activists and organizations have also strongly criticized the Seventh Development Plan in recent days. The latest reaction comes from Reza Shahabi, who is serving his sentence in Evin Prison in Tehran. In a statement released this week, he wrote: 'The scissors of the Seventh Plan have two edges; one is the suppression and elimination of independent labor organizations, and the complementary edge is the further destabilization of the lives and work of the working class, putting them at maximum risk of exploitation.' According to the channel of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Workers' Syndicate, Mr. Shahabi pointed out that 'the government has openly unveiled modern slavery and, in a sense, forced labor camps.' This imprisoned labor activist wrote in his statement: 'A better future, along with job security, welfare, health, medical care, free education, equality, and justice in all areas, will only be realized when unions and independent organizations are established in every profession and sector, and by coming together, they pursue and achieve their demands.' He concluded: 'Alongside pursuing more fundamental struggles for the benefit of the working class, we must also challenge the Seventh Development Plan and other anti-labor decisions of the government with the limited capacities of current laws and not leave today's work entirely for tomorrow.' The Free Workers' Union of Iran reacted to Article 15 of the plan, calling it 'indicative of the extremely anti-labor and inhumane laws of the Islamic capitalist system in Iran.' Article 15 states that in order to remove obstacles to the employment of new labor by employers and to develop businesses, as well as to attract newcomers to the labor market and revive the master-apprentice system and promote practical training during the first three years of employment, regulations such as paying half of the approved minimum wage and the possibility of unilateral contract termination by the employer exist. This labor organization wrote about Article 15 of the bill, which pertains to temporary contracts with workers, stating: 'The employer, using the power to terminate the contract at the end of three years, can easily dismiss workers and will not wait for the workers' contract period to reach four years.' The Free Workers' Union added: 'Article 16 of this bill also emphasizes that employers are allowed to pay individuals with special conditions who are under the coverage of the Relief Committee and Welfare Organization less than the approved minimum wage of the year.' According to this clause, individuals introduced by the 'Prisons Organization' will also be included in this matter. The Coordination Committee for the Help of Establishing Labor Organizations also referred to the Seventh Development Plan as 'the formalization of modern slavery' and added that this plan should rightly be considered one of the most important anti-labor bills since the 1979 Revolution. This organization added: 'If the working class, with the entire amount of the minimum wage approved by the Supreme Labor Council, had to forgo essential and necessary living expenses and live in permanent poverty and deprivation, the approval of this bill will clearly lead to the onset of modern slavery. Perhaps with the difference that in the ancient system of slavery, at least there was concern for food and housing provided by the slave owner.' The Council for Organizing Protests of Informal Oil Workers (Third Parties) wrote: 'The drafting of this bill, under the deceptive justifications of reducing government costs, facilitating the recruitment of productive human resources to improve the economic conditions of society, and in line with the slogan of resistance economy, is based on the same fallacies that consider the increase in workers' wages as the main cause of inflation.' Following the intensification of criticism of the Seventh Development Plan and its designation as 'anti-labor' by labor communities, the Minister of Labor of the Islamic Republic announced the possibility of removing some anti-labor provisions from the Seventh Development Plan. Solat Mortazavi stated: 'I think that in the final revision of the Seventh Development Plan bill, Articles 15 and 16 have been removed' and 'probably this issue is no longer on the agenda.' However, Mortazavi's statements have not been confirmed or denied by any other official in the Islamic Republic, especially the Planning and Budget Organization. The Seventh Development Plan has been drafted for the years 1402 to 1406 (2023 to 2027) and consists of 22 chapters and 7 main sections, aiming to determine 'the macro strategies of the country for the next five years.' According to ISNA news agency, Davood Manzoor, head of the Planning and Budget Organization, stated that with the implementation of the Seventh Development Plan, 'the desired goals in the areas of food security, reducing inflation and achieving single-digit inflation, and economic growth' will be achieved.