Letter from Eight Organizations to the International Labour Organization: Expel the Islamic Republic

Eight labor and professional organizations in Iran have sent a letter to the delegations participating in the 111th International Labour Organization (ILO) conference, calling for the expulsion of the Islamic Republic from the organization due to its policies towards workers, teachers, retirees, and children's rights activists. The organizations also demanded that the Iranian delegation be denied permission to participate in the ILO conference in Geneva, Switzerland, which begins on June 5. The letter is signed by the Council for Organizing Contract Workers' Protests, the Council for Organizing Informal Oil Workers, the Committee for Following Up on the Establishment of Labor Organizations, and the Council of Retirees of Iran. Other signatories include the Independent Voice of Steel Workers, the Association of Electrical and Metal Workers of Kermanshah, the Painters' Union of Alborz Province, and advocates for the abolition of child labor. The signatories stated that the Iranian government's economic policies over the years, especially in the last two years, have created 'widespread poverty and misery' for the general public, particularly for wage earners and workers. They emphasized that 'the murder of Mahsa Amini (Zhina Amini) last September ignited the anger of the people against this insecurity and miserable living conditions, and the Woman, Life, Freedom movement emerged from this situation and against the entire system of poverty, misery, and maximum exploitation.' They pointed out the 'widespread repression of rightful protests by workers, teachers, retirees, and child rights activists' by the Islamic Republic, adding that 'in this massive popular movement, thousands have been arrested and imprisoned, including children and students.' The eight labor and professional organizations also referred to the 'murder of at least 500 individuals' and urged the labor representatives present at the ILO annual conference to protest these 'repressive actions.' The severe repression of labor activists, protesting teachers, and other social activists, as well as professional organizations in the past two years, was also mentioned in the letter. The letter lists several imprisoned labor activists, including Kamal Karimi, Shadman Abdi, Abdollah Khairabadi, Sirvan Mahmoudi, Iqbal Pishkari, Hajar Saidi, Habibollah Karimi, Reza Shahabi, Arash Jouhari, Hassan Saidi, and Nasrin Javadi. Other imprisoned labor activists mentioned include Milad Rabi'i, Abbas Daris, Asad Moftahi, Peyman Salim, Erfan Khazad, Davood Razavi, Keyvan Mohtadi, Mehran Raouf, Sepideh Ghalean, and Abolfazl Ghasali. The signatories also referred to teachers' rights activists imprisoned on security charges, such as Rasool Badaghi, Ismail Abdi, Jafar Ebrahimi, Aziz Qasemzadeh, Anoush Adeli, Mahmoud Sedighi-Pour, Farzaneh Nazaranpour, Hashem Khastaar, Mehdi Fathi, Hossein Ramadanpour, Omid Shah Mohammadi, Mohammad Qanati, Farzad Safi-Khanpour, Fateh Osmani, Nahid Shirpicheh, Gholamreza Asghari, Zeinab Hamrang, and Javad Lal-Mahdi. Labor unions and professional organizations in various countries have repeatedly condemned the arrests of workers and labor activists in Iran over the past year, calling for their release. The eight organizations further wrote that several protesting women, charged with not wearing hijabs, as well as students and political activists—many of whom are among the detainees of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement—are currently imprisoned. The letter states that this lengthy list indicates 'what is happening in Iran and how the most basic human rights of people are being violated,' referring to 'the rule of sexual apartheid and the repression of women with the club of hijab.' The signatories added that this situation 'has placed women under greater pressure and repression both socially and in workplaces,' and thus, 'one of the main focuses of the current eight-month popular uprising is the defense of women's rights, expressed in the slogan Woman, Life, Freedom.' In another section of the letter, they urged the delegations of labor unions and professional organizations participating in the ILO conference to condemn 'the increasing repression and violation of the rights of workers and teachers, particularly the violation of the right to independent organization and the right to assemble and protest.' These labor and professional organizations stated that the representatives of 'labor unions' participating from Iran are representatives of government-created organizations and also protested against 'the ILO's complacency towards the Islamic Republic and its repressions.' Typically, officials of the Islamic Republic reject these criticisms, emphasizing what they call interaction with labor organizations. However, this position has been repeatedly rejected by human rights organizations and labor unions worldwide. In conclusion, the signatories called on the labor delegations participating in the ILO annual conference to work for the immediate and unconditional dismissal of charges against imprisoned professional activists in Iran, the release of all imprisoned workers, teachers, and social activists, detainees of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, and all political prisoners, as well as the immediate abolition of executions. In previous years, labor and professional organizations have also written letters to the ILO annual conference. In this regard, the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Professional Organizations and some other professional organizations last year called for the expulsion of the Islamic Republic's representatives from the board of this organization. This letter pointed out the 'wide class gap and shrinking living standards of the general public' and the 'harsh reaction' of the government to protests in Iran, stating that 'one aspect of the various policies of repression has been the attack and arrest of known professional activists, teachers, workers, and many protesting laborers.' The Freedom of Organization Committee has previously warned the Islamic Republic to improve workers' conditions and to release labor and professional activists. The rising wave of inflation and rising prices has further intensified protests among various professions and wage earners. Voice of America has reported extensively on the ongoing labor protests and gatherings and the dissatisfaction of workers and employees in various sectors in Iran.