Minister of Labor Opposes Wage Increase: 'I Did Not Promise'

Solat Mortazavi, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, said on Wednesday, June 7, 'We did not promise that if inflation increases or decreases, the decision of the Supreme Labor Council would be revised.' He added that in the meeting of the Supreme Labor Council, it was decided that 'if the government decides to increase the salaries of public employees, the wages of workers should also be adjusted.' Previously, both Solat Mortazavi and Ehsan Khandozi, the Minister of Economy, had announced the government's opposition to increasing workers' wages. This was in a situation where Ali Khodai, a labor member of the Supreme Labor Council, had repeatedly stated that in the council's meeting to determine the minimum wage for workers, 'the Minister of Labor signed that if the government's inflation promises fail, the wages would be adjusted.' Additionally, according to Hassan Sadeghi, the head of the Union of Veteran Workers, the government has defended the minimal wage increase by promising to reduce the inflation rate this year. In the last days of the previous year, the Supreme Labor Council raised the minimum wage for workers covered by labor law from 4 million and 127 thousand tomans to 5 million and 307 thousand tomans. Accordingly, a married worker covered by labor law with children will receive about 8 million tomans per month. The Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare also recently promised that 'the general inflation of the country is being managed.' This promise seems to have failed to reassure labor activists and organizations about the future. Solat Mortazavi also stated, 'There is no legal document that stipulates that workers' wages must be adjusted in accordance with inflation,' and added, 'The decision of the Supreme Labor Council was signed with the approval and endorsement of the representatives of the workers.' According to ILNA, he added, 'Only in the meeting of the Supreme Labor Council was the discussion raised that if the government decides to increase the salaries of public employees, the wages of workers should also be adjusted.' Since the beginning of this year, workers and retirees have repeatedly held protests or strikes in response to their living conditions and the insignificance of their wages. Independent labor activists and organizations have called for an increase in workers' wages to over 20 million tomans, emphasizing that workers have no choice but to take to the streets. The death of a female worker in Nishapur after her scarf got caught in a plastic injection machine, complaints against the government for reducing the wages of some employees, a member of telecommunications labor organizations reporting an ambiguity of 800 billion tomans in the 'Employee Credit Fund,' support from French and Swiss unions for protests against the Islamic Republic in front of the International Labor Organization, and questions about whether the government is issuing directives in favor of contractors, along with the cooperation of government agencies to maintain the contracting system, are also notable. Reza Shahabi, a jailed labor activist, called for the expulsion of the Islamic Republic from the International Labor Organization.