Nurse and Emergency Staff Protests in at Least 9 Cities in Iran; Several Protesters Arrested in Bushehr

As peaceful protests by nurses, healthcare staff, and emergency personnel continue in at least 9 cities including Isfahan, Nishapur, Bandar Abbas, Kermanshah, Tehran, Bushehr, Hamadan, Yazd, and Ilam on Tuesday, September 6, government agents clashed with emergency workers in Bushehr and arrested several of them. According to the Telegram channel 'Civil Protest Market', a number of nurses and medical emergency staff have been detained in Bushehr. The exact number of detainees is currently unknown, and security officials of the Islamic Republic have not provided information on this matter. Based on images shared on social media, the presence of Islamic Republic agents was also significant in the nurses' protests in Tehran, where they aimed to disperse the protesting nurses. Nevertheless, the protesters emphasized the continuation of their protests until their demands are met, chanting: 'Do you think today is our daily meeting?' Protesting nurses in Hamadan also gathered in front of the governor's office in the city, chanting: 'Promises are enough, our table is empty,' 'Dear governor, support us.' Similar protest slogans were echoed in the gathering of nurses in Kermanshah, where protesters held placards demanding 'transparent payment of nursing tariffs' and 'full implementation of the productivity law according to nursing services.' In Yazd, protesting nurses went on strike at 'Sadoqi' hospital and chanted in the hallways: 'A nurse dies, but does not accept humiliation.' Nurses at 'Isa ibn Maryam' hospital in Isfahan also chanted: 'Overtime 20 tomans, shame, shame.' In Bandar Abbas, protesting nurses gathered in front of the Hormozgan governor's office, chanting: 'We don't want promises, we want our rights' and 'Nurse shout, yell your rights.' Nurses and healthcare staff in public hospitals have intensified their protests and strikes since mid-August in at least 16 provinces of Iran, emphasizing their professional and livelihood demands. Reports indicate that several protesters have been arrested on charges of 'disruption.' Nurses are protesting the non-implementation of the tariff law, mandatory overtime, and meager wages, stating that the Ministry of Health must hear their voices and meet their demands. So far, a group of independent labor unions, teachers, and retirees have expressed their support for the protesting nurses' demands and criticized the government's actions against the protesters. Meanwhile, Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, the Minister of Health, stated on Tuesday that 'the first part of the rightful demands of nurses' has been paid to medical universities. However, he did not specify how much of the nurses' demands would be paid at this stage. He previously announced the total demands of nurses to be 7.5 trillion tomans and stated that 'it has been approved that all their rights and demands be paid as soon as possible.' Nevertheless, the Minister of Health said last week that 'I will pursue the financial expectations of nurses within the country's capabilities.' In recent years, officials of the Islamic Republic have made similar promises in response to labor protests, but in practice, some of these promises have been partially fulfilled or not fulfilled at all. According to Mohammad Sharifi-Moghadam, Secretary-General of the Nurses' House, 'for the first time in the 100-year history of modern nursing in Iran, protests are taking the form of work stoppages' and 'the situation has reached a point where it does not matter to nurses if they are fired for striking.' Reports from Iranian media indicate that security and administrative actions against protesting nurses continue, and they are threatened for pursuing their professional demands. These threats have persisted since the beginning of Masoud Pezeshkian's government. In this regard, the 'Tejarat News' website reported on Monday, September 5, that 'instead of working to resolve the problems and fulfill the nurses' demands, officials have threatened nurses through letters and phone calls, forcing them to continue working under these non-standard and illegal conditions.' Mr. Sharifi-Moghadam told Tejarat News that 'what nurses are demanding is their legal rights and they want the law to be properly implemented' and added: 'This wrongful practice of threats and intimidation not only does not solve problems but may worsen the situation.' He emphasized: 'Threatening nurses with salary deductions while a nurse's salary in many cities does not even cover their commuting costs to the hospital, how is this supposed to make nurses return to work?' Meanwhile, ILNA news agency reported on Tuesday, citing contract workers from social emergency services about their livelihood problems: 'Neither the difficulty of work belongs to us nor do we even receive overtime pay, Friday work, and our specialty rights.' They said: 'Single colleagues with master's and doctoral degrees earn just over 12 million tomans, and the highest salary for a married person with child allowance and marriage allowance does not even reach 15 million tomans.'