Oil Industry Students' Hunger Strike in Protest Against Employment Conditions

According to reports, a number of students from the Oil Industry University in Abadan have been on a hunger strike since December 7 in protest against the non-employment of graduates from this university by the Ministry of Oil. Several news websites and Telegram channels of the Oil Industry University students have published images announcing the hunger strike coinciding with December 7, Student Day in Iran. Protests and sit-ins by the students of the Oil Industry University have started two months ago. According to published statements, these students are demanding the implementation of a ruling by the Administrative Justice Court, which states that 'the Ministry of Oil is obliged to unconditionally employ all graduates of Group A from the Oil Industry University.' The protesting students claim that the Ministry of Oil is required to meet its human resource needs from the Oil Industry University based on an employment regulation approved in 2001. According to the AANA news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Azad University, before 2015, top-ranking graduates from the Oil University were employed without exams in the Ministry of Oil and its affiliated companies; also, graduates ranked B and C had separate quotas in employment tests. Reports indicate that the Ministry of Oil changed this regulation in 2015. Meanwhile, on December 3, the Ministry of Oil announced in response to a gathering of students in front of the ministry that applicants for employment had been invited for 'interviews, industrial medicine, and selection, but unfortunately, some graduates from the Oil Industry University insist on their demand for unconditional employment outside of legal regulations.' A day after this announcement, the state news agency IRIB reported, citing 'an informed source,' that the Ministry of Oil's employment exam had been canceled. After the cancellation of this exam, about 500 graduates from Iranian universities urged the Minister of Oil to stand against the cancellation of this exam and 'external pressures.' The Ministry of Oil has called for the employment of 1,250 people, of which, according to a law passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, 25% is allocated to the Foundation of Martyrs and 5% to veterans, and the remaining 875 will be selected from other candidates from various universities through an exam. The protesting students of the Oil Industry University on Saturday, December 2, gathered in front of the Presidential Office and asked Hassan Rouhani to issue an order for the implementation of the law to employ all graduates of Group A from the Oil Industry University according to the previous procedure (before June 2015) by the Ministry of Oil. The Oil Industry University is affiliated with the Ministry of Oil of Iran, which began its activities in 1939 under the name of the Abadan Technical School, and the oil faculties in Ahvaz, Abadan, and Tehran are considered its subsidiaries. In response to the students' gatherings, the authorities of the Oil Industry University have closed the university. Meanwhile, a protesting student from the Oil Industry University previously told Radio Farda that '20 students from Abadan and 30 from Ahvaz have been summoned to the disciplinary committee, and their charges include inciting students to riot and strike at the university and also membership in a think tank.' In January 2016, students from the oil faculties in Khuzestan province also protested against the removal of employment priority in the oil industry by staging sit-ins and hunger strikes. According to the protesting students, the university's board of trustees responded to these protests by stating that the Minister of Oil had agreed to employ graduates from Group A of this university, but this claim was not true.