One Step Away from 'Depriving' Workers of Wage Determination; An Idea Pursued by the Minister of Labor

Iranian media reported on the seriousness and pursuit of the Minister of Labor in Ebrahim Raisi's government to draft and implement a bill that some media outlets have labeled 'anti-labor,' which would assign the determination of the minimum wage to the parliament and remove workers from the dispute. ILNA news agency stated that the Minister of Labor, in a recent speech, considered the parliament's legitimacy for determining workers' wages to be greater than that of the 'Supreme Labor Council' and raised the question of whose legitimacy the minister is referring to, and by what criteria does the Minister of Labor firmly consider the parliament superior to the Supreme Labor Council in wage determination? These questions arose after Soleymani announced the final stages of the bill 'Changing the Method of Determining Minimum Wages for Workers' starting next year and transferring the decision-making to the parliament at the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare. The Minister of Labor claimed that throughout the 40-year history, the issue of determining minimum wages and salaries for workers has always been contentious, and it seemed necessary to have a reference that has 'greater legitimacy than the Supreme Labor Council, which we believe is the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament).' This decision by the Minister of Labor was made after worker representatives left the last minimum wage determination meeting in protest and refused to sign the wage resolution for the year 1403. At that time, Soleymani announced the necessity of changing the method of determining minimum wages. Employers warned of a 10% decrease in workers' and employees' wages; the Workers' House: We will respond. The Supreme Labor Council is not looking to restore wages; housing rights will not increase. Workers' purchasing power has not been strengthened; the dollar value of wages has fallen. An 11 million wage against a 30 million livelihood; a labor activist: The government has trampled on retirees' rights. The wage dispute continues; labor activists say the Minister of Labor is violating the law. The 'Labor Law Reform' bill for wage determination will be presented to the government in parliament.