Protest Gathering of Hejdak Mine Workers in Front of Kerman Coal Company

Telegram channels belonging to labor and professional organizations reported on Thursday, June 15, that workers from the Hejdak coal mine gathered in front of the Kerman Coal Company. These organizations released a video of the gathering, stating that the workers protested against their low wages, including a monthly salary of 4 million tomans, the untimely payment of wages, and their poor working conditions. One of the workers mentioned that since last February, only part of their wages has been paid, adding that their insurance is paid incompletely. Another worker stated that they work at a depth of 400 meters underground, while his salary of 4 million tomans has not been paid for three months. A worker also pointed out that bonuses and severance pay are not being paid. According to these workers, company officials do not provide clear answers to them. So far, no official news agencies in Iran have reported on this gathering. The Hejdak mine is located 70 kilometers northeast of Kerman and has been in operation for about 50 years. Wages below the poverty line and the untimely payment of these wages have been among the biggest problems for workers in Iran in recent years. This situation has led to increasing protests in the form of petitions, strikes, gatherings, and marches. For instance, a number of workers maintaining railway lines and technical structures in the southeastern region, working under a contracting company, also went on strike. According to ILNA news agency, these workers protested on Wednesday, June 14, at their workplace against wage arrears and the dismissal of some of their colleagues by the employer. One protesting worker told ILNA that the status of the dismissed workers is still unclear, and the payment of severance pay has been delayed since 2012. The report also indicates that workers' efforts to implement a job classification plan have not yielded results. The state-run IRIB news agency reported on Tuesday, June 13, that official and contractual employees and workers from various departments of Yasuj Municipality gathered in front of the governor's office in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, severely criticizing the performance of the mayor and the city council of Yasuj, demanding their dues. One of the Yasuj Municipality employees told the news agency: 'Official staff have not received salaries for three months, and contractual and temporary workers have not received their salaries for 8 to 9 months.' Concurrently with the news about low wages and untimely payments, Hossein Habibi, a member of the board of directors of the Supreme Council of Islamic Labor Organizations, stated on Tuesday, June 13, that workers have a 70% wage backlog. He emphasized the necessity of canceling the current year's wage, stating that hundreds of workers have filed complaints with the Court of Administrative Justice; thousands of workers have participated in an online campaign to annul the wage, and labor representatives in the Supreme Labor Council have formally requested wage adjustments. This is while the government of Ebrahim Raisi has repeatedly opposed increasing workers' wages. According to the last day of the previous year’s resolution, the 'minimum wage for workers' was increased by '27 percent' for minimum wage earners, and '21 percent' for other levels. Consequently, the minimum wage for workers increased from '4 million 179 thousand tomans' in the year 1401 to '5 million 307 thousand 330 tomans' for the year 1402; a figure that is significantly lower than the officially announced inflation rate and the poverty line by government agencies. According to the Supreme Labor Council's resolution, the minimum wage for workers subject to labor law, married and with children, is about eight million tomans per month. Meanwhile, Faramarz Tofighi, a labor activist, stated in May to ILNA that the cost of living in cities has reached 21 million tomans per month. Additionally, Mohammad Bagheri Banaei, a member of the Economic Commission of the Parliament, emphasized the increasing number of people below the poverty line, stating that the poverty line in Tehran has reached 30 million tomans and warned: 'We may witness numerous social and political issues in the not-so-distant future.' On the other hand, the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic reported in its latest official report that the 'point-to-point' inflation rate in May was nearly 60%. Meanwhile, the state-run 'Statistical Center of Iran' reported the point-to-point inflation for households in the same period as '54.6 percent.'