Protest of 'Dozens of Drivers from the Bus Company' in Front of Tehran Municipality

The Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran Bus Company announced that a number of drivers and workers from this company gathered on Tuesday morning, March 1, in protest against not receiving housing facilities in Tehran's City Park. According to the Telegram page of the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran Bus Company, the police prevented the protesters from leaving the area. One of the protesters told Radio Farda that the gathering took place at 10 AM on Tuesday, and due to the significant presence of police forces, the workers and drivers expressed their grievances about not receiving housing facilities from behind the bars of the City Park. He noted that the number of protesters was close to one hundred. Based on images and videos published on the Telegram page of the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran Bus Company, the protesters chanted slogans against Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, and the Tehran City Council. One of the placards held by the protesters read, 'Where did the 75 billion tomans from the sale of the Tehran Bus Company lands on Hengam Street go?' and 'Qalibaf, Qalibaf, where is my housing money?' Reports from this gathering indicate that Mohsen Sarikh, a member of the City Council, met with the protesters. This is the third gathering of workers and drivers from the Tehran Bus Company in protest against the non-payment of housing facilities. The Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, reported in December that workers from the Bus Company have been waiting for housing for years, and their negotiations and correspondence have not yielded results. According to this report, these workers are asking the Tehran Municipality to address their housing demands. The website 'Midan' also reported that in 2013, a resolution was issued by the Housing Council of the Municipality regarding how workers of the Bus Company could benefit from non-repayable housing facilities, and the Tehran Municipality allocated 75 billion tomans for providing these facilities, but the workers of the Tehran Bus Company still cannot utilize these facilities. Midan quoted the workers of this company stating that the resolution regarding their housing cooperative has not yet been implemented, and while they registered in the housing cooperative project in 2009, they have only witnessed 40% physical progress. The presence of police forces at the gathering on Tuesday occurred while a gathering of nearly 200 workers from the Tehran Bus Company on December 5 faced an attack by police and security forces. Telegram pages of the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran Bus Company and the Free Workers Union of Iran reported that following the workers' gathering, several were beaten by police and security forces, and 17 were detained for several hours. One of the detainees, Nasir Moharramzadeh, lost consciousness after being struck on the head by a baton during the police confrontation. The police's actions drew criticism from six members of parliament and several members of the Tehran City Council, as well as labor organizations. In this context, according to ILNA, Mohsen Sarikh, the head of the Labor Faction of the Tehran City Council, condemned the treatment of workers pursuing their professional issues on December 7 and apologized to them and their families.