Protests by Oil and Gas Industry Workers in Iran; Telecommunications Retirees: Shame on the Oppressors from Khuzestan to Tehran

On Monday, protests over living conditions in Iran continued with weekly gatherings of retirees from the Telecommunications Company in several cities, marches and protests by oil and gas workers in the provinces of Bushehr, Khuzestan, and Hormozgan, and a group gathering of retirees from various organizations in Tehran. According to reports received by Voice of America and published on social media on Monday, September 16, a number of protesting retirees from the Telecommunications Company held simultaneous gatherings in cities including Tabriz, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Sanandaj, Marivan, and Bijar. These retirees are protesting against their living conditions, salaries below the poverty line, ineffective supplementary insurance, the removal of food benefits from employment perks, and the non-implementation of the 2009 regulations by major shareholders following the privatization of the state-owned Telecommunications Company of Iran. The protesting retirees in Ahvaz chanted: 'Telecommunications, have some shame, fulfill your promises.' The protesting retirees also chanted in Khuzestan: 'From Khuzestan to Tehran, shame on the oppressors' and 'Frozen livelihoods, useless to us.' Retirees in Kurdistan protested with the slogan 'Claiming company, where are the results of your promises?' The series of protests by Telecommunications retirees, which are held simultaneously on Mondays in various regions of Iran, also took place this week in other cities including Isfahan, Tabriz, and Marivan. The weekly protests by Telecommunications retirees have been ongoing for months. The lack of updates to welfare allowances in the years 2022 and 2023, management's disregard for the 1989 regulations, issues with supplementary insurance, and the non-payment of past claims at current rates are among the reasons for these retirees' protests. The executive regulations of Article 24 of the Civil Service Law, passed in 2009, concern assignable duties and how to purchase services from the private sector, under which 'until the obstacles to privatization are removed,' the provision of services to the workforce remains the responsibility of the executive body, i.e., the government. However, 14 years after the approval of this regulation, and considering the repeated and ongoing protests of these retirees, it seems that neither the 'obstacles to privatization' have been removed nor has the executive body fulfilled its duties towards the protesters. Simultaneously with the protests of Telecommunications retirees, a group of retirees from various organizations also gathered in Tehran in front of the Organization for Planning and Budget. According to reports from the Telegram channel of the Iranian Retirees Council, this gathering will continue on Tuesday as well. In another event, workers at petrochemical terminals and tanks in Mahshahr port in Khuzestan province held a protest. According to the Iranian Retirees Council, the reasons for this protest include 'the non-implementation of the status change of employees in accordance with neighboring companies, non-payment of petro-cards, deductions from productivity bonuses, non-implementation of the job classification plan for contract personnel, and recurring issues with timely payment of social insurance premiums.' Protests by oil and gas industry workers have also been ongoing in previous days. A number of employees from the Fajr Jam Gas Refinery in Bushehr and the Pars Oil and Gas Company in Assaluyeh protested on Monday against the non-implementation of contracts and deductions from their payments. The protesters chanted: 'Employment contracts must be implemented, illegitimate deductions must be annulled.' The expansion of protests among various groups, including retirees, workers from different industries, teachers, defrauded investors, and nurses and healthcare workers, indicates an increase in living problems in Iran and the indifference of the Islamic Republic officials. Jamshid Asadi, an economist, previously predicted in an interview with Voice of America regarding the rise of the misery index in Iran that the living conditions and economic situation will worsen from what it currently is. The expansion of protests by 'Telecommunications' workers in East Azerbaijan and 'Arghavan Gostar' in Ilam, workers of the Continental Oil Company in Lavan and Siri demanded the dismissal of 'incompetent managers.' The seventh day of labor strikes in a subsidiary of Shasta; several protesters from Barz Rubber in Kerman were arrested. Protests by refinery workers continue, and protesting nurses in Alborz province have been summoned. Living protests by oil and gas industry workers in southern Iran; Telecommunications retirees gathered in at least 11 provinces. Living protests in Kermanshah and Shush; protesters demanded accountability from the government.