Strike at National Industrial Steel Group in Ahvaz; Labor Activist: Workers Have No Choice but to Protest for Survival

Workers from all sections of the National Industrial Steel Group in Ahvaz went on strike on Saturday, December 23, following the company's CEO's decision to ban the entry of 21 workers and refusal to fully implement the job classification plan. A labor activist told Voice of America that the struggle for survival has led workers to protest, seeing no alternative but to strike. According to the Free Union of Iranian Workers, after the strike and protest gathering of hundreds of workers, 'the CEO of the National Industrial Steel Group fled his office and hid in one of the rooms of the technical department building.' The workers are demanding the reinstatement of their dismissed colleagues and full implementation of the job classification plan. ILNA news agency also reported that the ban on the 21 workers was due to their participation in a protest on Wednesday, December 20. ILNA quoted Ali Mohammadi, the CEO of the group, stating that the ban was implemented 'in coordination with the security council of Khuzestan province' to prevent 'protests from disrupting production lines.' He mentioned that the job classification plan has a 5 to 16 percent feasibility for implementation. Mohammadi added that the company has numerous debts and problems but did not mention the reasons, including the consequences of privatization in the past decade that led to widespread economic issues. He said a 10 percent increase was proposed, but protesting workers rejected it, demanding that adjustments should raise their wages to match the average earnings of Oxin Steel Group, Khuzestan Steel Group, and Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Group, requiring a 70 percent increase in average salaries. The CEO deemed this demand impossible. Payam Shajirati, a former worker at the National Industrial Steel Group and labor activist residing in Germany, emphasized that according to Article 48 of the Labor Law, job classification plans must be implemented for all workshops over 50 tons covered by social security law. This legal article states that 'to prevent the exploitation of others' labor, the Ministry of Labor is obliged to prepare and implement a job evaluation and classification system using labor standards and customs in the country.' Shajirati added that implementing this law prevents employers from paying the minimum wage and allows workers to advance in their careers with increased experience or higher education. He noted that implementing this plan would lead to wage increases and more job benefits for workers. The implementation of job classification plans has been one of the workers' demands in various regions of Iran. Shajirati pointed out that this issue in the National Industrial Steel Group and wage equalization similar to other steel companies has been a long-standing demand, with workers requesting its implementation from various managements for years, but the National Bank, as the main owner of the company, and the company's managers have evaded its execution citing insufficient financial resources. He added that this year, under pressure from the workers' protests, this demand was finally addressed, and after various stages, it was decided to implement the job classification plan, but the current management has postponed it for various reasons. Shajirati referred to the three-day strike of the National Industrial workers in November, stating that afterward, the company management committed to implementing the plan from the beginning of December, but the CEO announced last week that he would only implement the plan if workers accepted a 10 percent increase in their base salary. He added that the committee responsible for preparing organizational charts and job profiles confirmed a 16.5 percent increase, which the workers believe is still insufficient and that their wage increases should exceed the determined figures according to the wage tables of the twenty groups in the classification plan. Shajirati mentioned that for this reason, last week, workers asked their representative to refrain from signing and approving it. He noted the ban on the 21 workers, the strike of all five sections of the National Industrial Steel Group, and the demand for dialogue with the CEO, stating, 'Workers were told that he left the company to attend a meeting of the provincial security council, but they realized he was present in the technical and operational department's office.' According to Shajirati, 'After visiting the technical department building, the workers gave the CEO half an hour to lift the suspension of their 21 colleagues, and with his refusal to accept this collective demand, subsequent events unfolded, leading to his dismissal and removal from the company.' He emphasized that the main background and context of the workers' protests in the National Industrial Steel Group, like other workers in various companies and factories, is the ongoing crisis of livelihood and unbearable economic pressures that workers face, with the government unwilling to adjust workers' wages. Shajirati stated, 'Therefore, the struggle for survival is what has led workers to protest, and despite knowing that they lack job security and that protesting might lead to their dismissal, they see no alternative but to protest and strike.'