Telecommunications Pensioners Protest in Four Cities in Iran; Workers at an Industrial Unit in Firouzabad Strike

Protests over living conditions in Iran continued on Tuesday with telecommunications pensioners gathering in the cities of Tabriz, Zanjan, Sanandaj, and Bijar, and workers at an industrial unit in Firouzabad going on strike. According to reports received by Voice of America and published in labor sources, a group of retirees from the telecommunications company held protests on Tuesday, June 11, in several cities including Tabriz, Sanandaj, and Bijar, demanding better living conditions and attention to their grievances. The lack of updates to welfare allowances in 2022 and 2023, management's disregard for Regulation 89, issues with supplementary insurance, and non-payment of past claims at current rates are among the reasons for the protests by the telecommunications retirees. In Zanjan, protesting retirees chanted, "What happened to the profitable company?" The executive regulation of Article 24 of the Civil Service Law, approved in 2010, concerns transferable duties and how to purchase services from the private sector, stating that "until the obstacles to transfer are removed," providing services to the workforce remains the responsibility of the executive body, i.e., the government. However, 13 years after the approval of this regulation, and considering the repeated and ongoing protests of these retirees, it seems that neither the "obstacles to transfer" have been removed nor has the executive body fulfilled its duties towards the protesters. Concurrently with the retirees' protests, the Iranian Pensioners Council reported that workers at the "Kaveh Sodium Carbonate" company in Firouzabad went on strike on Tuesday, June 11. On Sunday, a group of retired educators also gathered in front of the Ministry of Education building in Tehran, chanting, "Shout, shout, from all this injustice." This protest event faced suppression from government forces, and the protesters chanted, "Let him go, let him go," demanding the release of individuals whom agents attempted to arrest. Additionally, according to reports published on social media, retirees from Bank Melli also protested on Sunday against the "failure to comply with equalization and non-payment of salaries commensurate with inflation" with the slogan "Incompetent official, resign, resign" in Tehran. The protests over living conditions in Iran continue amid reports that the Islamic Republic government has not only failed to control inflation but has also broken an 80-year record, reaching over 52%. According to a resolution by the Supreme Labor Council, the minimum wage for workers covered by labor law, married with children, has increased by about two million tomans, amounting to around 11 million tomans this year. However, this wage is not paid to workers who are not covered by labor law. Serious livelihood crisis in Iran; the government has no will to adjust wages.