The High Council of Labor Fails to Determine Minimum Wage for the Third Time

The third session of the High Council of Labor to determine the minimum wage and the workers' livelihood basket for the upcoming year ended without results. According to reports from Iranian news agencies, in the third session held on Wednesday, March 14, all members including 4 labor representatives, 3 employers, the Minister of Labor, the Deputy Minister of Labor Relations, the representative of the Minister of Economy, the representative of the Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, and the representative of the head of the Standard Organization were present. Some experts believe that the failure to reach a conclusion is due to the coordinated efforts of the government and employers to impose a minimal wage increase on the working community. Alireza Mirghafari, one of the four labor representatives in the High Council of Labor, explained the negotiations in this session to the ISNA news agency, stating, 'Our position regarding the cost of the basket is 26 million and 600 thousand tomans, while the employers' group proposed 16 million and 100 thousand tomans.' Mirghafari emphasized that the livelihood of workers would not improve even with a '40 to 50 percent increase' and would not cover living expenses. The proposals discussed in the wage determination session come as Majid Rahmati, head of the Wage Committee of the Coordination Council of Islamic Labor Councils of Tehran Province, stated on March 10 that the livelihood basket rate for Tehran, considering the prices of Bahman month, was calculated to be '32 million and 850 thousand tomans' for a four-member household with a caloric intake of 3,000. Wage sessions are ongoing while the government of Ebrahim Raisi is trying to appease the working community regarding a minimal wage increase, and in this regard, even the Ministry of Health has manipulated the daily caloric needs of workers. Mohsen Bagheri, a labor representative in the High Council of Labor, stated, 'The labor group's emphasis is on fair and logical calculation and pricing of the livelihood basket for workers' households, which should be the basis for determining wage increases.' The website 'Khabar Online' recently quoted Alireza Mirghafari, a member of the Wage Committee and a member of the Supreme Association of Labor Unions, saying, 'Unfortunately, some items were omitted in determining the food basket for workers, and the labor group insisted on restoring these items in the calculation of the workers' food basket.' This member of the Wage Committee of the High Council of Labor pointed out that agreement on the 'generalities and foundations' of determining the minimum livelihood basket amount for workers' households has been reached in the Wage Committee, but unfortunately, no agreement on the final amount has yet been reached among the labor, employer, and government groups in the Wage Committee. Given the current trend, some observers predict that the determination of the minimum wage for workers by the Wage Committee of the High Council of Labor will continue until the last hours of the year, as it did last year, ultimately leaving no opportunity for collective worker response with the arrival of the Nowruz holidays.