Two Human Rights Organizations Request UN Attention to Workers' Conditions

The Human Rights Defenders Support Program and the Human Rights Advocacy Society in Iran have jointly called on UN special rapporteurs to pay explicit attention to the "alarming situation of labor rights activists and trade unionists in Iran" and to urge Iranian authorities to "end the repression and judicial harassment of labor activists and respect labor rights." These two human rights organizations also stated that several labor activists are currently in "arbitrary detention" or face judicial harassment for "peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of assembly, association, and expression." This joint report was addressed to UN special rapporteurs including Anneliese Kiampi, Michel Forst, David Kaye, and Asma Jahangir regarding freedom of assembly and association, the status of human rights defenders, the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression, and the human rights situation in Iran, as well as members of the UN working group on arbitrary detention. The Human Rights Defenders Support Program and the Human Rights Advocacy Society in Iran highlighted what they termed the "ban on independent and peaceful May Day gatherings in Iran this year by independent labor organizations," describing it as a "clear example of the continued repression and harassment of trade union activists in Iran." According to these two human rights organizations, "this repression is part of the systematic deprivation of workers of their most basic rights in Iran, victimized by discriminatory laws motivated by political agendas and a judiciary determined to suppress independent labor movements and other dissenters." The report also noted that despite a significant increase in trade and economic relations between Western countries and Iran, "little attention has been paid to the reality that current laws and practices in Iran violate international labor standards and economic and social rights." The Human Rights Defenders Support Program and the Human Rights Advocacy Society in Iran stated that "independent labor unions are banned by law in Iran," adding that "all efforts in recent years to form independent labor unions have been severely repressed, and labor activists have been fired, harassed, and imprisoned on charges including acting against national security and propaganda against the regime." In recent years, many reports have emerged regarding the security and judicial confrontations of the Islamic Republic of Iran with workers protesting living conditions and labor activists. These confrontations have included summonses and threats, dismissals, and sentences of flogging and imprisonment. One such case involved the execution of flogging sentences for 17 dismissed workers from the Agh Dareh gold mine in West Azerbaijan province. Such confrontations have drawn severe criticism from independent labor organizations in Iran, international labor unions, and global human rights organizations. The Human Rights Defenders Support Program and the Human Rights Advocacy Society in Iran noted in part of their report that "the right to strike has never been explicitly recognized and strikes are violently suppressed in practice" and added: "The Iranian government, in general, has refused to increase the minimum wage sufficiently for a dignified living for workers and their families, in violation of Article 7 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights." According to this report, the monthly minimum wage of 930,000 tomans set by the Supreme Labor Council for workers this year is estimated to be "between one-third and one-fourth of the poverty line." The Wage Committee in 1396 (2017) announced last year that the monthly livelihood basket for a family of three and a half workers is 2,480,000 tomans. Based on two clauses of Article 41 of the Labor Law, the monthly minimum wage for workers should be determined based on the inflation rate and the monthly living costs of labor households. Nevertheless, according to labor organizations, the clause related to living costs is never calculated in determining the minimum wage. This is while, according to the report from these two human rights organizations, several million workers do not even receive this minimum wage because they work in small units with fewer than 10 workers, which are not subject to labor law regulations, including minimum wage, wage increases, and insurance. The report from the Human Rights Defenders Support Program and the Human Rights Advocacy Society in Iran also addressed the situation of female workers, stating that they are "severely discriminated against. They often work in small units and are deprived of equal pay for equal work with men." They added that "the possibility for female workers to return to work after maternity leave is very low, and in critical conditions, they are the first to be dismissed." According to this report, women, religious and ethnic minorities, and political dissenters are barred from employment in certain jobs. The report from these two human rights organizations criticized what they termed the "continuation of intimidation and arbitrary detention of labor activists." However, they stated that "the ongoing repression of labor activists" has not prevented workers' protests in factories and various units, and protests have grown and spread throughout Iran. The report mentioned over 650 instances of strikes, demonstrations, and other protests in the past year against dismissals, unit closures, privatization, the labor law amendment bill, demands for reinstatement, timely payment of wages, overdue wages, wage increases, contract reforms, and improvements in working conditions. These two organizations also noted that the level of labor protests in 1395 (2016) showed an increase of about 27% compared to similar protests in 1394 (2015). In this context, Hossein Zolfaqari, the Deputy Minister of Security and Police, stated on December 21 of last year that "social, labor, and professional protests in Iran have increased by 69% over the past three years."