Warning from a Labor Activist about 'Absolute Poverty' of Pensioners: The 2024 Wage is Approved Contrary to the Law

Hassan Izadan, an inspector of the Social Security Pensioners Association, has warned about the 'absolute poverty' of pensioners, stating that 'the labor representatives of the Supreme Labor Council did not sign the wage resolution' and 'the wage for 2024 has been approved contrary to legal standards and despite the opposition of workers.' According to the website 'Tejarat News', Hassan Izadan said that the 22% increase for pensioners at other levels 'is not enough at all and will cause a large number of pensioners to fall below the minimum wage and into absolute poverty.' According to reports from Iranian media, in the last meeting of the Supreme Labor Council, it was decided that the minimum wage for workers would increase by 35% and the wages for other levels by 22% plus a fixed amount. Hassan Izadan stated that 'the increase in pensions for working pensioners follows its own specific laws and can be higher than the wage increase for employed workers approved by the Supreme Labor Council.' This labor activist emphasized that based on Articles 96 and 111 of the Social Security Law, 'the increase in pensions must be in line with the increase in living costs' and 'there is no obligation to comply with the wage resolution of the Supreme Labor Council.' While observers have repeatedly warned about workers and pensioners falling below the poverty line in Iran, Solat Mortazavi, the Minister of Labor, claimed that the law does not state that workers' wages must equal inflation. Meanwhile, workers, pensioners, and retirees have stated in a campaign that the Minister of Labor 'has shown that he has no concern for the improvement of their trampled livelihoods.' The decision by government and employer representatives in the Supreme Labor Council to set the minimum monthly wage for workers subject to labor law for the coming year has sparked a wave of criticism. Among them, the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran Bus Company emphasized that the only way to confront this attack on the livelihood and life of workers is 'unity, protest, and independent organization.' According to the decision of government and employer representatives in the Supreme Labor Council, the minimum wage and benefits for a 'married worker with one child' next year will be about 10 million and 900 thousand tomans. In this regard, the minimum wage for single workers next year will be more than 9 million and 480 thousand tomans, and for workers with two children, it will be 11 million and 415 thousand tomans. The decision by government and employer representatives was announced in the early hours of Tuesday, March 29, while the latest 'official calculations' indicate that the livelihood basket this year has been over 22 million tomans. Nevertheless, other figures such as 25 million have been reported. In this context, the Tasnim news agency reported on March 23 that 'according to announced statistics, the poverty line for a four-person household is about 25 million tomans.' Additionally, sociologist Mohammad Ali Alasti previously stated that 'livelihood is the most pressing concern of the people in the new year, and when filling the stomach is the primary concern of a society, it is naturally not possible to develop culture and the culture of development as it should be.'