Workers Strike in Two Cities; Continued Protests by Retirees: Where Are Your Promises, Liar Candidate?

A group of retirees protested on Tuesday, June 11, against poor living conditions and the lack of attention to their demands in Tehran and Kermanshah. Simultaneously, contract workers at the Isfahan petrochemical plant and the Firouzabad sodium carbonate plant went on strike. According to reports received by Voice of America and published by labor sources, a number of retirees from various sectors, including public service, social security, and medical sciences, held a protest in front of relevant institutions, including the Organization for Planning and Budget. During these protests, which coincide with the Islamic Republic's preparations for elections to select a successor to Ebrahim Raisi from candidates approved by the Guardian Council, the protesting retirees chanted: 'Liar candidate, where are your promises?' In a large gathering of retirees in Tehran in front of the Organization for Planning and Budget, they also shouted: 'Who is responsible? Where are you?' The retirees further chanted: 'Our power is our unity; ranking is our right.' According to reports from the Telegram channel of the Iranian Retirees Council, in Kermanshah, slogans such as 'Shout, shout against this injustice,' 'Let go of the hijab, think about us,' 'Unemployment, inflation, a scourge on the people,' 'Imprisoned teacher, must be freed,' and 'Imprisoned worker, must be freed' were raised. Meanwhile, the Telegram channel 'Civil Market Protest' reported that workers at the Kavir sodium carbonate company in Firouzabad, Fars province, went on strike for the third consecutive day protesting 'legal and benefit conditions.' Earlier, ILNA news agency quoted a 'labor source' in Semnan province stating that the main demand of the workers was 'the formation of an Islamic labor council, salary increases with overtime pay, bonuses, and other job benefits that they emphasized in their last labor gathering.' One worker from this factory told ILNA: 'Last Esfand (February), we requested the formation of a labor organization and salary increases through several labor gatherings, and with the intervention of officials, the employer promised to fulfill this within a few months, but apart from forming the Islamic labor council, the rest of the workers' demands remained unanswered.' Additionally, a group of contract workers at the Isfahan petrochemical plant protested on Tuesday due to not receiving their wages. Moreover, several unemployed workers from the 'Arghavan Gostar' petrochemical project in Ilam gathered on Tuesday at the entrance of this complex. These workers, most of whom worked in connections, installations, and equipment, became unemployed with the completion of the project. According to ILNA, they stated that after years of effort on this project, it is their right to be employed after the commissioning of the Arghavan Gostar petrochemical plant in Ilam. Protests over living conditions in Iran continue as news sources report that the Islamic Republic government has not only failed to control inflation but has also broken an 80-year record of inflation rates, which has risen above 52%. According to a resolution by the Supreme Labor Council, the minimum wage for married workers with children, after an increase of about two million tomans, is around 11 million tomans this year. However, this wage is not paid to workers who are not covered by labor law. Previously, economist Reza Qorashi stated in an interview with the Persian section of Voice of America that the problem of the Iranian economy is 'the existence of the Islamic Republic and its mafia bands.'