Retirees' Protests Over Living Conditions in Several Cities in Iran: Major Shareholder Has Taken Our Rights

A number of retirees from the Telecommunications Company of Iran protested their living and welfare conditions on Tuesday, January 22, in several cities including Isfahan, Ardabil, Sanandaj, Arak, Tabriz, Rasht, Ahvaz, and Kermanshah. According to reports published on the Telegram channel 'Iranian Retirees Council' and received by Voice of America, slogans against the economic and managerial policies of the Islamic Republic were raised during the ongoing protests of retirees and pensioners of the Telecommunications Company of Iran, which are in response to their unmet demands. Participants in the protest on Tuesday in Isfahan emphasized that 'the major shareholder has taken our rights.' In Rasht, retirees chanted: 'We will not sit down until we receive our rights.' In Kermanshah, protesting retirees emphasized the failure to meet their professional demands over many years, chanting: '14 years of betrayal, shame on Telecommunications.' In Ardabil, protesters pointed to the dominance of the Revolutionary Guards over Iran's economy, stating: 'Instead of a working man, a Revolutionary Guard is sitting.' In Tabriz, some retirees from the Telecommunications Company chanted: 'The company is in pieces, it's all about eating.' Retirees in Sanandaj also protested with the slogan: 'Retiree, shout out, demand your rights.' In Ahvaz, protesting retirees shouted: 'A retiree dies, but does not accept humiliation.' In Arak, a group of retirees gathered in front of the 'Regional Management' building of the Telecommunications Company of Iran holding placards. The weekly protests of Telecommunications retirees over the past few months regarding their unmet demands, including the implementation of regulation 89/24 and benefits such as supplementary insurance, continue. Regulation 89/24, enacted in 2010, pertains to the duties that can be delegated and how to purchase services from the private sector, which states that 'until the obstacles to privatization are removed,' the provision of services to the workforce remains the responsibility of the executive body, i.e., the government. However, 13 years after the enactment of this regulation, and despite the repeated and ongoing protests of these retirees, it seems that neither the 'obstacles to privatization' have been removed nor has the executive body fulfilled its duties towards the protesters. The neglect of retirees' professional demands by the officials of the Islamic Republic comes at a time when ILNA news agency reported that in just one telecommunications company, the demands of 1,300 retirees have not been paid for 17 years, and 125 of them have died without receiving their legal wages. Additionally, it has been reported that three labor organizations in Iran recently issued a statement declaring that the 2024 budget bill increases pressure on teachers and retirees, a point that some observers and experts have also emphasized. For instance, Jamshid Damouei, an economist based in California, pointed out the 'fake numbers' in the 2024 budget bill of the Islamic Republic, stating that a larger inflation should be expected in Iran. Farakh Zandi, an economist based in Toronto, also mentioned that one of the main problems of the Islamic Republic is the large budget deficit.