Hundreds of Iranian Oil Company employees and workers gather in several cities

Hundreds of official employees and workers of the Iranian Oil Company went on strike and rallied on Wednesday, June 25, in at least five cities, the regions of Asaluyeh, Lavan, and Bahregan, and an oil platform in the Persian Gulf.

According to the Free Union of Iranian Workers, this protest movement followed a call by official oil workers.

According to videos posted on social media, official employees of the oil company in Ahvaz gathered and marched in front of the southern oil-rich areas.

At the rally, they chanted slogans against Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh and demanded his resignation.

The protesters also chanted: "Production line force - there is no salary ceiling" and "We will not rest until we get our rights."

Disgruntled workers and employees of the oil company in Assaluyeh also chanted: "The minister betrays - the parliament supports", "Be afraid, be afraid - we are together in Mahmeh" and "Be ashamed - leave the ministry". Similar rallies were held in the cities of Abadan, Gachsaran and Mahshahr, the two oil regions of Lavan and Bahregan, as well as at the Abuzar oil platform in the Persian Gulf.

A number of workers and official employees also gathered in front of the parliament in Tehran.

According to the Free Union of Iranian Workers, official oil workers are protesting the way wages were increased in 1400.

ILNA news agency previously wrote that they are demanding "the precise and fair implementation of the 1400 wage increase law, the implementation of Article 10 of the Ministry of Oil's Powers Law, the 2014 initial hiring schedule, and its extension to all personnel hired before this date."

"Amending the statutes of the oil pension funds, adjusting the qualifications of official personnel, paying the extraordinary clause (c) in war zones, amending the tax law on the salaries of oil employees working in difficult conditions, paying the full retirement bonus based on the personnel's years of service without observing the 30-year bonus ceiling, resolving the transfer problem of employees of the transferred companies, and resolving the problems of students and veterans" are among the other demands of the oil company's workers and official employees.

Gathering of temporary workers and employees of Persian Gulf Holding Company

Temporary employees of the Ministry of Petroleum also gathered in front of the parliament on Tuesday to follow up on promises made by ministry officials.

They demanded, among other things, the implementation of equalization of salaries, a review of the salary system and extraordinary employment practices, and the transformation of the status of temporary employees to that of other ministries.

The protesters, referring to the Oil Minister's promises to change their employment status, said: "One of Bijan Zanganeh's promises when he received a vote of confidence in the 10th Parliament was to address the situation of temporary employees, but they are still in more uncertainty."

This is in a situation where, according to the protesters, based on the cabinet's approval on March 1, 2011, 34,000 temporary employees of the Ministry of Oil should have been converted to "fixed-term" status.

This has resulted in the non-payment of job benefits for 34,000 temporary employees of the Ministry of Petroleum, such as extraordinary recruitment, extraordinary workshop, bad weather, difficult work, experience, and educational qualifications, for about the past decade.

Also, hundreds of official employees of the Persian Gulf Holding Company gathered on Tuesday on the side of the entrance road to the Mahshahr Special Economic Zone to protest their working conditions.

According to ILNA news agency, official employees of Persian Gulf Holding demanded that the company adhere to its contract with the Petrochemical Industries Company regarding the payment of productivity and merit bonuses and other approved benefits.

They also demanded that official oil employees be transferred to companies affiliated with the Ministry of Oil.

In the past year, reports have been published about union protests by workers and employees in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries.

Source: Radio Farda