Retirees at Weekly Gathering: We Won’t Vote Anymore, We’ve Heard Too Many Lies
Retirees and pensioners in their weekly and nationwide gatherings in dozens of Iranian cities have demanded alignment of wages with the cost of living expenses. It has been reported that several protesters were detained in Rasht.
Retirees and social security pensioners have been taking to the streets every Sunday for months to pursue their demands, gathering in front of the organization’s offices or in front of parliament; accompanied by empty pots and empty tables.
On Sunday, April 12, in a joint and nationwide initiative, dozens of Iranian cities witnessed nationwide gatherings of retirees protesting low wages incommensurate with expenses.
The Social Security Organization is obligated, according to Article 96 of the Social Security Law, to increase retirement pensions, total disability benefits, and the total pensions of survivors in proportion to the cost of living. This increase must be made at determined time intervals (at least once a year) and with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers.
This law has been ignored for years, and social security retirees’ pensions bear little proportion to the accelerating inflation and their current expenses.
While the minimum cost of living basket has been set at 6 million 890 thousand tomans, the income of most retirees is below this amount. They are also calling for attention to the situation of minimum wage earners, survivors, and the disabled, many of whom receive pensions below 4 million tomans.
Retirees say their salaries should increase by 120 percent given the current inflation.
Protest gatherings of social security retirees were held in cities including Tabriz, Isfahan, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Sanandaj, Sari, Shahroud, Kerman, Ardabil, Shush, Karaj, Arak, Mashhad, Shushtar, Ahvaz, Nishapur, Bojnord, Rasht, Zanjan, Bahashar, and Qazvin.
In most cities, including Tabriz, protesters spread tables on the ground and chanted: “Promises and threats are enough – our table is empty.”
In Qazvin, the gathered protesters chanted: “We won’t vote anymore, we’ve heard too many lies.”
Meanwhile, the “Free Workers Union” website reported a raid by security forces on the gathering in Rasht and the detention of several people.
The slogan of retirees in Karaj was: “Our salary is in rials, expenses are in dollars.”
Protesters in Tehran gathered in front of the parliament building and chanted: “Only on the streets, we get what’s ours.”
The Social Security Organization must increase retirees’ salaries annually based on actual inflation and cost of living, according to Article 96 of the law. In the final statement of Sunday’s gatherings, it was stated: “Since we took to the streets, we saw that the real owners of the fund have no role in decision-making and determining how to spend the capital of their youth and their fathers’ generations.”
The statement also refers to the government’s 900 trillion toman debt to the Central Bank and the government’s responsibility in inflation growth: “The government has owed social security for over 14 years, and the debt amount has now reached 365 trillion tomans. Apart from this, the government spent these same amounts on establishing shesta companies and pocketed their large revenues.”
In addition to the slogans they chanted, the gathered protesters emphasized in their final statement that if their legal demands are not met, they will preserve their right not to participate in the June elections.
The weekly protests of social security retirees continue even as the Islamic Republic’s state radio and television have not reported on their demands and gatherings over the past months.
Source: DW
