«Strike by 3,500 Workers» at Iran National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz

Some of the 3,500 striking workers at Iran National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz have been threatened by the private employer of this facility with “recording absence from work, deprivation of personnel benefits during non-working days, dismissal, and referral to relevant authorities.”

The Free Union of Iranian Workers announced on Thursday, January 25th, by releasing a circular from the Human Resources Director of Iran National Steel Industrial Group, citing reports from workers at this facility: “This official threat has been issued while the employer of this large steel complex, as a result of the workers’ strike, paid the workers’ overdue wages until the end of November by Wednesday (January 24th), and is refusing to pay other claims of the 3,500 workers under frivolous pretexts.”

The strike by 3,500 workers at Iran National Steel Industrial Group began on Tuesday, January 23rd.

According to this report, workers at Iran National Steel Industrial Group, in addition to overdue wages, are demanding the employer’s commitment to timely wage payments and social security insurance premiums, establishment of supplementary insurance, and the removal of managers who have caused the current problems.

Based on a circular released by the Free Union of Iranian Workers, a “small number” of employees at Iran National Steel Industrial Group have been accused of “obstructing the productive and jihadi work of their colleagues.”

Iran National Steel Industrial Group was one of the economic enterprises belonging to the Amirmansour Aria Investment Group, which after legal proceedings regarding the embezzlement of three trillion tomans, was handed over to temporary management by the judiciary and subsequently to Bank Melli. In recent months, the ownership of this group has been transferred to a private company. The Free Union of Iranian Workers did not mention the name of this company.

Meanwhile, the website “Khuz News” reported on November 30th that a person named “Seyyed Abdolreza Mousavi” won a tender that was held by Bank Melli.

This is not the first time that workers at Iran National Steel Industrial Group have protested and struck.

Among them, according to ILNA news agency, more than 200 workers from Iran National Steel Industrial Group gathered on August 7th in front of the main branch building of Bank Melli Iran in Ahvaz, protesting the prolonged delay in payment of their claims.

Meanwhile, reports from labor organizations and some news agencies indicate professional protests and strikes by workers at several factories and companies in various Iranian cities in recent days.

These protests include those by workers at Nilo Tile Factory in Isfahan, Marivan tobacco workers, Shahroud Railway workers, Iran Koulaye Iranshahr, Khorramshar Soap Factory, Tehran Water Organization staff, employees of Railway Traverse Company in Varamin and Miyaneh, Sarvestan-Khrame Transportation Axis Project and Azerbaijan Prefabricated Housing Company, contract employees of Shahid Tandguyan Petrochemical in Imam Khomeini Port, and truck drivers in Rasht.

In most cases, protesting workers have demanded payment of their overdue wages.

The problem of unpaid workers’ wages has intensified in recent years, and this has led to workers’ protests in the form of sit-ins and gatherings inside factories, strikes, marches, and gatherings in front of government buildings.

Source: Radio Farda