Teachers Hold Sit-In and Retired Educators Rally in Protest Over Living Conditions

In a coordinated effort, teachers in dozens of cities across Iran held sit-ins simultaneously with a gathering of retired educators in front of parliament. The Coordination Council of Professional Associations of Iranian Educators warned that if demands are not met, more widespread protests will follow.

A number of teachers in schools and retired educators took coordinated protest action on the second of Dey month (December 23), holding sit-ins to demand an end to discrimination in salary levels and benefits and to improve their living conditions.

Following up on officials’ promises to improve living standards, ensuring administrative justice, and implementing a ranking system for all teachers and retired educators have been among the most important demands of the sit-in teachers and retired educators gathered in front of Iran’s parliament.

Solidarity as a “Wake-Up Call to Officials”

Monday’s sit-ins in schools and the gathering in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly were organized at the call of the Coordination Council of Professional Associations of Iranian Educators. The call asked teachers and retired educators to act simultaneously on one day as a “wake-up call to officials” to maintain professional solidarity and support one another.

Most domestic media outlets, up to the time of preparing this report, had not published separate reports or analysis on this nationwide sit-in and gathering in front of parliament. Only ILNA briefly reported that a number of retirees gathered in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly to protest the budget bill’s provisions. ILNA noted that retirees believe their demands and requests were not met in the 1399 budget bill, and that retired educators at their gathering stated that parliament representatives should implement changes to the bill to meet retirees’ salaries.

“It is a Nationwide Sit-In”

However, the Telegram channel of the Coordination Council of Professional Associations of Iranian Educators and the Teachers’ Professional Association of Iran, by publishing various photos and video images, reported on aspects of teachers’ sit-ins in schools and the gathering of retired educators in front of Iran’s parliament, describing the sit-in as “nationwide.”

Teachers’ sit-ins were reported in cities including Bushehr, Saqqez, Sanandaj, Marivan, Shiraz, Safashahr in Fars Province, Ziwiye region of Kurdistan, Mashhad, and dozens of other cities.

In many of the slogans posted on the Telegram channel of the Coordination Council of Professional Associations of Iranian Educators and the Teachers’ Professional Association of Iran, unconditional freedom for imprisoned teachers, strong support for retired educators, and attention to a wage payment system commensurate with recent inflation and price increases were raised as part of the demands of educators and teachers.

“The Answer to People’s Demands Is Not Prison and Bullets”

Retired educators also carried various placards at the gathering on the second of Dey month in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Following up on outstanding demands and the unfulfilled promises of government officials in resolving problems, proper implementation of the law on management of civil services, implementation of the Audit Court’s decisions in paying claims from 2005, annual salary increases and adjustment to inflation rates were among the gatherers’ demands.

Part of the criticism from retired educators’ professional councils was directed at the 6 trillion-toman budget allocated for salary equalization and a 15 percent increase in wages and pensions in the budget bill. Representatives of this council believe that salary equalization with this budget amount is not feasible, and with inflation above 40 percent, a 15 percent increase cannot save retirees from economic crisis.

Along with presenting professional demands, retired educators also chanted slogans for the freedom of imprisoned teachers and workers. Based on published images, some placards read: “The answer to people’s demands is not prison and bullets” and “The imprisoned must be freed, prison is no place for a teacher.”

Simultaneously with teachers’ sit-ins and the gathering of retired educators, the Teachers’ Professional Association of Iran and the Coordination Council of Professional Associations of Iranian Educators issued a statement today.

In the Teachers’ Professional Association of Iran’s statement, while protesting the budget bill, the lack of effective and free insurance, incomplete implementation of ranking for educators, there was once again a warning about price increases and poverty resulting from rising fuel prices and unfulfilled promises by officials.

The statement also condemned the “suppression of the majority of society” due to living condition problems and stated that teachers “bear the scar” of the death of adolescent and young students in November protests.

“The Teachers’ Movement Is Determined to Achieve Justice, Freedom, and End Poverty”

The statement from the Coordination Council of Professional Associations of Iranian Educators also addressed senior system officials and security forces: “You who claim to recognize peaceful protests and speak daily on IRIB’s visual news about the rightful protests of other countries, abandon your past practices and do not answer protests with massacres, suppression, and imprisonment. If it were the case that people and educators would give up their rights under such suppression, after the suppression of gatherings and sit-ins throughout these years, educators should have become intimidated and stopped demanding their rights. But know that today the teachers’ movement has stepped into the arena with greater momentum and determination to achieve justice, freedom, and end discrimination and poverty.”

The council stated the reason for choosing the second of Dey month for the nationwide sit-in and gathering was the proximity of the time for school exams in Dey month.

Some social media users posted images showing one of the participants at the gathering of retired educators in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly speaking to officials, saying that teachers and educators do not extend begging hands but rather seek their legal rights and entitlements. This person, in another part of his brief remarks, referred to the beating of teachers and retired educators by security personnel and said that we “teachers and educators will not sit down until we get our rights.”