Trade union protests continue in Iran; Khuzestan retirees demand full implementation of equal pay
Workers and retirees continued to hold rallies in protest of the living conditions and disregard for union rights in the provinces of Khuzestan, Gilan, Isfahan, and Tehran on Sunday and Monday.
A group of retired workers from the Ahvaz Social Security Organization held a protest rally in front of the organization's Social Security Office in Kargar Square on Monday, January 3.
According to the slogans chanted by the protesters at the rally, their protest is against the poor living conditions, the incomplete implementation of the pensioner equalization plan, the lack of free medical care, and the unfulfilled promises of the authorities.
"Free medical care is our inalienable right," "Neither the parliament nor the government cares about the nation," "You saw all these promises, but you didn't see the truth and rights," "Implement equalization without cheating," and "Where was the equalization? It was a lie and hypocrisy!" were among the slogans of the protesting retirees at this rally.
On Sunday, retirees in Rasht and Isfahan, and postal company employees in Tehran, took to the streets and held a protest rally.
At a gathering of Social Security Organization retirees in Golsar, Rasht, protesters chanted the slogan "Dear Ismail, he must be released."
The Iranian Labor News Agency, in a report on the protest of retirees in Rasht, wrote that they "demanded an increase in pensions to the poverty line, the provision of free medical services, payment of the government's debt to the Social Security Organization, and an increase in welfare facilities and services."
The report refers to the statements of one of the protesters, who said: "Given the current inflation and the possibility of its increase in the coming months, we pensioners demand an increase in pensions equal to the real wage; they must increase our salaries in such a way that we do not suffer another collapse in our livelihoods next year."
The protester told ILNA: "The Social Security Organization must fulfill its obligations to the insured, including providing completely free medical services."
Retirees from the steel industry in Isfahan demonstrated their protest with slogans such as "Adal Ali's rule, all this injustice" and "Steel dies, it will not accept humiliation."
A group of postal employees also held a rally on Sunday in front of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology building in Tehran to protest against livelihood and union problems.
At the rally, protesters chanted slogans such as "A decent life is our inalienable right" and "A fair wage is our inalienable right."
