The third round of nationwide teachers' sit-in in Iran

A large number of Iranian teachers have stopped working in dozens of cities at the invitation of the Coordination Council of Teachers' Unions and have been holding sit-ins to achieve their union's demands. This is the third round of sit-ins by Iranian teachers since the start of the 2018-19 academic year.

According to reports published on social media and some domestic media outlets, teachers have been absent from classes in some schools in various provinces of Iran since Sunday, March 3, and have been staging sit-ins in the school offices as a sign of protest.

According to these reports, this sit-in has so far been well received in the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Alborz, Hamedan, Isfahan, Razavi and Southern Khorasan, Tehran, East and West Azerbaijan, Mazandaran, Khuzestan, Fars, Gilan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Yazd, Qazvin, Zanjan, and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari.

The Coordination Council of Teachers' Unions has announced that teachers will inform students and their parents of their goals "in all possible ways" by refraining from going to classrooms and attending school offices on March 12, 13, and 14 of this year (2018).

According to the Coordination Council, the decision to hold the sit-in was made "at the request of colleagues and in protest against the accumulation of demands that have been created for years due to the officials' lack of compassion."

The statement of the Coordination Council of Teachers' Unions lists the freedom of cultural union activists and "the removal of all legal obstacles to the free activity of union organizations" as one of the teachers' main demands.

In their third round of protests in the 2018-19 academic year, the teachers held signs reading "Free imprisoned teachers," "Quality education, fair budget," "Stop filing cases against union activists," "Independent organization of teachers' rights," "Eliminate discrimination," "Efficient and comprehensive insurance," "Establish educational justice," and "Equalize the rights of cultural retirees." They raised their demands and expressed their protest.

The Coordination Council of Teachers' Unions issued a statement last March 6 calling on teachers across Iran to hold a sit-in and refuse to go to classrooms.

The demands of the educators, which were summarized in this statement in six paragraphs, are as follows: "1- The release of cultural union activists and the closure of all cases in this regard. 2- The removal of all legal obstacles to the official and free activity of cultural union organizations throughout the country. 3- Allocating a sufficient and adequate share in the 2019 budget to education to the extent of resolving the numerous problems of schools, fundamentally restoring the rights of educators and paying all their arrears, including teachers' demands for service purchases, tuition fees, etc. 4- Equalizing the rights of cultural pensioners with those of employees and raising it above the poverty line. 5- Canceling the contract with the current inefficient supplementary insurance and replacing it with an efficient and accountable insurance for employed and retired educators. 6- Stopping the policy of monetizing schools and implementing Article 30 of the Constitution."

The Coordination Council of Teachers' Unions has also announced: "If the teachers' legitimate demands are not met, the Coordination Council will announce its next protest plans." The union has also emphasized that "effective and tangible measures by officials to resolve the numerous problems of teachers will be considered in the Coordination Council's future plans."

Protest against "oppression and injustice"

In recent months, Iranian cities have witnessed widespread protests by teachers against their working conditions and livelihoods. On February 15, they gathered in front of the education building in at least the cities of Sanandaj, Urmia, Marivan, Ardabil, Mashhad, and Kermanshah. On January 26, teachers in Isfahan also held a protest rally in front of the provincial education department. However, security forces dispersed the protesters by firing tear gas and arrested a number of them. On December 19, the cities of Isfahan, Rasht, Yazd, and Abhar witnessed protest rallies by teachers and cultural retirees demanding improved living conditions and the release of imprisoned teachers.

In the second round of Iranian teachers’ sit-in on October 12 and 13, a large number of them joined the strike in many small and large cities in Iran. This two-day sit-in was accompanied by slogans against “oppression and injustice.” Although the demands of Iranian teachers in this sit-in were accompanied by promises of consideration from government officials, they also resulted in clashes with union gatherings and the arrest of their activists.

The arrest and subsequent release of Mohammad Reza Ramezanzadeh, head of the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Unions in Bojnourd, and Hashem Khastar, a member of the board of directors of the Mashhad Teachers' Union, by Revolutionary Guard intelligence officers were among the consequences of the second round of teachers' protest movement in the current academic year.

Teachers' protest movements in Iran have increased significantly in recent months and years. In addition to the demand for improved legal status and the release of imprisoned teachers, demands such as efficient and comprehensive insurance, making schools safer, eliminating discrimination in the educational structure, stopping the privatization and monetization of education, and providing public access to free education are among the demands of Iranian teachers.

A number of cultural activists and prominent figures among Iranian teachers, such as Mohammad Habibi, Mahmoud Beheshti Langroodi, and Esmail Abdi, have faced prison sentences and are in prison due to their union activities.

Source: DW