Abadan Municipality Worker Dies After Self-Immolation
"Zamel Azarbaijan," a worker at the Abadan municipality who had set himself on fire in protest against the city's municipality for not paying his arrears of wages, has died.
This municipal worker set himself on fire on the evening of May 21st. He and another colleague, who tried to save his life and suffered burns, had already been transferred to the Ahvaz Accident and Burn Hospital.
ILNA, Iran's labor news agency, quoted one of the worker's colleagues as saying that after a painful incident that occurred to two of their colleagues and ultimately led to the death of one of them, the employer paid all of the Abadan municipality workers' wage claims in one go.
Several months of wage demands and workers' livelihood problems have led to successive protests and strikes in various regions of Iran in recent months.
Among the latest union protests was the movement of workers at the Hepco Arak factory, which led to a change in the factory's management by the government; however, 10 of the protesting workers were also summoned to court.
Some reports indicate that in the past year, around six thousand labor rallies have been held, mostly in protest of unpaid salaries for several months, mass layoffs, uncertainty following the transfer of factories to the private sector, and low wages.
Source: Voice of America
