Protests continue by Iranian workers into the New Year

World Socialist Website 9 January 2025

December 31 saw protests by casually employed oil workers in the Fajr Jam Gas Refinery and the Gachsaran Oil and Gas company. Among their demands were for contacting companies to be removed from the industry and for the right to unionise.

On Sunday, retirees from the Social Security Organisation, the civil service, telecommunication and educational sectors protested in Kermanshah. They were calling for increased pensions as living costs are exacerbated by soaring inflation.

The same day steelworkers in Ahvaz protested outside the governor’s office. Their demands included payment of wage arrears and against mismanagement. Steelworkers also protested in Isfahan against wage arrears and for better working conditions.

Tuesday, customers who had been defrauded by the state-run Rezayet Khodro carmaker rallied outside the judiciary building in Qazvin. Having paid for cars that did not materialise, they were demanding the return of the monies they had paid out.

In the city of Bandar Abbas, residents of the state-backed Mehr Housing Company held a protest outside the governor’s office. They were protesting a sudden sharp increase in loan instalment payments.

Tuesday marked the fifteenth day of a strike by workers at the Iran Ofogh Company, an oilfield services company. The protest in Khorramshahr by the workers employed in the Yadavaran oilfield was against low wages and poor working conditions.

Inflation in Iran stands at 31.7 percent and the poverty rate is around 30 percent, partly due to US sanctions. Living standards will deteriorate further as the incoming Trump Presidency continues Biden’s war plans against Iran.

Strikes by sugarcane processing workers in Iran
Sunday marked the sixth day of strikes by workers at the Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane facility. They are protesting attempts to transfer ownership of the sugar manufacturing plant to the Khuzestan Sugarcane Development company.

The Haft-Tappeh sugarcane workers have a long record of militancy. In 2015 they undertook a series of stoppages to oppose the privatisation of the facility. In the intervening years they have carried out strikes and protests in defence of jobs and working conditions.

On Sunday, workers marched to the governor’s office to voice their opposition to the proposed takeover and called for job security. They also protested the deterioration of their living standards resulting from soaring inflation. Another demand was for the reinstatement of Esmail Bakhshi, a popular militant worker at the plant.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/01/09/ldko-j09.html

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