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Support Chit Sazi Behshahr workers

Over the last few weeks the demonstrations and sit-ins organised by Behshahr textile workers in the north of Iran, have come to symbolise the long struggle of Iranian workers for a right to a decent wage, the right to work.

With 60 years of production, Behshahr Chit Sazi is one of the oldest textile factories of Iran, at times employing over 3000 workers. However following years of mismanagement and more recently privatisation, this factory like most other textile plants in Iran has sacked the majority of its workforce while those still holding a job have not been paid for over 25 months. The promises of provincial and national authorities have failed to materialise and workers in this factory have stepped up their protests since early spring.

In the last few years, almost every day, and at times more than once a day, workers in Iranian cities and towns have protested against non payment of wages, unemployment, job insecurity, and low wages... in doing so they have not only raised their voice against a reactionary dictatorship, Iran’s Islamic Republic, but they have also exposed the economic policies of capitalism in Iran. For millions of Iranian workers, for women and the youth, Islamic fundamentalism in power for over 23 years has brought nothing but poverty, repression and daily interference of religion in their private lives. No wonder that for most Iranians, fundamentalism in power, both in its ‘reformist’ and ‘conservative’ factions, has become synonymous with corruption, greed and clerics gathering huge fortunes. In Iran we call them ‘Mercedes’ driven mullahs, accumulating astronomic wealth, at the expense of the poverty of the masses. Sons of these clerics, ‘aghazadeh ha’ as Iranian call them, have played their part in this web of corruption and greed, increasing the gap between the rich and the poor.

As student and workers protests enter a crucial stage we remind you that Iranian workers face a particularly difficult time. Prices are rising dramatically, the purchasing power of all wage earners has fallen considerably and yet the wages of large numbers of workers has not even been paid for the work they have in the last few months! Mass job losses continue and huge numbers of workers have joined the ranks of the unemployed, with no insurance, no unemployment benefit.

Other sections of the working class, wage earners, including agricultural workers, seasonal workers, women working from home, foreign workers child workers... are deprived of any cover from the lack lustre measures of the ‘Islamic’ Labour legislation. The clerical regime has passed a law, mainly designed to protect its allies in the Bazaar by exempting workshops of 10 employees or less from the cover of most of the regulation in the labour Legislation, leaving the majority of Iranian workers at the mercy of employers and exempt from this legislation. This exemption was passed to allow capitalists to enslave workers with no legal rights, allowing factory and workshop owners to pay workers less than the minimum wage, to employ children, so that they can force workers to work maximum number of hours, with no responsibility regarding the health and safety of employees. When the same capitalists decide that their financial interests lie in closing down the factory, expelling workers, they can do so with no regulation, no workers rights.

The capitalist class and the Islamic regime, hand in hand have forced Iranian workers to accept slave labour wages, reducing the producers of wealth and society’s fortunes to beggars. In order to achieve this, they have primarily deprived the Iranian working class of any organisation: trade unions, independent organisations, the right to strike, the right to organise. ‘Islamic’ capitalists and their state in Iran have always used religion, law, force to disperse workers, to stop them organising, to control them via state sponsored, yellow unions, to attack and suppress their gatherings, strikes, so that they can exploit them further.

Workers throughout Iran have taken every opportunity to show their mistrust of yellow unions and Islamic shoras. They have transformed illegal demonstrations into major gatherings to protest against the anti workers regime. Many workers have protested against the legislation exempting workshops of 5 employees, others have expressed their anger at non payment of wages for the last few months, a policy that has left many in poverty. Iran’s workers demand unemployment benefit for all unemployed worker and an end to exploitation of child workers! They oppose lower wages for women workers and foreign workers and defend equal pay for equal work!

At a time when Iranian workers are organising themselves in defence of the right to live, the right to a decent wage, the right to strike, the right to protest, we hope their allies abroad, especially in the anti capitalist and the anti war movement will join us in supporting workers protests in Iran. We call on International workers organisation, and especially the activist of the anti capitalist movement to demonstrate their solidarity with Iranian workers against US aggression in the region and against the reactionary regime of the Islamic Republic.

Workers Left Unity Iran, also announces the setting up of a strike fund for Behshar and other striking workers in Iran. Further information about the trustees of this Fund will be publicised on our web site.

Coordinating Committee Workers Left Unity - Iran

18 June 2003

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