Workers protest in Sanandadj

Iran Press News: The founders of the union of unemployed and laid-off Iranian workers reported that more than 150 of the laid-off workers from the Kurdistan textile companies gathered to protest the negligence of the factory management, in front of the labor office in Sanandadj (province of Kurdistan). The elimination of unemployment insurance was one of the issues that prompted the protest. The workers who mostly have between 10 to 20 years of work experience were receiving a small amount of unemployment insurance which they were barely able to live on; now this small amount too has been eliminated and the workers and their families are faced with sever financial problems and despite numerous protests the company management has failed to respond or resolve any of the workers’ problems.

After negotiations with the workers, the Islamic leadership of the labor office announced that it was prepared to offer 100 of the workers a loan from the Mehr’eh Reza treasury. This suggestion was met with strong protests from the workers who announced that they are not interested in work loans, rather suitable employment. The workers then gave the officials 10 days to comply with their demands and if during this time their issues are not resolved they will go to Tehran to organize a massive rally in front of the ministry of labor.

It is worth mentioning that last month, more than 700 workers from various Kurdistan textile companies, such as Shahou and Par’ress spinning factories, as well as workers from the university of Medical Sciences and the department of the road works gathered in front of the office of the governor of Kurdistan but they were threatened and forced to disband by the Islamic regime’s security and disciplinary forces.