Strikes Continue in Bazaar

Rooz online

Yesterday morning, state-run news agencies reported that the weeklong strike in Tehran’s bazaar had ended after an agreement was reached between bazaar representatives and the government. The report was disseminated quickly, but the continued presence of antiriot police and plainclothes forces near Tehran’s bazaar painted a different picture.

In reality, protests were ongoing as the bazaar was pessimistic towards the agreement. In fact, strikes have spread to the north-eastern city of Tabriz. The bazaar’s closure in Iran has always carried symbolic meaning. In the Iranian political-social culture, the bazaar’s closure has carried special meaning over the past two hundred years, because in the absence of strong civil society institutions and free press, the bazaar, which has historically served as a place for commerce, is also a place for exchanging information. The bazaar’s closure still carries the same significance that it did during the Constitutional Revolution of 1905, the oil nationalization movement of 1951-1953 and the Islamic Revolution of 1979. In those eras also, the bazaar merchants joined the popular protests by closing shop and facilitated the movements’ penetration into all layers of society.

The recent protests in bazaar, of course, are not political but economic and financial. The government has increased taxes by 70 percent for the bazaar merchants, who are resisting the increase.

The government has since backed down from its position by agreeing to reduce the tax hike rate to 15 percent. But a financial columnist tells Rooz, “Public opinion and bazaar merchants view the government’s 55 percent retreat and agreement to 15 percent tax hike as a disingenuous attempt on the government’s part to postpone the 70 percent increase. They say that they would continue their protests and strike until the government guarantees that the tax hike rate would be limited to 15 percent. The bazaar merchants argue that because the volume of trade in the year 1388 was considerably lower than in other years, the increase is unreasonable and they are unable to pay a 70 percent tax hike.”

According to some unofficial reports, the strike has also spread to the city of Isfahan. Many of the traders’ unions have refused to abide by the agreement that was alleged by the state-run media to have ended the bazaar strike. What is conspicuous in the debacle is the absence of an organized front to represent the bazaar merchants’ demands, although two organizations claim to be the bazaar’s spokespersons: the National Trade Unions Council and the Islamic Society of Bazaar Associations and Trade Unions. The National Trade Unions Council was in charge of representing the bazaar in its negotiations with the government, culminating in the Monday night’s agreement. But reports indicate that many bazaar merchants refuse to abide by the agreement and do not regard the National Trade Unions Council to be strong enough to represent their interests in ongoing negotiations with the government.