Labor Law Changes

Iran Labor Report

Below is a translation of a recent statement by the “Free Union of Iranian Workers” on the amendments to the labor law proposed by the Ahmadinejad government. Despite myriad problems, Iran’s labor law remains one of the most progressive in the world. It is considered among the last vestiges of the 1979 revolution. The following translation is provided by Iran Labor Report.

The Statement of the Free Union of Iranian Workers on the Changes to the Labor Law

Following the enactment of the cuts in subsidies in 2010—and while the prices for the main staples were reaching the stratosphere—the rise in the minimum wage was set much lower than the previous year; at a mere 9 percent. This way, they moved to freeze the minimum wage in an unstated and underhanded manner. Parallel with this, they went after unemployment benefits which were followed by retirement rules. Now it is evidently the turn of the labor law to be gutted as allowances for special work shifts and 40-percent extra pay for weekends and overtime will be reduced substantially; thus further contracting the already frozen minimum wage.

By reducing all holiday entitlements and by generally leaving things to the individual worker and the employer to determine the working hours, they are seeking to increase the level of exploitation as much as they possibly can. By giving free rein to the employer to deciding the layoffs, they are entitling them to force even more slave-like conditions on their workers. And this is only the tip of the iceberg of the proposed changes as it has been presented to trusted allies in the Islamic Labor Councils. Things are apparently so perverse that nit even theses trusted their allies are trust-worthy enough—only a convoluted and head-scratching version of the amendment has been made available.

Dear colleagues and fellow-workers:

Cuts in subsidies, freezes on the wages, and the more anti-labor slants in the labor law exceed more than all the poverty and penury of the capitalist system in Iran in the last few decades. Together, these three are the lynchpins of the major offensive by the whole capitalist system in Iran against workers on a national scale, burning into ashes all that made life possible.

In our opinion, the proposed labor law, particularly because it legitimizes temporary contracts and fails to recognize the basic rights to organize, assemble and strike is an anti-labor law and must be abandoned.

We should resist all changes to the current labor law as enunciated by the Labor Ministry and the Parliament. We should demand the publication of the draft labor law in mass-circulation papers. We should demand that workers be allowed to assemble in factories and work places to discuss the proposed modifications so that these changes are finalized through direct participation of our elected representatives and by means of ballots at the working environments.

Long live the solidarity and united struggle of Iranian workers
Free Union of Iranian Workers