Workers Resist the Privatization Drive, Win Victories

Along with easing international tensions and steps to remove the international sanctions, the administration of president Rouhani has embarked on economic measures making the country attractive to foreign capital and investment. Privatization and economic liberalization have been high on the agenda. Knowing the effects of these measures on working class full well, miners have been vanguard of the resistance against the privatization drive.

On July 2, the council of ministers held a joint meeting with the governors across the country discussing and ratifying measures to “improve business atmosphere” in the country. “The details of job creation program and ending the recession and improving the economy on credits and monetary front” will be finalized by mid August according to the reports. In the bill under study by the administration, many protective measures in law on labor and social security have been eliminated. Among the issues have been easier ways for employers to reduce the workforce.

There have been also talks of a new working group set up at the Ministry of Labor with the purpose of identifying “new wage models”.

Privatizations leading to job cuts, reduction of benefits, lax in job safety measures, as well as delays in wage and benefit payments have been resisted by workers. While economic liberalization has been decided and engineered by high levels in the regime, the workers, full aware of their effects on their livelihoods have fought the privatization drive.

In a 39 day strike, miners at Bafgh Iron Ore mines in Yazd were successful in rolling back the privatization of the mine. The strike included 5300 workers and employees who were worried about job security and wage and benefits cuts following the privatization.

In the course of the strike, the head of Bafgh City Council lent his support to the workers saying until the unknown details of the privatization were known, he would follow up on the issue. Other officials such as Yazd deputies in the parliament as well as local officials also were supporting the workers in the dispute. It was, however, a teacher which was chosen by the workers to represent them in the course of negotiations.

The strike started on May 17 when 28.5 percent of Bafgh Central Iron Ore Company shares were put for sale on stock exchange and bought by Khuzistan Steel Company.

On June 17, a month after the strike started, according to the Bafgh City Council spokesperson, Mohammad Abbasi Bafghi, a meeting was held in the parliament Mines and Industries Commission with the attendance of the Minister of Industries, Mines and Trade in which the minister talked about the cancellation of the decision to sell the shares of the mine through an order from president Rouhani and a resolution of the council of ministers on June 15. The meeting had been attended by the Friday prayer, members of the city council and Bafgh deputies in the parliament. Abbasi Bafghi, further said that with one week passed since that meeting, no news on that meeting had been released.

In the course of the strike, the minister of Labor, Rabii, was scheduled to travel twice to Bafgh, each time cancelling the travel plan.

Criticizing the administration for delaying to communicate the ratified cancellation of selling of the mines shares to the private sector, Abbasi Bafghi said: “It gets issued by Tehran. The administration, however, because the workers have not bowed down on their demands and have not come back to work, is not willing to back down.” He criticized Jahangiri, the first vice president for not scheduling the meeting on the inquiry into the cancellation of transfer of shares of the mine to the private sector.

On June 25, on the thirty ninth day of the strike, Mohammad MirMohammadi, the governor of Yazd came to the workers sit-in and handed the letter from Eshagh Jahangiri, the first vice president and Ali Tayebnia, the Minister of Economic affairs and finance, on cancellation of transfer of 28.5 percent shares of the mine to the private sector. In the letter, the two had indicated that the final decision on the mine remained with the governor of Yazd.

Following the meeting with Yazd governor and his deputies, the workers ended the strike having been successful in reversing the privatization of the mine.

According to Bafgh City Council Spokesperson, the workers expect following the construction of factories next to the mine, the mine shares to be transferred to the city of Bafgh residents through Bafgh City Development Cooperative.

The workers demand was for the 28.5 percent share to remain public as before. 71.5 percent of the shares had been transferred to Steel Retirement Funds.

While Bafgh mine workers won their fight, many mines remain on the list for privatization.

On July 6, another mine strike started this time in the province of Semnan where about 1400 Eastern Alborz Mines workers went on strike over privatization of their mine.

According to Rahman Ajam, a member of Islamic Labor Council of the Eastern Alborz Coal Mines talking to Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA), the privatization organization has transferred one hundred percent of the shares of the Eastern Alborz Coal Mines Company to Isfahan Steel private sector. This has caused anxiety amongst the workers over job security.

According to Ajam, the workers receive minimum wages with months of delay and are engaged in most difficult tasks mining coal. About 1200 of the workers work on temporary contracts and the rest are permanent on the mine. “The workers never have job security and start their daily work with stress”, said Ajam.

The strike at Eastern Alborz is continuing.

Iran Labor Report