Tuesday 03 February 2015

Strikes Hit the Auto Industry

According to the reports by the Metalworkers and Mechanics Trade Union and the Free Union of Iranian Workers, the auto workers engaged in protest actions across the industry.

The strike started with Pars Khodro and Saipa Azin auto workers. According to Metalworkers and Mechanics Trade Union, on December 29, workers at Pars Khodro held a two hours strike in protest to their low wages. On the same day, Saipa Azin, the parts manufacturer for Saipa Car company also had a workers strike in protest to the low wages.

The two protests prompted Iran Khodro workers, who were following the action, to engage in protest action of their own.

Iran Khodro workers refrained from accepting lunch starting on January 7. The protest action started in parts of the south plant, the main manufacturing and assembly division of Iran Khodro. The protest spread to all the south plant divisions with workers taking the food and dumping them in the garbage bins.

The north plant workers joined the protest on the next day including the painting, L90 car assembly, Peugeot Pars and press units. The management, in order to break the protest, released some shares to be distributed amongst the workers. The workers were also promised of increased wages. The workers asked for written promises. The workers were also asking for 20 to 30 percent pay hike. The protests continued.

On the sixth day, the workers on the North plant Van assembly lines broke their strike going to the cafeteria. The South plant stayed with the strike. With promises by the management to meet workers demands by February 4, the workers ended their protest on its eight day.

The promises to the workers include immediate job classification scheme implementation and wage adjustments, benefit payments ranging from 400 to 700 thousand tomans, 7 to 8 percent wage increase on top of the minimum yearly increase set by the High Council on Labor, quarterly amenity payments of 500 thousand tomans, the end of Thursday night shifts, one hour break for the night shifts, special occasions gifts, resumption of over time payment which had ceased a couple of years back among others.

During the strike, all the assembly lines in Iran Khodro including the cars, body, press, assembly 1 (Peugeot 405, Peugeot Pars), assembly 2 (Samand), assembly 4 (Peugeot 206, Rana) took part in the protest. 10 of the workers were called in by the security during the protests.

The workers at the plant with overtime receive between 900 thousand to 1 million tomans a month with very few with over 25 years of service receiving 1 million, 400 thousand tomans.

In order to implement the job classification scheme at the plant, the management has asked the workers from each line of every shift in the plant to delegate one representative. The workers from assembly lines 1, 2, L line, Vans, Painting, Repairs and Storage have chosen their representatives and delegated to the management. The workers employed by the contracting companies had also had their status changed to contracting with Iran Khodro itself.

With a talk of similar protest action at Zamyad Khodro, a bonus was paid to the workers and talks held with a number of the workers in which letters were sent to the general manager of the plant by the workers. The workers were asked to attend a meeting in the prayer room at the plant in which the workers asked for increase in their base salaries. It was then that they received threats by the management that in case of their firing, they would not be able to find any other jobs.

On January 20, a talk of a similar protest action at Iran Khodro Industial Molding Plant also prompted management there to call workers to the cafeterias.

Iran Labor Report




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