Jane Campbell-Jones

Tribune

25 October 2004

Don't Take Your Eyes Off Iran

Children working for as little as 25 dollars a year with no labour rights, leading trade unionists placed under arrest during peaceful May Day marches, and factory workers collapsing of exhaustion after working 16-hour shifts; three depressing realities of the ongoing struggle against the oppression of workers' rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was the subject last week of a workshop at the European Social Forum (ESF) in London.

"We call on international workers' organisations (...) to demonstrate their solidarity with Iranian workers against the bankruptcy and corruption of the Islamic state," said Yassamine Mather, a long-time campaigner for social workers' rights in Iran, and a speaker at the ESF workshop. It is a thankless task. As people within Iran are understandably reluctant to voice dissent for fear of imprisonment or worse, a small community of left-wing expatriates is virtually the sole provider of news to the outside world on the continued abuse of workers' rights within the country. While the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has published basic information on unemployment and labour grievances, the Iranian government shows no sign of breaking the impasse.

The topic of human rights is a tricky one at the best of times, but in Iran it is made doubly complicated by the fallout from the Islamic Revolution of 1979. A staggering 70% of the 69-million-strong population is under 30 years of age, largely due to a government push to encourage large families during the early days of the regime. This has since led to a market saturated with young, cheap labour and, consequently, mass unemployment. The official jobless rate is 16%, but many believe this to be much higher. For those who do have jobs, a host of other problems come into play.

"If you follow the daily news of workers' protests against non-payment of wages, it becomes clear that non-payment has become part of a concerted policy by sections of Iranian industry to increase profits," says Mather. "All this in a country where there is no unemployment benefit and no public healthcare for the majority of workers."

In the private sector, this has been thrust into the spotlight thanks to the dire situation at Iran Khodro, the Middle East's largest auto manufacturer. Churning out Peugeot and Paykan cars since the 1960s, the factory has recently borne the brunt of harsh restructuring reforms that have decimated both the morale and safety of its employees. Not only is the majority of production outsourced to numerous contract firms, robbing workers of equal working conditions and regulations, but the management at Iran Khodro has implemented a culture of working two, sometimes three shifts in a row to boost productivity. In extreme cases, this has led to the deaths of several workers, as well as the injury and illness of many more. But in a context where striking is illegal and thousands of unemployed are queuing up for any jobs the workers leave behind, most choose to stay on at the factory rather than look elsewhere. Distressingly, the reason that the misdemeanours at Iran Khodro have come to light at all is because of the desperate communiqués from its young workers, despatched to labour unions across the world under the flimsy secrecy of the internet.

It is through this type of covert communication that activists and union members overseas have come to learn of the plight of Iran's workforce. Liz Leicester, Chair of the Camden branch of UNISON, said "We've always believed that it's very important for people inside Iran to know that people outside are following what's going on." Leicester is part of a growing number of trade union figures, including National Union of Journalists (NUJ) General Secretary Jeremy Dear, who have voiced their support and concern for workers in Iran, whether factory workers, reporters whose newspapers have been shut down by the state, unpaid nurses and teachers, or children sold into labour.

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) condemned state interference in Iran in May, when key labour leader Mahmood Salehi and two of his local counterparts were arrested without charge following a non-violent May Day rally in the city of Saqez. ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder was quick to say that the organisation would "continue to work at international level to ensure that rights are upheld in Iran." However, apart from a complaint being filed by the ICFTU against the Islamic Republic to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and various letters of protest to Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, the issue has received little attention from the world's mainstream press, currently focused on the war in Iraq.

The situation in Iraq has had a direct, negative impact on neighbouring Iran, crushing any nascent hope of a "liberation" from outside forces. At the ESF, Mather discussed how "Before the mess in Iraq, the concept of foreign intervention to overthrow the Islamic regime had some support amongst sections of the opposition. But [the Iraq war] has had a dual effect; on the one hand foreign intervention is now totally discredited, while on the other hand there is growing despair at Iran's current situation." Yet with 40% of the population living below the state poverty line, public disenchantment with the regime is slowly reaching boiling point.

The presence of American troops in Iraq to the west and in Afghanistan to the east has put the Iranian government on the defensive, with global pressure mounting for it to reveal the true status of its nuclear capabilities. Iran seems to be hitting the headlines again, but for all the wrong reasons. Leicester sees this as the ideal moment to build on solidarity from abroad, although she adds that "Foreign intervention isn't the answer; it needs huge political change from the people of Iran."

With Western politicians keen on winning the so-called war on terror, workers and labour activists such as Salehi appear fated to remain a forgotten cause. Given the crumbling situation in "post-war" Iraq, it is doubtful that military or political intervention from overseas would do much to improve their situation.