NCRI – Thousands of state-owned Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Company workers in southwestern Khuzistan province near the city of Shoush, have been protesting since Monday, demanding their unpaid wages for the past two months and also calling for an end to harassment of their co-workers by the company’s security office.
The company’s managing director has failed to appear at his office in fear of facing the striking workers and members of the board of directors have refused to respond.
Currently over 5,000 workers in various departments such as administrative, processing, agriculture and contract workers are on strike. The company’s refusal to pay its workers for the past two months has created very difficult living conditions for them considering the existence of soaring prices and high inflation rate in Iran.
In a bid to break up the strike, regime’s Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS) agents in the city of Shoush and the company’s security officials have resorted to intimidations and phone threats.
Reports indicate that Zibdari, a member of the MOIS and chief security officer at the company, who is directly involved in suppression of workers by making false allegations against them, has refused to appear at the company’s premises in fear of facing striking workers.
The workers have demanded their unpaid wages, an end to harassment of factory workers and labor activists by court summons, and dismissal of company’s director general mullah Yaqoub Shafiee, members of company’s board of directors and security chief.
The Iranian Resistance calls on all labor organizations, unions and in particular the International Labor Organization (ILO) to condemn the clerical regime's anti-labor policies and suppression of workers and demands support for workers just demand.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
May 8, 2008