NCRI – Amnesty International issued a statement and called for an end to repression of the workers’ unions as well as to banning and harassment of independent trade unions in Iran.
An Amnesty International report released on Friday said: “Independent trade unionists in Iran are imprisoned for speaking out about labor rights while independent workers’ bodies face ongoing repression.”
The statement said: “Independent trade unionists have been made to pay a heavy price by a government that has shown itself increasingly intolerant of dissent. The harassment and persecution they face smacks of a desperate government attempt to stave off social unrest that could arise from new hikes in the costs of fuel and power to which Iranians are now being exposed.”
Amnesty International pointed out the arrest, imprisonment, and torturing of Mansour Ossanlou, president of Bus Drivers Union of Tehran and Suburbs and called for his unconditional release.
The statement also quoted members of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association as saying that they will not be defeated by the Iranian government’s extreme intimidation, and called for solidarity of teachers around the world in their struggle for their rights.
