NCRI – The workers union at Tehran’s Sherkat Vahed (Tehran’s bus company) has called for an all out strike on Saturday, January 28, in protest to detention of Mr. Mansour Asalou, general secretary of the union for undeclared reasons.
In a statement issued on January 24, the union pledged its full support for the demands of the workers and stressed: "The Workers Union of Tehran’s bus company will defend the rights of its members wholeheartedly and is ready to pay every price for it including greater hardship, loosing jobs and being taken for interrogations in security centers."
The statement complained that the regime has not met with the demands of the workers so far and instead Mr. Asalou was arrested on January 21 for no known reason. The union called on the workers to stop work on Saturday and hold protest gatherings around the capital until Mr. Asalou is released, the union recognized and the demands of the workers met.
Workers at Tehran’s Sherkat Vahed (Tehran’s bus company) have for years suffered from economic hardships, low wages, difficult working conditions, and lack of minimum professional bonuses as a consequence of the Iranian regime’s repressive policies. The situation has deteriorated considerably for bus drivers in recent months, especially after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has taken office as the new president of the clerical regime.
Authorities in the Iranian regime have attempted in recent months to sow division within the ranks of the company’s workers and have delayed responding to their just demands, held back on wage payments, and attempted to prevent workers’ protests and strikes.
The workers in Tehran’s bus company were on strike in late December 2005 for the same demands.
