By Jubin Katiraie
At least six protests over economic woes were held by Iranians across the capital and the northwestern and south-western provinces on Tuesday.
Kerman coal workers
In Kerman, a great many coal workers held a protest outside of the company’s building for the seventh consecutive day to express their unresolved grievances. They said that the company was endangering their job security by selling shares in the private sector.
The Kerman Coal Mine Company was transferred to the country’s Steel Pension Fund to settle government debts and then the Fund’s CEO announced that the company’s shares would be sold on the stock exchange. The workers fear that they will be made contract workers again.
Mahshahr port medical staff
In Mahshahr, a number of medical workers from the city’s port held a rally outside the city’s petrochemical industry hospital over unpaid wages.
State-run TV employees and retirees
Roughly 200 employees and retirees of Iran’s state-run TV held a protest outside the Bilal Mosque in Tehran, the state-run ILNA news agency reported, to protest discrimination and express their economic hardships.
They called for unpaid wages to be paid in full. They also demanded the 50% increase in their salaries that was previously promised, explaining that in comparison with other government organizations, they did not receive equal pay.
This action by state-run TV employees is unprecedented and several human resources managers attended to try to convince the protesters that the additional funds needed for the wage raise were not given by the government. However, protesters said that the refusal to pay the increase, which was announced in January for all government organizations, was unacceptable and illegal.
Yasuj bus drivers
A group of public bus drivers in Yasuj protesters their months of unpaid wages outside the city council offices and demanded to be paid. The drivers said officials didn’t care about starving drivers, but only about their own needs.
Qom bus owners and drivers
Many drivers and bus owners in Qom held a rally outside the city’s bus organization to demand payment of wages, support and livelihood packages, and unemployment insurance.
Qazvin toll collectors
Recently-laid off toll collectors in Qazvin protested in front of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development in Tehran, according to the Free Trade Union of Iran. The 51 employees were fired by text messages in April, even though they had been promised jobs in the Road Maintenance & Transportation Organization last year.
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